5m vs 5.4m vs 6m whats the practical merits or otherwise.

[larrylamb]

Same advice to anyone thinking of buying a Cali or motorhome/pvc, rent one first to get the true feel of the vehicle.

 

[Drpps]

For us it is the width issue of PVC that is most problematic after the added height. We've been to Cornwall and the Lakes this year and on both occasions have been places with 6'6" width restrictions which we couldn't have got in a PVC. My folks have a 6m PVC and struggle to park it on occasion in tight car parks, mainly related to the wheelbase/turning circle. There is also the stealth appeal of the Cali too, plus the ability to use as a daily if needed/popping to the tip/moving a wardrobe. Agree with the rent one thing too. we did it twice although neither was a Cali but knew it would work for us after that. I suspect a 5.4m LWB Transporter is the best fit or have you considered the Nugget Plus?

 

[westfalia]

Just for my benefit and a couple of others this is an Amundsen.

 

[Jontymo]

Just for my benefit and a couple of others this is an Amundsen.

View attachment 68494

Lovely, just what we have ordered but in Imperial Blue

 

[TrevorH]

I've got a Jerba Sanna which uses Jerba's own elevating roof (it's not available from anybody else). I think they've used their own since about 2015 or 2016. They used to fit Reimo iirc, but decided that they could improve on aspects of the commercially available pop-tops. They have lots of info about it, and videos, on their website.

The van is a 2018 T6 LWB with the standard 16" steel wheels and no modifications. Jerba told me it would stay just under 2m. I've laid a plank across the fitted roof rails at the highest point and measured down to the ground and I made it 1.99m.

Reading this thread makes me ask why oh why VW don’t offer a LWB Cali. Surely a much better compromise for most than a Grand ? Must say that of the LWB conversion offers Jerba seems one of the best but wouldn’t even be looking there if the VW catalogue was a little different .

 

[NessL]

Reading this thread makes me ask why oh why VW don’t offer a LWB Cali. Surely a much better compromise for most than a Grand ? Must say that of the LWB conversion offers Jerba seems one of the best but wouldn’t even be looking there if the VW catalogue was a little different .

Also don’t understand why Cali doesn’t have hot water.

 

[Azteccamper]

Reading this thread makes me ask why oh why VW don’t offer a LWB Cali. Surely a much better compromise for most than a Grand ? Must say that of the LWB conversion offers Jerba seems one of the best but wouldn’t even be looking there if the VW catalogue was a little different .

My first camper was a converted lwb T5. Brilliant 5 pot engine and the extra space is still missed. And I never had a problem driving, parking, etc. but it made a big difference having the ‘extra’ 14 inches

 

[BrugseB]

My first camper was a converted lwb T5. Brilliant 5 pot engine and the extra space is still missed. And I never had a problem driving, parking, etc. but it made a big difference having the ‘extra’ 14 inches

Can't agree more... love the extra room in our Cali Exclusive; looked at the Kepler six LWB, but out of my budget at that time

 

[Wondering Star]

Have just sold our Cali and purchased a Hymer Grand Canyon S 6m PVC based on a Mercedes Sprinter and now covered over a 1000 miles I can conclude that vans like this gives you a far better camping experience over a longer season. However in my opinion they are not a daily driver so it depends how long and often you go away.
Sprinter is easy to drive, length not an issue with excellent reverse camera and being a Sprinter PVC not overly wide.

 

[westfalia]

....... Hymer Grand Canyon

 

[Georgiegirl]

Have just sold our Cali and purchased a Hymer Grand Canyon S 6m PVC based on a Mercedes Sprinter and now covered over a 1000 miles I can conclude that vans like this gives you a far better camping experience over a longer season. However in my opinion they are not a daily driver so it depends how long and often you go away.
Sprinter is easy to drive, length not an issue with excellent reverse camera and being a Sprinter PVC not overly wide.

Completely agree with this. We sold our Cali earlier this year and have aHymer Free 600S on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis and have the luxury of it being just a camping vehicle

 

[westfalia]

A Hymer free 600s

 

[Slowdriver]

Unlikely that you are short of info now, but for what its worth: Until last December we ran a 5.4m Bilbo Celex purchased in 2009 - so 10 years. We thought it an excellent vehicle ( biggest engine and auto) but I wanted a few extras in my dotage. Specifically our new requirements were:
A bathroom, with shower, basin and toilet; Hot water; Hot air diesel heating that would work at altitude; Two longitudinal beds so that we didn't need to disturb each other in the night taking a pee; large engine and auto for the mountains; plenty of headroom; plenty of storage; winterised ideally with a double floor; ability to carry plenty of wine
(currently not going to be a real benefit unless Boris gets to his sunlit uplands via a deal of some sort, and not even then necessarily since there will be limits - probably 6 bottles, but nowhere near the 100 bottles plus we used to bring back in the T5.)
Hob and sink; 90l compressor fridge; 200 watts of solar and 150amp battery

