Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the delay, I've been busy moving house! The house was late, the Cali was early and they ended up days apart!
For now I have uploaded some photos to give another few examples of Indium Grey under a somewhat gloomy British sky.
It has the comfort dash fitted, which has the matt finish around the gear selector. I'm thrilled by the dash - makes the van feel a bit more special, although there is no doubt it loses a bit of outright storage space in the process.
The steering wheel is the Multifunction one with cruise control etc.
Interior trim is Kutamo, which I love. It is darker in reality than it often shows on photos,as camera/phone light meters like to raise everything in the direction of middle grey. Its a very dark grey (charcoal) that is just shy of pure black. Should be hard wearing and not show marks too easily.
Mine has the exterior pack, so 1) cornering fog lights (saw those in action last night and very nice indeed), 2) uprated headlights (I looked at one with standard Beach lights in the showroom and it has a different outer reflector and a regular 'round' bulb rather than the pointy shaped ones on the uprated ones. I guess they are a bit more powerful, but not sure if it makes a real difference and 3) the matt black wing mirrors. In all honesty, with their satin finish, they look almost the same colour as the Indium Grey paint. You therefore never notice they are not painted really.
Mine has the standard 16" Clayton and I I will be selling them. I have bought 17" Platin P69 black wheels, which will be fitted with 235 55 R17 Nokian Weatherproof tyres. This should give me decent all year performance in all weather, including the all important snow symbol for driving in various countries in winter. I have noticed the steering is quite light at speed and the vehicle feels a bit 'floaty' no doubt due to being set up suspension wise for more weight. I went for 17" black because it will allow for a slightly wider tyre, slightly lower profile, while still being decent in snow, impervious to salt and easy to touch up. I'll let everyone know whether it makes an ounce of difference to how it drives! A bit more rubber in contact with the road and a lower profile should help.
I have also taken out the multiflex board and the two extra seats I bought. I quickly realised that you need to push the bench quite far forwards to allow you to angle the multiflex board enough to get it out. I also realised that the middle row seats are not only fairly heavy, but they are not easy to grip securely. After a bit of head scratching on removing the plastic rail end caps and the rail sections themselves, I got them out pretty easily with the help of my 13 year old son. That said, I have learnt that this is not something you do on a whim! I need to remove them as the first task for the Cali is collection of flat packed furniture, including beds and wardrobes.
I did not order Lights and Vision pack, but can't say that I really regret it. I decided on spending that £200+ on the interior lights concept and I am glad I did. Really gives you quite a lot more light to play with. I guess we all have budgets. The vehicle lets you know in clear terms if you have left the lights on so no worries there.
I had never been inside or driven a Cali when I ordered and I do not regret doing so for one second. its great and with the middle row seats removed and the bench in a reasonable position, will give a nice sized 'living room' to act as base camp for photo expeditions.
Any downsides I have noticed? Yes, the ride is a bit choppy/harsh and you can clearly feel the handling is sub-optimal without a load inside, but packed to the gills for a family trip and with kits on board it will be better I am sure. I can see why people have them lowered but I'd personally rather have the clearance for snowy and rocky tracks.
Refinement is excellent, especially at the cruise. The DSG is very lazy in regular mode, but in sport is very nippy and responsive, so probably the right setting for hilly areas. Refinement is good enough for me to have built up more speed than I had realised. The engine is certainly noticeable in terms of noise when accelerating, but not bad, but I suppose its no Lexus! The 150 version feels ample to me, but then again it is not a heavier Ocean and I am not towing or carrying super heavy loads up hills.
I felt sorry for Guy at Preston as I changed my spec a good number of times, but in the end I feel very happy indeed with what I have. The only downside is that the neighbours might not appreciate my grey battleship parked outside their front windows :O I will do my best to park it outside my own!