Beach with 4motion and high output tdi

Grimsa · Nov 3, 2018

Hello All,
Long time browser, first post, not yet a Cali owner.
Great forum, read lots of really useful information. Thanks.
Over last 18 month I've hired Cali ocean 204 with 4motion, full on Ducato and a Kombi.
I am ready to leap and think I want a beach 204 / 199 with 4motion. And that people is where I am stuck. If we had them in the Uk I would probably be an owner by now.
This will be a daily driver, used as a weekend van with the family and for mountain bike trips loaded with kit and mates hence needing the flex of a beach layout.
My dilemma is do I get a beach 150 FWD or do I get a LHD beach 4Motion 204?
Both feel like a compromise. Which feels wrong for a 40k+ purchase.

I'm curious what others experience has been? Have you had FWD and got stuck off-road wishing you had 4motion? or who has had 4motion and now feel never really needed it? I'm guessing no one with a 204 wishes they had a 150?

WelshGas · Nov 4, 2018

Grimsa said:
Hello All,
Long time browser, first post, not yet a Cali owner.
Great forum, read lots of really useful information. Thanks.
Over last 18 month I've hired Cali ocean 204 with 4motion, full on Ducato and a Kombi.
I am ready to leap and think I want a beach 204 / 199 with 4motion. And that people is where I am stuck. If we had them in the Uk I would probably be an owner by now.
This will be a daily driver, used as a weekend van with the family and for mountain bike trips loaded with kit and mates hence needing the flex of a beach layout.
My dilemma is do I get a beach 150 FWD or do I get a LHD beach 4Motion 204?
Both feel like a compromise. Which feels wrong for a 40k+ purchase.

I'm curious what others experience has been? Have you had FWD and got stuck off-road wishing you had 4motion? or who has had 4motion and now feel never really needed it? I'm guessing no one with a 204 wishes they had a 150?

The 150 with the CORRECT tyres will be fine. So choose, as a minimum, All Season tyres, for at least summer use, and depending on the possible winter conditions in your area possibly a set of winter tyres. With that combination you should be able to cope with most/all grassy wet campsites or tracks.
The Beach is obviously lighter than the Ocean so the less powerful engine will cope well, especially as a daily driver.

If you require more power then there is always the possibility of a future remap.

Ting Tong · Nov 5, 2018

I had a T5 180ps 4motion kombi and never felt glad I had I’d got 4motion in the 3 years that I had it. In fact I wished I’d saved the cost and benefited from better fuel consumption which averaged just under 24mpg.

Our ocean is 204 but not 4motion and I think the only time i might miss it is in ice and snow but I’m hoping we can manage our planned late autumn Scandinavian trip with good winter tyres: I have spare wheel rims already. I haven’t driven a 150 but the 204 is very quick and can wheel spin the front wheels when pulling away. We were on a very wet and hilly campsite last week and it coped effortlessly, whereas others were churning up the grass. Bear in mind that the 4motion reduces the payload of what’s essentially a T30 base vehicle. Have you looked at what VW Ireland offers as it will be RHD - I know they do the coast which you can’t get here.

Legin · Nov 5, 2018

I think rhd wins out over 4 motion and 199 and Im buying a 4 motion 199. The antidote as above is to spend more on tyres with some of the money you saved.

I had a lhd car in the UK and it really is a pita as a daily especially overtaking.

parrot2 · Nov 5, 2018

Welcome to the forum. Driving style and the right tyres make a lot of difference when the going is soft. Four wheel drive can slide just as well as two wheel drive if you get it wrong.

sapto · Nov 5, 2018

Welcome Grimsa

No 4m here but an old 2.5 tdi fwd 131 hp. Never been offroad (exept campingground or gras), snows here a lot, doing some wintersport so chains are already prep and loaded, mtb is also great but usually starting point is not up the hills (we do not need it to shuttle). I sometimes wish more hp but until now we could manage it without 4wd.
As above: driving, tyres and where you‘re going is important.
Maybe in the future or next van will be a 4wd...I start saving

Wish you find your van which fits most of your wishes and hope the camping fun starts soon!

