Ownership Verified: Optimus "T?mus" Prime | '13 VW T5 180 BiTDI 4motion DSG

[Adrian]

Me being the practical disabled man that i am decided late 2010 to get myself a very practical little 8-series, as some of you may know.
I have held on to, and will continue to hold on to, my beloved Ronja - but after two winters without a car it really was time to get something.. practical.

So last week i picked up a 2013 Volkswagen Caravelle/T5 180 4motion DSG after a three year wait!

And to get it out of the way;

Proof-pic!

I picked him up last thursday, and me being the adventurer that i am, immediately took upon me a 1700km roadtrip - in which i fell in love..

It's a driving machine! Granted it's a bit under-powered, but still.. Very pleasant to drive!
Not as good as my 850 though.. But quite close, and a lot cheaper.

---


Some pics in it's current dirty state, and a quick video of the lift:

Inside:

My tiny chair fits between the rear seat and driver seat. The driver seat swivels around, and goes forward into driving position.

I'll provide more pics after i take some in daylight, and have had the car cleaned..

Specs:
Engine: 1968cc BiTurbo i4 oilburner.
Transmission: Duppelkupplungsgetriebe, 7-speed.
Power: 180 PS @ 4000 RPM
Torque: 400 Nm @ 1.5-2k RPM
Consumption:
Model: 2013
Drive: Haldex AWD
Color: Dark Wood (pearl wine-red-ish)
Weight: ~2400 kg

Notable options:
BiXenon
Sound- and heat-insulating windows
Webasto
Front- and rear parking sensors w/ rear camera
Plus plenty of other gizmos.

 

[Redliner]

 

[Galantti]

These vans are le nice :3

so roadtrip with this towing the 8er to germany, and then swapping to 8er?

 

[Thujalvi]

Weight: ~2400 kg

Is it made out of tungsten? I don't know why, but I've found vans to be strangely amusing to drive, provided there's enough shove of course.

 

[Perc]

That's a seriously tricked out T5. I don't think I've ever seen one with bi-xenons for instance, not even the guys that go balls-out on their workhorses tick that option on the sheet.

With all those power-hungry extras, might I suggest a Defa maintenance charger? Here's one but I would probably go for a 7 or a 10 amp one even. Especially the Webasto heater will murder your battery if used frequently.

 

[narf]

You're the first one I see considering a T5 BiTDI 4MOTION DSG (Gesundheit!) cheap :lol:


Concerning the weight, it's a bit under 2300kg before you add toys like the lift...

 

[avanti]

You're the first one I see considering a T5 BiTDI 4MOTION DSG (Gesundheit!) cheap

Cheap to buy or cheap to run? I presume the van was paid for by the state?

 

[Perc]

It probably gets twice the fuel economy of the V12 BMW. Educated guess.

 

[Adrian]

so roadtrip with this towing the 8er to germany, and then swapping to 8er?

Hell no! The 8er is no trailerqueen.

Is it made out of tungsten? I don't know why, but I've found vans to be strangely amusing to drive, provided there's enough shove of course.

It is indeed amusing to drive, and handles quite well. Pushed it hard back over the mountain, held up very well!

That's a seriously tricked out T5. I don't think I've ever seen one with bi-xenons for instance, not even the guys that go balls-out on their workhorses tick that option on the sheet.

With all those power-hungry extras, might I suggest a Defa maintenance charger? Here's one but I would probably go for a 7 or a 10 amp one even. Especially the Webasto heater will murder your battery if used frequently.

The xenons are insanely nice.. Don't understand those who spec halogens

It has a DEFA warmer, plus extra battery

Cheap to buy or cheap to run? I presume the van was paid for by the state?

"Cheap" to run. Yes, state paid the base price - all the options/fun things were from my own pocket.

It probably gets twice the fuel economy of the V12 BMW. Educated guess.

It's cheaper, but not cheap. On two tanks i have averaged 9.7 l/100km - this is pre-breakin, and with heavy webasto use.

 

[narf]

The 850 probably is half a ton lighter, and considerably less brick-shaped :lol:

 

[WDWBen]

Looks great! I love the beautiful bi-xenons contrasting to the pressed-steel wheels.

 

[Topgearfanatic]

Taking it round the ring?

 

[Der Stig]

Rick hasn't posted because he's too busy swooning, methinks :lol:

Sweet van, Adrian.

 

[DanRoM]

So this is the answer to the question how the hell Adrian manages his everyday life with an old American landyacht and an 8 series.

Congrats Adrian, that is a very nice car. And you're also one of not many people calling a 180 PS / 400 Nm Turbodiesel "underpowered"..... well, considering what you're used to...

 

[laxmax613]

It's really a small detail, but I love the hubcaps. Seeing that sort of larger VW logo there seems to add a little sense of lightheartedness.

 

[Polkky]

Man, I love those things! In my opinion the coolest van available over here in the north. Congrats!

edit: Just realized that the lift thingie isn't based inside the car but under it. How much does that lower the ground clearance? How about the winter, how is it protected?

 

[Adunaphel]

As said before on IRC, sweet van! How's the ground clearance on this thing, because it looks like there's not much left with the lift under the car like that, looks like you'll be scraping speedbumps.

 

[Perc]

And you're also one of not many people calling a 180 PS / 400 Nm Turbodiesel "underpowered"..... well, considering what you're used to...

Well, it's probably got a worse power to weight ratio than your Focus even before the accessibility addons. But as far as vans go, it's probably second only to the Vito with the big V6 CDI.

 

[thomas]

I am wondering why people are surprised about the Xenon-option. If I have the choice, that is not something arguable, it will go in.

Also, DanRoM: A 180hp diesel is nothing overpowered, thats like a BMW 20d, your totally average engine, but for cars in the 1400-1700kg range. This fucker adds a full ton to a Golf/1-series with that power and still half a ton to a 5-series, which I'd consider "reasonable powered" with a 20d. So this thing with its 2.4 tons and the aerodynamics of a brickwall would probably be considered underpowered by a lot of people. I think I said that before, you should drive a car with a better engine that what Ford puts in their cars .

 

[Galantti]

this will outperform any normal car in 0-50 from traffic lights