(68 reg) Disappointing test drive. Could use experienced input.

[vananarama]

I’ve got a 150 Beach, the steering is by no means heavy with the standard wheels on mine. That’s with the VW lowering springs although they don’t make it especially low.

Power wise it’s not especially fast, although it does pull away perfectly well and you have to put your foot down and wait for a lower gear to get any significant acceleration at higher speeds. Having said that it’s fine cruising as NSL or motorway speeds.

I’d go with Nolan on this. And steering is the same (ie light) as it was on my T5 Kombi.

It’s a van - I’d have said it’s fast enough (it’ll cruise at 90, you can beat most people off at the lights (in an automatic; admittedly they don’t realise it’s a race), and you can overtake on fast country roads but not like I did in my Alfa 156 – it takes more planning and there are inevitably fewer opportunities to overtake safely).

Think about lowering it every week as I know it’ll improve cornering, but quite like the original look/height.


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[Skyflier]

Hello, Anne here.

It’s been ages, what with one thing and another. After an off-putting experience with JCT600 in Hull, we bought a Berlingo to turn into a micro-camper, and used the money saved to put towards a house purchase, which duly fell through. It’s been that kind of a year. It is a surprisingly nice car, in excellent condition with a lovely online community, but isn’t really working for “fun” family trips out. It did bring it home to us though that really, for our fam, a California Beach might be a better bet.

So when a Beach came up locally to us, we popped out for a drive. And we’re really disappointed. We’ve only ever hired an Auto DSG 199, and despite the lighter load, the Beach’s 150 felt really sluggish. The power steering also felt heavy. Now, I know the Berlingo is a very flighty, (and frankly irritatingly over-engineered) car, but I do own a 65 TDI Auto Golf, and the steering was heavier than that, especially when reversing or doing a 3-point turn. Which is not my experience with the 2017 199 DSG auto California Ocean.

Is this what is to be expected from a 150 PS engine? (I would never have dared to put my foot to the floor of the 199, but even when I did in this one, it just didn’t respond much).
Is this the Auto aspect in the 150 making the acceleration so sluggish? Would it be better as a manual? (I’d be prepared to consider it).
Do you think this is a vehicle fault with this particular van?
Or is this a new bit of engineering since 2018 that is ruining the driving experience, and could be tuned out or fixed?

We live in Lincolnshire, with some of the most treacherous roads in the country. Being able to put your foot down and get out of trouble is quite essential. If this is to be expected from the 150, then we’re off to drive some Oceans.

*****George will be pleased, so please don’t hesitate to be honest*****

I have owned a California beach 150 since 2018. It goes like a rocket even loaded and the steering is light. So maybe something is not right with the one you tried!!

 

[GeorgeandAnne]

I also test drove a 150 DSG before purchase, it was a Multivan version, comparable, if not heavier, with a cali beach.

I was disappointed as well. It almost put me off the california route. I thought it was nervous, not having traction. To my feelings it wasn't the 150bhp that felt slow (in this short testdrive), it was the traction. I never drove FWD car before, and found myself loosing traction in every only slightly uphill start, or when 'quick inserting into traffic'. Especially the DSG feels nervous at start.

So I did decide on a 204 4motion. I would have settled with 150DSG 4motion, but as I had an opportunity I took it, and it had 204bhp. Now after 7months of use, being used to the car and it's use (restrictions), I still think 150bhp should be enough, even for this heavier Ocean, untill you find yourself in the mountains (which is only the case on longer trips).
As I expected, coming from 6yo mercedes midclass car, everything in a mercedes car (and i mean really everything) is more refined in working manners, from door-slam-feel over auto boxes and especially all electronics, even when comparing 6yo versus new vw. That is untill you make use of the camping part offcourse.

So FWIW, relatively the berlingo is a 'hot hatch' while the California is more of a sedan or luxury car.
Hot hatches can do with 4cylinders (even 3), while luxury cars must have 6 to mask their size and weight.

