4Motion - high price

[soulstyledevon]

What if you can afford it but aren't sure if you want it.

What about, you’ve got it. But not sure you’ve ever used it...???

 

[westfalia]

What about, you’ve got it. But not sure you’ve ever used it...???

What if you can afford it but you will never use it but
you wanted it anyway - cos thats the way you roll-
im fine with that too

 

[Aidy P]

parked next to this Amorak tonight France. He paid £140 for the tent. 4Motion on a budget. Sorted.



The bed beats both upstairs and downstairs in my 4Motion for size

 

[soulstyledevon]

They’re getting popular to convert.
Honestly, Chef Campers have just done one and there’s a few other Builds popping up on Insta.

 

[Nick Stubbs]

My experience exactly: 20000 miles, 31.51mpg, brim-to-brim. Best ever 38.5 in ideal conditions. And I drive in a manner which would have frustrated my Grandad: who was a very careful man.


Current mpg from March to present, first high peak was a trip up to the lakes, 2nd was a trip to Sevenoaks and the last high peak was traffic free runs to work as no one on the roads no stopping for islands and traffic lights mainly green, must say it’s gotten better as the miles have increased.

 

[PhilR]

My experience exactly: 20000 miles, 31.51mpg, brim-to-brim. Best ever 38.5 in ideal conditions. And I drive in a manner which would have frustrated my Grandad: who was a very careful man.

So how does that compare to 2WD?

 

[PhilR]

You ask a bunch of strangers for their opinion and then make a decision?

Not ashamed to say that’s me!!! You may be just a bunch of strangers but you’re all Cali owners and interested in everything to do with them otherwise you wouldn’t be on here! I could ask my mates down the pub but even if the pub was open that’d be a waste of time/a decent pub discussion at best

 

[California4x4]

View attachment 64099parked next to this Amorak tonight France. He paid £140 for the tent. 4Motion on a budget. Sorted.
View attachment 64098

View attachment 64100
The bed beats both upstairs and downstairs in my 4Motion for size

It’s good to see different solutions but this looks like a faff and prevents you from storing all your kit in the back of your pickup. A roof tent makes more sense to me for a pickup.

 

[keith morris]

Just trying to spec up our ideal first ever campervan. I thought I’d go for 4WD but at £3,246 + £750 for diff lock (to get the best out of it) + £120 Hill descent adds up to a whopping £4116
As much as I think it would be useful, even then I’d really need winter tyres anyway at further cost. Then there’s the additional fuel costs. It’s not really selling itself to me at this stage! I’ve read all the threads about it and it seems that those that have it love it, and those that don’t are probably thinking like I am!
so is it worth £4116?

We had the same thoughts, I’ve had AWD vehicles for years and we took delivery of our van a few weeks ago, it’s got the AWD, diff lock and hill decent. The reason I went for the spec was we intend to use it during the winter for cycle day trips etc, so far I can’t fault it, it pulls well from junctions and deals with sharp turns on country hills very well with no wheel slip. Given we’re new to owning a California I’m not best placed to comment, however I’m happy with the choice we made so far

 

[Paulmc]

Just trying to spec up our ideal first ever campervan. I thought I’d go for 4WD but at £3,246 + £750 for diff lock (to get the best out of it) + £120 Hill descent adds up to a whopping £4116
As much as I think it would be useful, even then I’d really need winter tyres anyway at further cost. Then there’s the additional fuel costs. It’s not really selling itself to me at this stage! I’ve read all the threads about it and it seems that those that have it love it, and those that don’t are probably thinking like I am!
so is it worth £4116?

I'm on my 4th T5 /T6 and have never opted for the 4motion.we specialise in VW at our workshop in North Dorset and over the years have established approx a 4 to 5 mpg drop with 4 motion. It is predominantly 2 wheel drive not like the online quattro system permanent torsion diff. It only kicks in the rear when front slip is detected but the rest of the time you are hauling round about 200kg of redundant hardware.
We have a property in the Alps and once winter tyres are fitted have no problems with fwd
4x4 unless fitted to a very powerful car or proper off road vehicle its like wearing your ski boots all year just in case it snows.
If you intend off road adventures which would require other mods 4 motion is an unnecessary tick box. Save your money drive a light more economical lower co2 and more nimble camper. It's not an ur quattro!

 

[CaliDave]

Depends on the right foot - getting 35.5 mpg on average with a 4Motion 204bhp.

Usually hovers between 29 and 31.7mpg though have had 34.4mpg on a slow run on a T5.1

 

[California4x4]

Usually hovers between 29 and 31.7mpg though have had 34.4mpg on a slow run on a T5.1

I don’t calculate mine but the computer suggests that sort of figure on my 150 4Motion wearing BFGoodrich ski boots all year.

 

[WelshGas]

I'm on my 4th T5 /T6 and have never opted for the 4motion.we specialise in VW at our workshop in North Dorset and over the years have established approx a 4 to 5 mpg drop with 4 motion. It is predominantly 2 wheel drive not like the online quattro system permanent torsion diff. It only kicks in the rear when front slip is detected but the rest of the time you are hauling round about 200kg of redundant hardware.
We have a property in the Alps and once winter tyres are fitted have no problems with fwd
4x4 unless fitted to a very powerful car or proper off road vehicle its like wearing your ski boots all year just in case it snows.
If you intend off road adventures which would require other mods 4 motion is an unnecessary tick box. Save your money drive a light more economical lower co2 and more nimble camper. It's not an ur quattro!