This set of requirements translated, after two visits to the Dusseldorf Camper Salon in 2018 and 2019, with the rather esoteric purchase of a La Strada Avanti EB. La Strada have no UK dealership currently and none in prospect, however Fiat support is expensive and the build quality exceeds Hymer IMO.
So I imported in April this year. The La Strada EB sits on, what I thought would be a probably more problematic platform than the VW - the new Fiat Ducato 6.4m Maxi (4 ton) chassis, with the largest engine and nine speed auto box. This decision was taken after two exploratory visits to Camper Salon, including a hard look at the prototype and production versions of the GC, with which we were unfortunately, very disappointed, and was rejected, despite the probably superior VW platform and neat styling, because of the frankly pitiful storage, and quickly concluded it was, for the money, a triumph of style over content. I will be very surprised if most of you don't disagree. It was a real contender and our favourite option until the second trip to Düsseldorf and the examination of the production version.

Below are some comparisons:

VW T5 LWB 2009
length 5.3 metres
height 2.00m with roof shut
2.46m open
Open with the subsequently added roof rack 2.7m
width 2.035m
Tech. admis. total mass when fully loaded 3000 kg
Turning circle: 13.2m
Engine 2.5 litres
128kW + 3500rpm

La Strada Avanti EB 2020

Length 6360 mm (just 1.1m over the LWB VW T5)
Width 2050 mm (15mm over the VW LWB T5)
Height 2890 mm (430mm more than the T5)
Wheelbase 4040 mm
Tech. admis. total mass when fully loaded 4000 kg
Fresh Water Tank 100 litres
Waste Water Tank ± 90litres
Turning Circle 15.3m
Engine 2.3 litres
130 kW + 3500rpm


I agree with some of the other comments about the VW T5 LWB. We never found it a problem, in ten years, to use in town, going to the supermarket etc. We spent a lot of time in the Alps and could get to the highest carparks without any problems. The extra 0.3 metres in length did mean that occasionally we could not get into a space in town that we could have if we had been in the 5m VW. However I never thought that to be practical issue. Would always find a space eventually.
In evaluating our normal alpine use against the extra length of the La Strada we "hope" that we can still get to the high carparks without too many problems but have been unable to test that theory because of COVID and my wife's holiday schedule. We think that at least one normal favoured space at Bionnasy will be off limits.
The new autobox on the 2020 Ducato is exceptionally smooth - smoother than the T5 auto Tiptronic 6 speed (unsuprisingly). The big engine gives us plenty of oomph considering we are pushing over 3500kg up the hills. So as usual in these matters it all depends on your intended use. We wanted to go winter camping in the snow. With the best will in the world doing that in Covid conditions or even without, would be a bit of an ask without good heating, hot water, and decent storage space, considering the amount of junk we seem to need in the winter. For a spring trip to Italy staying on campsites, the Bilbo was never a problem, although we were banging at the weight limits with the wine.

Unlikely that you are short of info now, but for what its worth: Until last December we ran a 5.4m Bilbo Celex purchased in 2009 - so 10 years. We thought it an excellent vehicle ( biggest engine and auto) but I wanted a few extras in my dotage. Specifically our new requirements were:
A bathroom, with shower, basin and toilet; Hot water; Hot air diesel heating that would work at altitude; Two longitudinal beds so that we didn't need to disturb each other in the night taking a pee; large engine and auto for the mountains; plenty of headroom; plenty of storage; winterised ideally with a double floor; ability to carry plenty of wine
(currently not going to be a real benefit unless Boris gets to his sunlit uplands via a deal of some sort, and not even then necessarily since there will be limits - probably 6 bottles, but nowhere near the 100 bottles plus we used to bring back in the T5.)
Hob and sink; 90l compressor fridge; 200 watts of solar and 150amp battery

This set of requirements translated, after two visits to the Dusseldorf Camper Salon in 2018 and 2019, with the rather esoteric purchase of a La Strada Avanti EB. La Strada have no UK dealership currently and none in prospect, however Fiat support is expensive and the build quality exceeds Hymer IMO.
So I imported in April this year. The La Strada EB sits on, what I thought would be a probably more problematic platform than the VW - the new Fiat Ducato 6.4m Maxi (4 ton) chassis, with the largest engine and nine speed auto box. This decision was taken after two exploratory visits to Camper Salon, including a hard look at the prototype and production versions of the GC, with which we were unfortunately, very disappointed, and was rejected, despite the probably superior VW platform and neat styling, because of the frankly pitiful storage, and quickly concluded it was, for the money, a triumph of style over content. I will be very surprised if most of you don't disagree. It was a real contender and our favourite option until the second trip to Düsseldorf and the examination of the production version.

