150 v 204

[pluc99]

Perfectly content with 150, but haven’t driven the 204. A bit sluggish pulling away at roundabouts but it’s a heavy vehicle. Once on the move it drives as well as I’d ever want it to. In summary, I have no regrets at choosing the 150 variant.

I agree that the 150 (mine's a 4Mo) is very sluggish pulling away at roundabouts. The dealer advised against the stronger engine (I think it was 199 HP at the time) unless I was going to tow a trailer but nevertheless organised a 4Mo for me to take a spin in. I was surprised that he was right and ended up taking his advice and went for the 150.

I'm happy I did for the most part except when I would like to pass a slower vehicle on a mountain pass and just don't have enough acceleration to be able to do it safely. I'm not typically ever in a hurry so it's not usually a problem.

 

[66tim99]

We are on our 3rd remapped vehicle (bmw 350d touring auto, Vw t5.1 Cali manual, Vw t5.1 club joker manual). Fuel economy improves as it gives more mid range torque, so less gear changes are required.

No change to insurance premium.

Just need to let the dealer know when it gets serviced, so that they dont delete the remap when carrying out emissions related software updates.

Have you remapped your Cali?

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Have you remapped your Cali?

Yes - Our previous beach had a Revo remap carried out by Bognor Motors - think it was 170bhp. Current Club Joker was remapped by previous Owners and had a rolling road test as part of the remap which showed 175bhp.

 

[sidepod]

You can always drive a powerful unit slowly, you can’t drive an underpowered unit quickly.
The fuel consumption difference over the vehicle ownership span isn’t worth discussing.
Go big and enjoy it.

 

[scottk]

I had the 150 and now the 204. Prefer the 204 as it cruises effortlessly. The 150 used to search for gears going uphill and on cruise it dropped down speed before dropping gears and having to work hard to get back up. Fuel economy has been the same. Currently on tour and getting about 38mpg.

 

[flying banana]

Anyone who has 8 inch has never said 5 inch would do as its adequate for his needs. Go big. 6 years into my 204, no issues. 52 years in with my 5 incher and that's got me into loads of trouble!

 

[Aubisque]

I very rarely use all the power in the 150, let alone a 204. You can’t avoid the physics of a three tonne vehicle and you can just sense any hard accelerating is just pointlessly gobbling fuel, cornering at pace just wears tyres and any sharp braking eating discs/pads. Basically I try to drive as smoothly as I can and avoid all the above.
And I’ve had a M3 CSL in the past…which was the total opposite !

 

[pchmlk]

I very rarely use all the power in the 150, let alone a 204. You can’t avoid the physics of a three tonne vehicle and you can just sense any hard accelerating is just pointlessly gobbling fuel, cornering at pace just wears tyres and any sharp braking eating discs/pads. Basically I try to drive as smoothly as I can and avoid all the above.
And I’ve had a M3 CSL in the past…which was the total opposite !

I had a CSL too, incredible car and I miss it.
Agree on the driving style of the cali too, I find it quite relaxing.

 

[Californication69]

Yep, I like the Cali driving, very relaxing and don’t want to drive it like a loon.
Had a pretty quick 330e. Nice car.
C300 with diesel and electric. Nearly lost my licence twice in that.
Velar D300 was a lot of torque and enjoyed the kick.
Subaru Sti type UK with ppp on was like a crazy fuel drinking type of experience !

 

[Gecko_Bioyag77]

I considered the 150hp for my Cali Ocean but as I had been driving a Ford Galaxy at the time with 150hp which seemed perfect, but I thought with the additional weight and payload of the Cali the 204hp would be the better option in the longer term. In Ireland this can be matched with the 4Motion however it was becoming unaffordable, so I was happy to select the 204hp engine.

~ Road tax? €120 per year as a leisure vehicle in Ireland, regardless of engine size or use
~ Insurance costs? €320 fully comprehensive cover across EU & recovery for two drivers
~ Servicing costs? I purchased the 3 year service pack which was a little over €300, however I have put 33,000km within the first 12 months so I have used 2 years worth of servicing already. The van came with Bridgestone 235/55 R17 103H A005 All Season tyres which were really quite good with a lot of thread but I had uneven wear on the front two tyres. So I replaced 4 tyres at €190 each with Bridgestone 235/55 R17 103V A006 Turanza All Season tyres, and these are so much better. I kept once rear good tyre on the spare alloy. The only other costs was for wiper blades which I replaced during the winter, around €70. The rear thermostat needed to be replaced which VW did under warranty and I had the car jack also replaced under warranty as it bent under the weight of the Cali and was completely useless, I have no faith in its ability to help me on the side of the road. In fact it was a hazard. I therefore replaced it with a 2.5T hydraulic jack, which seems overkill but it now means my wife can take off the spare & change a wheel without assistance which is no mean feat.
~ Fuel consumption? - I had noticed that on motor way cruising at 100Km/hr or 120Km/hr is
it is very easy to achieve between 6-7l/100Km (39/40mpg), but the average would be 8l/100Km (35mpg) in a normal week of mixed urban/rural driving conditions for me. Of course on really nice roads if you use the kick down feature it will take off like it is on the Autobahn.

My hope is that with the larger engine it will accommodate higher mileage and longer ownership, at least that was my justification for selecting the 204hp engine. It is very nice to drive and with the new tyres I have not had any wheel spin issues, in fact it is very well planted on the road and is surprisingly nimble to drive.