Grimsa · Nov 5, 2018

Thanks all for replies. My thoughts before posting were leaning gently towards FWD 150 rather than LHD 199 4Motion. You all seem to point the same way. And I had'nt actually considered tyre performance, just so used to throwing summer tyres on the car which is fine for my local Dorset climate year round. Reading some more about tyres looks like they can make a real difference.
In reality most of our first year adventures will likely be within the UK, so on balance FWD Uk 150 beach it is!
Now the easy part - finding one!
Thanks again all.

CALI FATE · Nov 5, 2018

i have a 150 beach 2wd - probably would have bought a 4wd if it was an option - but not bothered now i have 3 years / 50k miles under the belt - i am an avid off-roader and touch wood have not got stuck yet - although very nearly in Greece last summer - i have been surprised how good it is at getting out of tricky spots - mainly because it has good ground clearance. Wet grass is probably the worst stuff, steep hills and sandy bumpy rocky roads seem to be fine. I recommend the standard 16" alloys with standard van type tyres - they are tough and last 30k miles on the front / 50k plus on the rear - i bought a second set for £300 (new wheels and tyres) and have gradually upgraded to winter tyres. So i have two sets - winter and summer. i have looked at the off road tyres, but although they look good and will improve off road options, they are heavy on MPG for long tours, and a compromise in snow / wintery conditions. i am getting some chains this year, and reckon i should have all the bases covered - if i was to replace it id go for a 150 2wd again

Velma's Dad · Nov 5, 2018

In three years I've thought 4WD would be really nice on just two occasions. Once on a very steep gravel roadway where I crabbed sideways almost into a ditch while trying to get traction, and once on a mossy bit of Scottish turf where I nearly got properly stuck. Both times I should have been a bit more circumspect before getting myself into those spots, of course.

+1 for Welsh Gas's comments on tyres.

A couple of years ago I asked some local taxi drivers up in an Austrian ski resort what the spec of their T5 vans was. It turns out none of them bother with 4-Motion, but winter tyres were crucial.

Kruger · Nov 10, 2018

Grimsa said:
Thanks all for replies. My thoughts before posting were leaning gently towards FWD 150 rather than LHD 199 4Motion. You all seem to point the same way. And I had'nt actually considered tyre performance, just so used to throwing summer tyres on the car which is fine for my local Dorset climate year round. Reading some more about tyres looks like they can make a real difference.
In reality most of our first year adventures will likely be within the UK, so on balance FWD Uk 150 beach it is!
Now the easy part - finding one!
Thanks again all.

PM sent

Kruger · Nov 10, 2018

Hang on, I might as well make it public.

I am considering selling our 2015 Beach with 30k on, 2wd, DSG right hand drive! It has the night heater, bike rack and new all season tyres (after a lot of research I went for the Michelin CrossClimate). Silver with Brandrup seat covers and all the other bits. It's just been serviced at VW Loughton and I'm open to offers. Currently in central SE London.

Borris · Nov 10, 2018

You'll be fine with a 150ps fwd Beach. I have one and it's fine on both the traction and power fronts. I do have a set of steel wheels with winter tyres which go on when the temperatures drop as summer tyres don't cope well in very low temperatures. I have never needed 4 motion on this vehicle or for that matter my previous Cali which was a 180 dsg 4 Motion (ex demo so I didn't order the 4motion option). I can only think of two occasions where four wheel drive would have been useful in over forty seven years of driving all sorts of vehicles including HGVs. So in my view it's better to spend the money elsewhere. In the unlikely event that you get stuck, then the few pounds that it might cost you to have your vehicle towed out will represent a massive saving over the thousands that 4 motion will cost you to purchase and have serviced. Just don't drive into situations where you run the risk of getting stuck!

IMO right hand drive and a set of winter tyres are a much more important than 4 motion on a Beach. The other thing to remember is that you won't be able to have the seven seat version if that was your plan. The 4 Motion prohibits the two extra seats.

Grimsa · Feb 25, 2019

Thanks again to everyone that responded on this thread. Picked up our Beach 3 weeks ago. So far 2 weekends away and 1k miles driven. Absolutely chuffed to bits with it.