Below are some comparisons:

VW T5 LWB 2009
length 5.3 metres
height 2.00m with roof shut
2.46m open
Open with the subsequently added roof rack 2.7m
width 2.035m
Tech. admis. total mass when fully loaded 3000 kg
Turning circle: 13.2m
Engine 2.5 litres
128kW + 3500rpm

La Strada Avanti EB 2020

Length 6360 mm (just 1.1m over the LWB VW T5)
Width 2050 mm (15mm over the VW LWB T5)
Height 2890 mm (430mm more than the T5)
Wheelbase 4040 mm
Tech. admis. total mass when fully loaded 4000 kg
Fresh Water Tank 100 litres
Waste Water Tank ± 90litres
Turning Circle 15.3m
Engine 2.3 litres
130 kW + 3500rpm


I agree with some of the other comments about the VW T5 LWB. We never found it a problem, in ten years, to use in town, going to the supermarket etc. We spent a lot of time in the Alps and could get to the highest carparks without any problems. The extra 0.3 metres in length did mean that occasionally we could not get into a space in town that we could have if we had been in the 5m VW. However I never thought that to be practical issue. Would always find a space eventually.
In evaluating our normal alpine use against the extra length of the La Strada we "hope" that we can still get to the high carparks without too many problems but have been unable to test that theory because of COVID and my wife's holiday schedule. We think that at least one normal favoured space at Bionnasy will be off limits.
The new autobox on the 2020 Ducato is exceptionally smooth - smoother than the T5 auto Tiptronic 6 speed (unsuprisingly). The big engine gives us plenty of oomph considering we are pushing over 3500kg up the hills. So as usual in these matters it all depends on your intended use. We wanted to go winter camping in the snow. With the best will in the world doing that in Covid conditions or even without, would be a bit of an ask without good heating, hot water, and decent storage space, considering the amount of junk we seem to need in the winter. For a spring trip to Italy staying on campsites, the Bilbo was never a problem, although we were banging at the weight limits with the wine.

```````should read Fiat support is EXTENSIVE rather than EXPENSIve

 

[Legin]

Appreciate you taking the time to explain how you arrived at the Le Strada. Also interesting that the 9 speed auto is a big positive for the Ducato chassis as the previous box and manual seem to get iffy press. I agree the GC is a non starter for many of the reasons you cite. I think the Sven hedin is a superior product if the VW chassis is a must. I would probably max at 6m though. Food for thought.

 

[Phase one]

We went through the same deliberations to Slowdriver and our wish list was similar - all year round trips, insulation (including tanks), on board toilet shower and bathroom, hot water, comfortable double sized bed.

We looked at lots of options. La Strada and Murvi vehicles were very high on the shortlist but we finally went for the Wingamm Micros which ticked all the boxes, and also gave us a VW base, a fully insulated monocoque construction, a 5.4m length on a short wheelbase of 3m (so same as a Cali), and 4 motion. With a solar panel on top and the 3 way fridge we can be “off grid” long term too. It suits our needs perfectly.

Sadly, VW have not been producing the 6.1 cab-only base for AlKo and Wingamm to work their magic, so you cannot buy one new at present and second hand ones are extremely rare.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Slowdriver]

Appreciate you taking the time to explain how you arrived at the Le Strada. Also interesting that the 9 speed auto is a big positive for the Ducato chassis as the previous box and manual seem to get iffy press. I agree the GC is a non starter for many of the reasons you cite. I think the Sven hedin is a superior product if the VW chassis is a must. I would probably max at 6m though. Food for thought.

We liked the Sven Hedrin a lot . In the end we thought the build, customisation options, and space allocation were better with the la Strada. We would maybe have bought the wesfalia if there were not availability issues at the time. Price wise they were I think a little more expensive than the la Strada.

 

[Slowdriver]

We went through the same deliberations to Slowdriver and our wish list was similar - all year round trips, insulation (including tanks), on board toilet shower and bathroom, hot water, comfortable double sized bed.

We looked at lots of options. La Strada and Murvi vehicles were very high on the shortlist but we finally went for the Wingamm Micros which ticked all the boxes, and also gave us a VW base, a fully insulated monocoque construction, a 5.4m length on a short wheelbase of 3m (so same as a Cali), and 4 motion. With a solar panel on top and the 3 way fridge we can be “off grid” long term too. It suits our needs perfectly.

Sadly, VW have not been producing the 6.1 cab-only base for AlKo and Wingamm to work their magic, so you cannot buy one new at present and second hand ones are extremely rare.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have never heard of it.If I had I would, by the looks of it, the had a look. I guess it has transverse beds?

 

[Phase one]

Slowdriver- they are very rare, so I’m not surprised you had not heard of the Micros- It has a clever cantilever longitudinal double drop down bed - 350kg weight capacity (!) that you push up into the ceiling with the bedding during the daytime. Downside is that the drop down bed overlaps the sitting area. With the bed down the cab seats are the only seats still available.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Slowdriver]

Slowdriver- they are very rare, so I’m not surprised you had not heard of the Micros- It has a clever cantilever longitudinal double drop down bed - 350kg weight capacity (!) that you push up into the ceiling with the bedding during the daytime. Downside is that the drop down bed overlaps the sitting area. With the bed down the cab seats are the only seats still available.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Well that's a neat way of getting a big bed in a 3500kg in 5.4m van.

 

[Dave Wickham]

Am I the only one who doesn't know what a PVC is?

Poly Vinyl Chloride, a tenuous link with a campervan??