As for the steering, it doesn't sound normal. When I occasionally get back to my old 2001 Mercedes (the van is the daily runner), now that is heavy steering. It also has shortage of traction though, at 350+bhp to just 2 rear wheels.

Hope this can be of some use for you, as I recognized the story.

Thanks @dctrl for the reply and for your experiences when test driving. I think you're right in that a lot of one's expectations during a test drive depends on what you've driven before. We've been driving the Berlingo for a while now and it has very responsive steering at certain speeds (maybe a lot too twitchy for my tastes that sometimes needs constantly adjusting), and our previous experiences of driving aT6 Ocean was always with 199 or 204.

As others have said on this thread, you'll either adjust to the 150PS the more you drive it, or you'll know that it's a deal breaker for you and you need more power to be able to enjoy it. We've test driven 3 more Californias since our original post and I think the power is becoming less of an issue the more we drive.

On reflection we think the 150PS would be fine for us once we had gotten used to it. It all depends what the rest of the van offers up against getting a reasonable price.

Thanks again.

 

[GeorgeandAnne]

I have owned a California beach 150 since 2018. It goes like a rocket even loaded and the steering is light. So maybe something is not right with the one you tried!!

Thanks @Skyflier for the reply. Glad to know that there are Beaches out there that don't hang around We've test driven a few more Cali's since the original post and found quite a variation.

On the last Beach we drove I remembered to try Sports Mode on a dual carriageway and that definitely made a difference (extra fuel + revs required)

 

[GeorgeandAnne]

Correct tyre pressures would be edit:
46psi refer to the photo in the link I have attached
, if the van was loaded that could increase

the correct tyre pressures for the relevant tyre size are shown on a sticker on the B pillar (just below the door catch ) open the drivers door and look at the B pillar.

Tyre pressure

Hi We are about to embark on our first holiday away. We have a California Beach (Feb 15) and we've never check the tyre pressure. We were about to do it today but confused about the correct pressure that they need to be at. Our tyres are 215/65R 16C 106/104T and the table on the chassis gives...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Thanks @Perfectos for the reply. I remembered this when we went to test drive some other Cali's and it definitely came in handy over the last week or so

 

[Perfectos]

Thanks @Perfectos for the reply. I remembered this when we went to test drive some other Cali's and it definitely came in handy over the last week or so

Do you Now own a Beach?
I see your profile has changed to “T6 Beach 150”

 

[Skyflier]

Yes I’ve owned a Beach for 3years plus. So far been excellent. There are a few rattles which are standard unfortunately. The first problem was squeak of chairs in the boot this was solved by lining carpet used in van conversions. This biggest noise was the awning which I’ve given up on despite all the recommendations. But overall it’s a great vehicle very versatile. We haven’t used it to it’s full extent because of covid but also because of my wife’s progressive disability can’t use it as a camper. The other problem I found buying from new. Taking it to SMG Cowfold for warranty work was awful. customer services was/is awful mainly attitude.

 

[ArunAlec]

Yes I’ve owned a Beach for 3years plus. So far been excellent. There are a few rattles which are standard unfortunately. The first problem was squeak of chairs in the boot this was solved by lining carpet used in van conversions. This biggest noise was the awning which I’ve given up on despite all the recommendations. But overall it’s a great vehicle very versatile. We haven’t used it to it’s full extent because of covid but also because of my wife’s progressive disability can’t use it as a camper. The other problem I found buying from new. Taking it to SMG Cowfold for warranty work was awful. customer services was/is awful mainly attitude.

Sad to hear you had issues with SMG. l‘ve started using Breeze Portsmouth.

 

[GeorgeandAnne]

Do you Now own a Beach?
I see your profile has changed to “T6 Beach 150”

Yes! We went and test drove a few, and got one. We got a 2 seater bench. Now for all the fun and games with everything else. Sadly she doesn’t yet have parking heating, so we’ve been grounded a bit by the weather. But by mid-March that should be sorted. So very much looking forward to it.


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