Not quit correct. The split is 40 - 60 front to rear on the Transporter and varies from that point depending on traction requirements.

4MOTION All-Wheel-Drive Technology | VW Vans

Explore the Volkswagen’s 4MOTION technology, designed to maintain traction while off-road with improved road holding and safety in poor surface conditions

www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk

 

[WelshGas]

The above explains why a 4Motion Transporter tends to have reasonably equal tyre wear Front to Rear.

 

[SheffieldSteel]

Just trying to spec up our ideal first ever campervan. I thought I’d go for 4WD but at £3,246 + £750 for diff lock (to get the best out of it) + £120 Hill descent adds up to a whopping £4116
As much as I think it would be useful, even then I’d really need winter tyres anyway at further cost. Then there’s the additional fuel costs. It’s not really selling itself to me at this stage! I’ve read all the threads about it and it seems that those that have it love it, and those that don’t are probably thinking like I am!
so is it worth £4116?

It all depends what you use the Cali for. Lots have a Cali to go skiiing and 4Motion is useful in the alps. I launch a 6m boat and quite often the ramps are slippy and covered in slime. The 4Motion is brilliant and I've never had an issue getting the boat in or out and at the same time i've seen tractors struggle.

If you can afford it then buy it.

 

[Bjohnson]

I really wanted 4WD on our 2012 Cali when we ordered, but with a list of options and having to make budget choices it didn’t make it to the final order. 8 years of Cali 2wd ownership and i can only recall 2-3 occasions where it might have been worthwhile and they were all instances in wet slippery campsites (Mortehoe N. Devon) trying to access an isolated pitch up an incline. The 4WD option may have got us in, but with 18” wheels and standard road tyres still may not have been the case.

My mate has a 2014 4WD model so we regularly compare. He gets about 10mpg less than me but otherwise not too much to differentiate - he also has 18” road tyres.

We both tow boats from time to time with our Cali’s and he wanted the 4WD primarily for towing up slipways. But once again, i have so far not had any problems on slipways which sometimes feel very slippery underfoot but which my 2WD Cali never seems to struggle with (probably due to plenty of weight).

I haven’t done any winter snow trips - that may be the real test. We camped a lot over winter the first couple years we had our Cali, but we’ve got a bit lazy recently and done fewer winter trips (I plan on correcting that this winter!)

As others have said, tyres and ground clearance are probably the obvious limiting factors

 

[Aidy P]

Just made a 6.5hr trip back from France to North Yorkshire. Ok... motorway driving. But ... my goodness did my van feel planted and quick. More muppets on U.K. roads than in France. Appreciated the extra umpfh at speed. Unfortunately we needed to be quick to get our crossing after getting my 3 others ready this morning

 

[PhilR]

....But ... my goodness did my van feel planted and quick..

Which engine, and 4WD then?

 

[WelshGas]

Which engine, and 4WD then?

Look under Aidy P’s Avatar picture.

 

[Aidy P]

Which engine, and 4WD then?

204 4Motion DSG

I cruise as a camper most of the time but then happy to tank it when I need to. Glad to have the confidence on motorways and at junctions

 

[Simon D]

My current and last Calis have had 4motion. Most of the time I don’t need it. The times I did need it boy I was glad of it - we go in muddy fields we go in the alps in the winter we have been in just plain old hilly campsites in Spain and Italy in summer and been glad of the traction - if you can afford the £4K it’s worth it for the confidence that you won’t have to recover your 3 tonne van the hard way. I also drive a 110 defender I only get that stuck when I’m in the mood! Trust me I’m never in the mood to recover my Cali. Whatever you have buy good 4 season tyres they make all the difference.

 

[PeterS]

True. It was a rubbish question really wasn’t it! Sorry

Phil coming from Australia I don’t think it’s a rubbish question, the problem is you know you want 4WD and the other frippery, cars are never just logical decisions and if you DONT get the 4 Motion etc it will eat at you forever!
With the 4WD honestly you can go a lot of places without being frustrated and having to turn back.
If you keep the vehicle for say 5 years and expect to sell at about 50% of purchase price, the extra cost of the 4Motion is about £1.00 per day. A cup of coffee in Cardiff (CCC) costs £2.20, - a more compelling illustration of the economics of pleasure is hard to find. Use a ”keep cup” and the CCC plunges by close to £1.00 (The Deck Harrowby Street Cardiff).
Imagine the pain of foregoing your daily coffee? Well the only thing worse will be getting behind the wheel of a “coulda been 4 Motion” , baulking at wet grass, too afraid to approach a muddy lane with confidence, gazing wistfully with all the oldies in their Ford Fiestas parked up overlooking the wind blown sands where only Range Rovers, and VW 4 Motions dare to venture.

Plus, for £3.00 you and do what I’ve done and buy matching chrome lettering to announce on the tailgate that you are no wuss you’ve splashed the cash and can go ANYWHERE you feel like going, coffee and all.

 

[PhilR]

Look under Aidy P’s Avatar picture.

Using an iPhone so it doesn’t show. Although I just tried holding the phone in landscape mode and then it does!!!

 

[PhilR]

Phil coming from Australia I don’t think it’s a rubbish question, the problem is you know you want 4WD and the other frippery, cars are never just logical decisions.....

Very true!

 

[soulstyledevon]

Just go for it @PhilR ...
If I ever replace my current van, changing to a 4M is the only extra I would want over my current set-up...