David Worthington
VIP Member
- Messages
- 55
- Vehicle
- T5 SE 180
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
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
