Hi David,
I have to agree wholeheartedly with your concerns re the ride quality. For A-roads and the motorway it's perfect but step off and it becomes a far less pleasant experience.
Judging by some of the not so helpful comments you have received I do wonder when people have spent 40k plus on a van, the rose tinted glasses come out regarding any negative comments!
Either that or they have had no experience of driving a small camper van with a decent suspension setup. Yes it's a van, it will never handle like a car but neither should it handle like a boat!
Clearly like you I'm very disappointed with the back road handling of the Cali on standard set up, loads of wallow and roll but oddly still 'crashy' over bumps so I am biding my time before deciding which way to go. Thankfully it hasn't tarnished my view of the van, I have just adapted my driving to plod along the lanes really slowly (which isn't a bad thing), mainly to avoid my daughter getting too green around the gills! We've had some fantastic trips this year and having made this purchase as a long termer I take the view that it's something I need to address, albeit annoying having to fork out money at this price level!
Firstly, I know many people 'rate' the VW lowering route but it's my opinion that isn't really fixing the problem, it's just masking the symptoms. I think the poor shocks are most of the problem along with a too softly sprung rear end. Yes lowering it with a stiffer spring set will help the roll but will certainly not aid with the 'crash' over bumps. VW should offer a solution to this which does not involve lowering.
Personally I don't think VW quite finished the job.
They took a caravelle, sent it off to Hanover, cut a big hole in it and filled it with lots of lovely but heavy goodies. A quick wizz round the car park, then off to the marketing dept. What they failed to do was to spend any time (money) investigating what the impact of creating such a top heavy van weighing 2.6 tonnes might have on the suspension. Following a little research at the dealers going through all the spring/shock part numbers applicable to the T5 in all it's various guises highlighted an interesting fact. Given the numerous variants of both the springs and shocks available, the UK Cali comes with the bog standard 'least weight rated' panel van spring & shock combo with the only dealer option to swap to the lowered sportline springs! The more workhorse T30 and T32 panel vans have progressively more 'uprated' suspension but I doubt they spend as much of their time as laden as the Cali! VW also offer an off road super HD spring/shock option for the Cali, but not over here although anything can be ordered given the part numbers, now that I'd like to try! (I believe our forum member from Chile has this option given the state of roads out there)
Ideally I wouldn't want to lower the van but I'm not wholeheartedly against it to get the desired result. With a bit of trawling on the German Cali/T5 forums, there's plenty of Cali owners over there who agree the ride quality should be better but alas no leading solution. The Bilstein B14s do get positive reviews, as does to a lesser extent, the non coilover B12 kit. (same Eibach springs as VW sportline plus Bilstein uprated shocks).
One thing that gets universal praise and seems a no brainer is to upgrade to the VW uprated antiroll bars to help with the body roll. VW Germany actually offer this on the options list for their Cali's. Why not here?!!! I know you can get the aftermarket H&R ARB kit but the genuine VW version is cheaper plus you can buy them individually front & rear.
I ordered and fitted this uprated VW rear arb (£102+vat). I didn't do the front as it's a lot more faff to fit and the benefit is minimal compared to the rear upgrade. An easy 20 minute swap over and £120 well spent with a very noticeable improvement re the roll and pitching with no negative impact to the crashing over bumps. By the way, these arbs are fitted as standard to the Edition 25 Caravelle vans so no invalidating warranty issues. (FWIW if anyone wants a howto/part nos I'll do a separate thread)
So my thinking is stiffer rear springs and better damped shocks all round (I think all standard Calis look like they sag at the rear end). There are companies out there such as Pedders that specialise in the 'heavy' T5s such ambulances and camper vans, they even supply Westfalia, odd that!
Http://www.pedders.co.uk/files_vw_transportert5
For a cheaper option, it could be worth trying a set of rear springs from the T32 (cheap as chips on eBay) and then combining with some decent HD dampers all round, either the Bilstein B6s or the Sachs HD. (the later were fantastic for the VW T4, a camper that handles great). Ultimately I'm sure VW has a more suitable set of shocks/springs sitting on their shelves given the multiple options available but who's going to take a punt on those when the dealers can't supply any information re their differences or likely impact.
As to where to spend the cash it's all bit of a gamble as so few people have done stuff to their highly prized Calis. I don't have the time or wallet to experiment as to what works best (as VW should have done) so I think I'll probably end up going the B14 coilover route. At least you get full adjustability (so can retain a proper ride height) along with the tried and tested Bilstein quality. Unfortunately that'll cost a cool £1100 at Vanstyle but you do get them fitted for that. Brendan, a forum member on here, had them fitted and has given very positive feedback re ride improvement.
Anyhow, enough waffle.... Stick with it David, try and think of it not as your van's fault, (which is so good at all the other stuff), but just those pesky VW big cheeses counting the euros and not going for a drive!
Cheers, Will.
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