Agree with almost all of that entirely. The T5 was VERY tank like, and, having had the ‘pleasure’ to crash one can confirm they were quite over built. This van is still going strong (laughed off T boning a drunk driver and removing their engine and box in the process, then later had a head on with another drunk the wrong way up a dual carriageway. I wasn’t driving the second time) Was economic write off, but has been repaired and still does many miles.Tank build quality is just a myth. Transporter is just average in reliability, probably rustproofing is better than other vans, but my T5 after 13 years had rusted a lot underneath.The 2.5TDI T5 had the best engine grunt ever though. T6 comfort dash the pick of quality. T6.1 lack that comfort/good looking dash but it drives better, everything seems more refined, better put together. And the engine refinement is on a different level compared to my 150. (Now driving 204). Even the start/stop is better, doesn’t shake the van, not intrusive.
Dsg and shifting point, maybe the twin turbo handles better low revs, but it’s not slow or uncertain as it was the Dsg on my previous 150. One thing I miss is the paddles, sport mode was irrelevant after upgrading to paddles steering wheel. Definitely something I need to upgrade on the 6.1
The T5.1 saw a lot of weight saving and value engineering. In the rebuild process of my T5 we had a lot of new / superceeded items that were far less meaty. We rejected and sourced originals (suspension, steering arms, drop links etc, all stuff that actually/ultimately leads to a sprightlier drive) The bonnet and wings were also much lighter. (We face lifted the van as everything but one wing was required) The shell, subframe and crossmember shrugged it all off. We spent a LOT of time looking and measuring.
Eventually swapped it - Moving into a 5.1 was a pleasure, altho as you say I missed the 5 pot surge.
Have more recently had an 06 tank that had done 275k it drove nicer, smoother and handled better than the 20 plate transit we had at the same time. (Rattled a bit more of course) It’s still alive, altho it was sold on with a blown turbo. Still pulled but smoked quite comedically.
Doubt the 6.1’s are quite so tough, but they’re much nicer to be in.
Reliability wise, I can agree that there’s plenty of other vans that do mega miles and just carry on working, or starting and getting to work anyway! Difficult to tell if our Boxers are breaking in any way as they’re rattle and squeak so much it masks it in a fine manner. Fine once on a dual carriageway or in the cruise tho. Much more practical too, as we don’t have to care about them….
