Black beach with a few modifications finally received! 8 months later

thesquirrelpatrol · Oct 22, 2016

hi folks,

Just wanted to share the happy news that my black beach has finally arrived (arrived at the start of September but i was on holiday and I was getting a few custom mods done so only collected last week)

for anyone that's interested I had the back and sides debadged (did the beach logo myself really easy with a hairdryer!)
I've also had the black Matt plastic bits and chrome grille removed and body coloured which I think looks a lot better particularly in black. Took off the Clayton factory alloys and have mounted 20" abt with 275/40 tyres and happily have not noticed any real difference in ride comfort compared to my previous van which had the 18" sportlines.

Really happy with the spec, dsg and add are amazing if not a bit scary at first!
The comfort dash and interior of this compared to my previous t5.1 beach is in my opinion a million times better and definitely feels less like a van and more like a £50k car should.

Had a few teething problems; one of the climatronic air con control buttons when pushed in stays pushed in, the auto headlights seem to bring the side lights on pretty much all the time - is there a light level adjustment to stop this as I have yet to drive it during the day with just the daytime running leds on?
I got a message on the media centre when I pressed the voice control button that I needed Vw to enter an activation key to let it function, anyone else had this?

Other than that I'm very very impressed with the changes from the t5.1.

Can't wait to get out camping now!

daveyboydanger · Oct 22, 2016

thesquirrelpatrol said:
View attachment 17209 hi folks,

Just wanted to share the happy news that my black beach has finally arrived (arrived at the start of September but i was on holiday and I was getting a few custom mods done so only collected last week)

for anyone that's interested I had the back and sides debadged (did the beach logo myself really easy with a hairdryer!)
I've also had the black Matt plastic bits and chrome grille removed and body coloured which I think looks a lot better particularly in black. Took off the Clayton factory alloys and have mounted 20" abt with 275/40 tyres and happily have not noticed any real difference in ride comfort compared to my previous van which had the 18" sportlines.

Really happy with the spec, dsg and add are amazing if not a bit scary at first!
The comfort dash and interior of this compared to my previous t5.1 beach is in my opinion a million times better and definitely feels less like a van and more like a £50k car should.

Had a few teething problems; one of the climatronic air con control buttons when pushed in stays pushed in, the auto headlights seem to bring the side lights on pretty much all the time - is there a light level adjustment to stop this as I have yet to drive it during the day with just the daytime running leds on?
I got a message on the media centre when I pressed the voice control button that I needed Vw to enter an activation key to let it function, anyone else had this?

Other than that I'm very very impressed with the changes from the t5.1.

Can't wait to get out camping now!

View attachment 17210

Looks the business. That's how to rock a black Cali! I think getting rid of the chrome strip at the front it a good choice. May end up doing something similar on my yellow to keep it black and yellow only.

Kano · Oct 22, 2016

Killer look... !!!

daz60 · Oct 22, 2016

thesquirrelpatrol said:
View attachment 17209 hi folks,

Just wanted to share the happy news that my black beach has finally arrived (arrived at the start of September but i was on holiday and I was getting a few custom mods done so only collected last week)

for anyone that's interested I had the back and sides debadged (did the beach logo myself really easy with a hairdryer!)
I've also had the black Matt plastic bits and chrome grille removed and body coloured which I think looks a lot better particularly in black. Took off the Clayton factory alloys and have mounted 20" abt with 275/40 tyres and happily have not noticed any real difference in ride comfort compared to my previous van which had the 18" sportlines.

Really happy with the spec, dsg and add are amazing if not a bit scary at first!
The comfort dash and interior of this compared to my previous t5.1 beach is in my opinion a million times better and definitely feels less like a van and more like a £50k car should.

Had a few teething problems; one of the climatronic air con control buttons when pushed in stays pushed in, the auto headlights seem to bring the side lights on pretty much all the time - is there a light level adjustment to stop this as I have yet to drive it during the day with just the daytime running leds on?
I got a message on the media centre when I pressed the voice control button that I needed Vw to enter an activation key to let it function, anyone else had this?

Other than that I'm very very impressed with the changes from the t5.1.

Can't wait to get out camping now!

View attachment 17210

Looks like it was worth the wait, great looking van. Happy times ahead

T6 CFO · Oct 22, 2016

You obviously knew what look you were after. I loved the white surfer van and the black mean looking van looks great as well. Which tells me it's not so much the colour as getting the look right.

Mike

Days out · Oct 22, 2016

Hi Squirrel. That Cali is looking very sorted. The ABT rims look excellent. I think they would look even better if you dropped the van an inch or so. - but I guess you want the ground clearance?

