T6 at NEC

[David Worthington]

Several T6 conversions at the Motorhome and Caravan Show at the NEC today.

Difficult to identify a T5 from a T6 and reality it was only the lights that give away the difference for certain. Most tailgates were open so the squarer (and very nice) shape of the rear, which would have helped identification, was not much in evidence.

The dash boards are different but not as nice as I was expecting. But then I had a chat with Steve from Campervantastic (nice bloke) and he was saying they are keeping the best version of the upgraded dash (glove box lid, top dash cuddly, shiny stuff) exclusively for the Caravelle and California. Sounds good.

Asking various converters about the change in drive they all said it's identical, as is the engine, but I think that's because the Transporter donor vehicle is still using the same HP engines, whereas the Cali has the more powerful 204. Again Steve confirmed that it was much quicker, but the suspension and ride remains exactly the same.

Generally the guys with the conversions were 'underwhelmed' and the only person we met who knew anything about the Cali version (Steve) was very enthusiastic.

(Steve sorry if I'm taking your name and info in vein here, but it was good to hear your knowledge.)

Finally... Acapulco blue lacks the personality and strength of Olympian Blue, but it's a nice colour though; quieter and dustier than Olympian. I'm not sure if the red has changed, and perhaps it was the sodium lights, but it came across as quite deep with a hint of darkness and orange in it - rather like an old rich engineering red - a very nice colour. Looking forward to seeing the Starlight blue.

Also resolved an issue I have with my Kenwood: the fact that almost any sunlight kills the screen image because of the angle it sits at. Press and hold the MENU tab (bottom left) on the screen and up comes the contrast and colour sliders. I'm sure you all know that, but I didn't!

A couple of pics...

Dave

 

[knightons]

Several T6 conversions at the Motorhome and Caravan Show at the NEC today.

Interesting read Dave. We're going on Friday to check out bedding etc... Did you find many Cali related accessories on offer?

Cheers, Debs & Cliff

 

[David Worthington]

Not a huge amount.

Steve from the camper rental company based a couple of miles from where I live, which I mentioned above but the name was automatically turned into asterix - so clearly I'm not allowed to be helpful and name his business(?!) has quite a bit of Brandrup stuff - all to order though of course. He was saying it's made in a small town/village in Germany and getting enough people to keep up with production is an issue for the owner - one Herr Brandrup no less!

Duvalay are there, but oddly with no double bed overlays - we wanted to see how big they were - and whether they would fit behind the rear seat during the day. Duvalay also said they didn't do double quilts, which again seemed odd to me.

Lots of awnings - probably the full range available. Plus several of the retail accessories dealers.

Worth seeking out Vanworx - and if the auto edit function deletes that name, it's VAN + WORKS - with an X instead of the KS. The chap there has a two tone T5 - silver over blue - using a wrap for the lower part. It looks very neat and gives a clue as to the split colour scheme that we may get at some point. Nice lighting in his van and seats too. I should have taken a picture - doh!

As for the number of caravans and motohomes - it's unbelievable that so many different brands and product types exist, they go on for almost half a mile! I don't quite understand how (what in effect are) cottage industries can produce such large ranges in this day and age - even with shared components between their models.

Enjoy the show!

Dave

 

[Georgiegirl]

Also resolved an issue I have with my Kenwood: the fact that almost any sunlight kills the screen image because of the angle it sits at. Press and hold the MENU tab (bottom left) on the screen and up comes the contrast and colour sliders. I'm sure you all know that, but I didn't!

Thanks for this top tip - will definitely be trying this next time we go out in Gino! Also good review of the show. We will be there tomorrow

 

[David Worthington]

Just to note... Apparently you need to set the contrast, etc., individually for each screen - i.e. for DAB, navigation, iPod, etc. Also in case I wasn't clear press and hold the MENU button on the screen, not the physical Menu button alongside the screen. Hope it works. Cheers, Dave