New Cali 1st drive experience ( oops somehow posted twice only slight edit sorry )

Niborn · Jun 29, 2017

I thought I'd share my experience this week .

First thanks all for the tips and articles and comments during the last months , helped me a lot .

Having hired in the winter for several months a 150 DSG with a few extras and no anti roll bars , which was not too bad , enjoyable and I got good fuel economy of 38 to 42mpg average , I was wondering how my 204 4 motion DSG with many extras including the ACC and side scan plus antiroll bars would compare .

It arrived last week and yesterday I drove a small trip to see a friend of 140 miles , mostly motorway and some country roads .

I don't regret for a moment the more powerful engine and the anti roll bars plus the ACC and 4 x 4v.

This Cali is much much more pleasing to drive . It holds the road very well , seems stiffer all round , the ACC is a dream on the motorway and is very easy to use .

The great thing is ( I also noticed this with the hire Cali 150dsg over the few months I had it ) if the engine really gets up to full working temperature, i.e. Longer runs , the fuel economy is good . On the way back last night 70 odd miles I had an average of 36. This is very acceptable for me for the addition power and 4 x4 .

Ive sold my nice car I used for longer journeys and the Cali will replace that . Ive bought a small run a small runaround for local trips and I think it was a good idea.

I now need to think about how to pack it , if I need a rack of some type ? Easy Rack from Thurl or a trailer or something or nothing if I can pack well and winter tyres for the Lapland northern lights trip ( see previous posts ) Ive pretty much decided on Nokian Tyres with the little bits in them and an unpronounceable name , these are as close as one can get to studs without studs and perform apparently nearly as well or better then a poor studded brand .

Most important Hugo my dog loves the `Cali and sitting on the back shelf and jumps up in one go , not even touching the bumper !

I'll post more experiences as I have them because I haven't tried a lot of things in the Cali yet and I'm departing for France , possibly even today

Best wishes

Max-Felix · Jun 29, 2017

Sounds good - as ever - we want pics!

hirsty · Jun 29, 2017

Good for you - I like reading about people enjoying themselves! Have fun, send pics.

Niborn · Jun 30, 2017

Pics on their way , incredible though I have had it a week it's been so busy haven't taken many yet , will sort tomorrow.

T6 CFO · Jun 30, 2017

Seems the anti roll bars make a difference. Been surprised by the complaints of wallowing and considering it's a van I've not had a problem on a 204 4Motion DSG with anti roll bars.

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Niborn · Jun 30, 2017

Do you have them Mike ?

hirsty · Jun 30, 2017

Mike hit a lot of branches when he fell down the the Options Tree

Bellcrew · Jun 30, 2017

T6 CFO said:
Seems the anti roll bars make a difference. Been surprised by the complaints of wallowing and considering it's a van I've not had a problem on a 204 4Motion DSG with anti roll bars.

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All California's have anti-roll bars, always have. There is a cost option of fitting slightly thicker bars with the benefits and disadvantages the increased lateral stiffness imposes on the handling/ride.
It will never handle like a Lotus 7 and subjectively the differences are modest but whatever floats your boat.

T6 CFO · Jun 30, 2017

Niborn said:
Do you have them Mike ?

Yep. The heavy duty ones and as Hirsty quite rightly points out a few others. One which is rarely mentioned is Servotronic Speed Sensitve Pwr Strng.

VW blurb :- http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/technology/driving/power-assisted-steering

Never having driven a Cali without it I'm not sure how much difference it makes but ease of steering at very low speeds and stability at high speeds is impressive. Justified as I have parking under my flat which can be challenging. Anyway I wanted it

Mike

Niborn · Jul 1, 2017

Hi All,

Ive set off last night with Hugo my doggy through the Eurotunnel mess and driven through the night stopping a few times for 40 winks . I'm heading the Ceze Valley in Gard , department 30, I'm about 3 or 4 hours now from getting there, it's 11.30 . Hugo and I just had breakfast but I'm very very badly organised again. Always take a lot of stuff when coming from uk to France , like 6 jars of Branson pickle and lots else!

The Cali yet to be possibly going to be a Bernie , started off with a miserable MPG , in sharp contrast to to other day at 36 , after 450 odd miles so far its on about 33 mpg now , Ive been moving at times so ok for me . Fuel here is 1.12 Euro today at carrefor .

Two things Ive noticed which baffle me .

I filled up with water before we left but the panel shows nothing ? Is this normal or is it a VW fault I wonder. The water is there and flowing on demand .

The tyres look a little low , maybe with all the weight , but there is no information as to what they should be at , not inside the door or filler cap or anywhere I can see. Does anyone know please .

I had too much stuff so the afternoon of leaving I had fitted a tow bar rack from the excellent guys at trident towing . All fitted at £224 . It's easy to take off and on and is light and smallish . The door doesn't open unless I take it off of course. Hugo gets in to his shelf over the back seat . I'm going to buy a large soft waterproof bag for the back .

I clean the Cali when I arrive and get some better shots , by the way I was thinking what's the best way to wash the roof appreciation any comments ?

A few pictures to show my now dirty Cali and to illustrate the points above ...