Interesting that you went for 40 section tyres. Guessing they don't rub on full lock? Does it make much difference to the speedo reading?

But I agree that the gloss black front bumper intake and grille really look good and very modern. Where did you get these changes done? Was it easy to fit/do? I would like to get my lower front bumper intake done in gloss black I must admit.

Anyway great van and great look. You must be very happy with it!

Del Boy · Oct 23, 2016

Congratulations on your new arrival, looks the business :thumb

. Like your choice in wheels . A tailgate spoiler would Finnish it off , get out camping and enjoy

Teejay · Oct 24, 2016

Looking good and especially like the de-badged look. Considering going for this myself if I can sell it to my good lady,

thesquirrelpatrol · Oct 31, 2016

Days out said:
Hi Squirrel. That Cali is looking very sorted. The ABT rims look excellent. I think they would look even better if you dropped the van an inch or so. - but I guess you want the ground clearance?

Interesting that you went for 40 section tyres. Guessing they don't rub on full lock? Does it make much difference to the speedo reading?

But I agree that the gloss black front bumper intake and grille really look good and very modern. Where did you get these changes done? Was it easy to fit/do? I would like to get my lower front bumper intake done in gloss black I must admit.

Anyway great van and great look. You must be very happy with it!

Thanks! I'm really chuffed with it. Went for the 40 profile tyres on the advice of the guys That sold me them. On inspection under full lock they just clear but I've got to be honest and say that depending how fast I'm going when turning I have noticed what feels or sounds like rubbing. Not sure what to do at this point as replacing all 4 tyres for 35s sounds costly and then I'm left with 4 virtually new tyres!
I thought about lowering but not sure it's a good idea as we tend to go down pretty rough back roads when wild camping.

The paintwork woes carried out via Vw Edinburgh, the guy they got to do it has made a great job and I think it really finishes the front off, I really don't know why Vw went with the Matt plastic on this one, for me it's a step backwards aesthetically from the t5.1 and think it's a silly little detail they could've made look a lot better on a £50k vehicle.

WelshGas · Oct 31, 2016

thesquirrelpatrol said:
Thanks! I'm really chuffed with it. Went for the 40 profile tyres on the advice of the guys That sold me them. On inspection under full lock they just clear but I've got to be honest and say that depending how fast I'm going when turning I have noticed what feels or sounds like rubbing. Not sure what to do at this point as replacing all 4 tyres for 35s sounds costly and then I'm left with 4 virtually new tyres!
I thought about lowering but not sure it's a good idea as we tend to go down pretty rough back roads when wild camping.

The paintwork woes carried out via Vw Edinburgh, the guy they got to do it has made a great job and I think it really finishes the front off, I really don't know why Vw went with the Matt plastic on this one, for me it's a step backwards aesthetically from the t5.1 and think it's a silly little detail they could've made look a lot better on a £50k vehicle.

The rubbing, is that fully laden?

Days out · Nov 1, 2016

thesquirrelpatrol said:
Thanks! I'm really chuffed with it. Went for the 40 profile tyres on the advice of the guys That sold me them. On inspection under full lock they just clear but I've got to be honest and say that depending how fast I'm going when turning I have noticed what feels or sounds like rubbing. Not sure what to do at this point as replacing all 4 tyres for 35s sounds costly and then I'm left with 4 virtually new tyres!
I thought about lowering but not sure it's a good idea as we tend to go down pretty rough back roads when wild camping.

The paintwork woes carried out via Vw Edinburgh, the guy they got to do it has made a great job and I think it really finishes the front off, I really don't know why Vw went with the Matt plastic on this one, for me it's a step backwards aesthetically from the t5.1 and think it's a silly little detail they could've made look a lot better on a £50k vehicle.

Thanks squirrel.

So regarding changing the lower bumper parts in gloss black how did you go about this? Did you literally ask vw to respray the matt parts in gloss and they did the job by removing the matt parts for you? I'm guessing they flattened the grain and used plastic primer? Can I ask roughly what you paid for this please. Did you also do the lower fog light surround too?

Regarding the tyres I think most people on 20" go for 40 section. I think this looks better than 35 I must admit but the advise I got was to keep rolling radius the same/similar and the 35 achieve this. There is no rubbing whatsoever even under full load/lock/bump. The tyres are more expensive. My set of Nero Zero Pirellis were £700 for four.

I was camping next to another VW and it had 35 section tyres like mine. And he had no issues either. So this is probably the right tyre if you can accept the low aspect ratio. You just have to watch the kerbs.

I have to keep getting a taxi every time I park because I'm leaving a fair bit of space between me and the kerb when I park!!!