LCV
THE PERFECT ‘KOMBI’ NATION VOLKSWAGEN VIRTUALLY INVENTED THE VAN SECTOR, AT THE VERY LEAST THEY MADE IT SUCCESSFUL AND CREATED A WHOLE CULTURE AROUND THE KOMBI, STARTING WITH THE T1 BACK IN THE EARLY 1950S. WHILE OTHER VEHICLE MAKERS HAVE TRIED TO EMULATE THE CONCEPT NONE HAVE BEEN AS SUCCESSFUL AS VOLKSWAGEN HAS. NOW 70 ODD YEARS ON THE LATEST ‘KOMBI’ OR TRANSPORTER RANGE HAS HIT. WE TOOK THREE OF THE RANGE FOR ROAD TESTS IN A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE NEW ‘KOMBIS’.
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olkswagen is the absolute master at building vans. The German auto giant revolutionised the design of goods and people carrying vans and six generations on, the VW badge still rules supreme in this genre of automobiles. Volkswagen significantly upgraded the Transporter T6, which it’s dubbed the ‘6.1’ generation, with an array of updated equipment and new variants, including the return of a factory built camper model. It is the most significant upgrade for the Transporter range since the launch of the T5 back in the early 2000s with features such as performance and steering advances, an entirely new dash and a plethora of safety upgrades. The new range has a total of 49 different variants, available in a choice of short or long wheelbase variants, high or low roof, dual cab or single cab light trucks. There is a choice of three 2.0 litre turbo diesel engine options, ranging from 81kW to 146 kW depending on model, and either a five or six-speed manual and VW’s own seven-speed DSG auto, again depending on model and engine choice. Drive is
056 www.truckandbus.net.au
either by standard front drive or 4Motion all-wheel drive on various models. The Transporter ‘6.1’ receives an array of added standard safety and convenience technology as standard, including Front Assist with City Emergency Brake (CEB), Crosswind Assist, Side Assist including blind spot monitoring and Rear Traffic Alert, Multi-collision brake and, in some models, a fantastic new digital cockpit akin to what the aviation industry calls a ‘glass cockpit’. The new range also gets an interface with both Apple Carplay and Android Auto which adds a higher degree of convenience and puts it on a par with other new passenger and commercials. In the past few weeks, we have had the chance to slip behind the wheel of a number of the new Transport models including the latest cab chassis trayback ‘ute’, the ritzy Multivan Cruise and the Plane Jain Transporter van. First up we slipped into the cab chassis dual cab tray back which was a revelation. Sure, it was a workhorse and is equipped with an alloy trayback but its performance on wet and slippery roads during Sydney’s
recent ‘Big Wet’ was astounding. This was helped by the fact that it came equipped with the VW 4 Motion on demand 4-wheel drive system, which is also capable of being locked into 4WD if you happen to need to go seriously off road. The dual cab was utilitarian inside with hard wearing vinyl flooring but the new dash and overall strong equipment levels made it very easy to love, even at a price of $60,490 plus on roads, the 4 Motion dual cab with the factory tray and seven speed DSG is well priced and even more versatile than the one tonne Japanese utes we all seem to love. You can lop $3000 off without the 4 Motion, but why would you. There is also a single cab tray back version which is $2000 cheaper than its dual cab counterparts. During our time with the dual cab, we had the need to head south from Sydney to Mittagong to pick up a bulky item. Unfortunately, we found ourselves in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam after an earlier crash on the Hume Freeway. These can obviously be a chore, but even with the base level audio system and sitting up high in the Transporter cab, it was easy to