 

[sidepod]

I very rarely use all the power in the 150, let alone a 204. You can’t avoid the physics of a three tonne vehicle and you can just sense any hard accelerating is just pointlessly gobbling fuel, cornering at pace just wears tyres and any sharp braking eating discs/pads. Basically I try to drive as smoothly as I can and avoid all the above.
And I’ve had a M3 CSL in the past…which was the total opposite !

I think you’ll find you do! It’s not about power but torque. Max torque peaks from around 2k rpm so unless you’re wandering around on tick over then you’re using all of your available grunt.

 

[Aubisque]

Ha true. I never leave my foot in or hang on to gears is more accurate. And come up to speed gradually staring at the MPG readout.

 

[Corradobrit]

My 80 year old father test drove a 150 for me as I was living in the USA when I placed the order. He has a long history of owning underwhelming cars was underwhelmed by the 150 and that was enough for me. Biggest issue for him was safety when overtaking. Just too sluggish from a standstill or low speed.

And there are plenty of examples of lard arse vehicles hitting F1 level performance. It's how you engineer that matters. Likewise the handling of the Cali can be improved eg suspension upgrades.

I never feel like the 204 is struggling.

 

[Aubisque]

You can engineer a vehicle to hide the weight, but you are still burning through consumables and a boggo California is not that vehicle.

 

[flying banana]

Ha true. I never leave my foot in or hang on to gears is more accurate. And come up to speed gradually staring at the MPG readout.

Driving like that your asking for trouble with clogged dpf etc. It's not worth it to save a few pence on fuel. The engine likes being worked and revved high through the gears.

 

[Pegsinho]

I very rarely use all the power in the 150, let alone a 204. You can’t avoid the physics of a three tonne vehicle and you can just sense any hard accelerating is just pointlessly gobbling fuel, cornering at pace just wears tyres and any sharp braking eating discs/pads. Basically I try to drive as smoothly as I can and avoid all the above.
And I’ve had a M3 CSL in the past…which was the total opposite !

Our second car is a 911 and the difference when jumping between the two remains a bit of a shock both in terms of driving position and performance. I picked the 204 so that the difference would be limited, especially when you are used to effortless acceleration; there's nothing worse than trying to time a roundabout entry, putting your foot down and going nowhere! Though as many have pointed out when pulling 3 tonnes there's a limit to what an extra 50bhp will do.

I find compared to the 911, when driving the Cali I enter something like 'zen mode' and my wife finds being a passenger a much more pleasant experience

 

[sidepod]

…….just checking I’m reading this correctly, we’re comparing a Cali to a 911…….? That’s like a space shuttle to a butchers bike!

 

[Chickpea]

I have '21 plate 204 dsg 2wd and have to say it's never felt lacking, comfortably tramping along at a very natural feeling 70 (ish)... in fact if I don't look at the speedo it almost seems to home in on that speed on its own. Neither do I suffer wheel spin, despite not driving like a butterfly with sore feet landing on a hot plate. Mostly motorway miles, and often long trips get 40mpg. Weird comparison, but I had a T7 hybrid Caravelle as a loaner for a few days and it was ruddy awful. Slow, unengaging and actually quite thirsty.Getting back in the 6.1 was an absolute joy... lighter, more nimble, less lumpen, and yes, nippy. Whatever will I replace it with when the time comes?

 

[Corradobrit]

Torque numbers are what really differentiate the 2 engines. 340Nm vs 450Nm. Thats quite a difference, especially when fully loaded with 4 passengers and a bike rack

 

[Glenhyrst]

Our second car is a 911 and the difference when jumping between the two remains a bit of a shock both in terms of driving position and performance. I picked the 204 so that the difference would be limited, especially when you are used to effortless acceleration; there's nothing worse than trying to time a roundabout entry, putting your foot down and going nowhere! Though as many have pointed out when pulling 3 tonnes there's a limit to what an extra 50bhp will do.

I find compared to the 911, when driving the Cali I enter something like 'zen mode' and my wife finds being a passenger a much more pleasant experience

I echo your "zen mode" experience and my wife likes her passenger experience. OK, not a 911 but I sold my Saab Turbo X after 11 years of ownership and wondered how I would manage to keep awake driving the 150 VW and the High Top Joker to boot. Not only keep awake but rather enjoy it too.

 

[Corradobrit]

I echo your "zen mode" experience and my wife likes her passenger experience. OK, not a 911 but I sold my Saab Turbo X after 11 years of ownership and wondered how I would manage to keep awake driving the 150 VW and the High Top Joker to boot. Not only keep awake but rather enjoy it too.

The driving experience is far more enjoyable than one might expect. I actually look forward to long mile munching drives knowing I will arrive fairly refreshed and ready to set up. Have to say the ACC system is a major part of that equation.

 

[WelshGas]

The driving experience is far more enjoyable than one might expect. I actually look forward to long mile munching drives knowing I will arrive fairly refreshed and ready to set up. Have to say the ACC system is a major part of that equation.

As long as you avoid the A7 and A1 around Hamburg.

 

[Corradobrit]

As long as you avoid the A7 and A1 around Hamburg.

Sounds like you had a bad experience. ACC can help there too.

 

[WelshGas]

Sounds like you had a bad experience. ACC can help there too.

Pity it can’t make coffee to keep the users awake.

 

[temporarysecretary]

The driving experience is far more enjoyable than one might expect. I actually look forward to long mile munching drives knowing I will arrive fairly refreshed and ready to set up. Have to say the ACC system is a major part of that equation.

I always look forward to driving the cali, especially on a long drive. Recently I noticed that even after a 4 hours drive I still felt like I hadn't driven it or scratched the itch. The ACC and DSG in a 204 makes the whole thing so effortless.