Top Gear review

[OGII]

Not sure if anyone has spotted this.

A balanced review by a journo who runs a Cali of his own.

Hadn't even thought about the impracticalities of bike rack/towel rail on barn doors for example.

The Volkswagen Grand California, fully tested

Driving the ginormous new Cali doesn't tell half its story. So we lived in it

www.topgear.com

 

[Billywizz]

Sounds awful and looks awful.

 

[GrannyJen]

It says what we all know.

The California is unique. It can be an every-day driver, a second car, a motorhome with limitations, something that with right traction and tyres you can bounce over almost any terrain, something you can use as a bridal car or a van to take rubbish to a tip.

The magic of a California superseded by a great big lump that fails on all of the above but is a half-decent great white, if you want to get into that market.

 

[soulstyledevon]

It says what we all know.

The California is unique. It can be an every-day driver, a second car, a motorhome with limitations, something that with right traction and tyres you can bounce over almost any terrain, something you can use as a bridal car or a van to take rubbish to a tip.

The magic of a California superseded by a great big lump that fails on all of the above but is a half-decent great white, if you want to get into that market.

Not forgetting, we don’t look like these bunch of pikey scroungers...

 

[calicalling]

There was a test drive of the GC in Autocar too last week.

 

[mpglueck]

Sounds awful and looks awful.

Why do people always compare the two cars? They are designed to be different....

 

[Billywizz]

Why do people always compare the two cars? They are designed to be different....

I’m not comparing two campers, I’m just saying the Grand sounds awful and looks awful.

 

[Jester]

Well a lot of members actually for some reason dammingly do compare and there is no comparison except the California name.

It’s not the same market.

 

[pjm-84]

Agree. Totally different market.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Agree. Totally different market.

Shame they couldn’t find a completely different name to suit the completely different van...

 

[pjm-84]

That's marketing. The boffins thought that a "family" name would offer familiarity and broaden the market for the vehicle.

Based on some of the responses on here it appears to have had the opposite effect!

 

[OGII]

Shame they couldn’t find a completely different name to suit the completely different van...

VW Alaska.

It's bigger than California, has a very different population and is mostly great white.