Caravelle Executive (lowering how much)

T6 dork

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please correct me of im wrong but isnt the caravelle lower from new by 20mm ?
im not sure
i want it slightly lower but only by another 20mm or 30mm im undecided
shall i fit my 19" wheels first or after the lowering to see what it sits like ?
im going for eibach
thanks in advance
 
please correct me of im wrong but isnt the caravelle lower from new by 20mm ?
im not sure
i want it slightly lower but only by another 20mm or 30mm im undecided
shall i fit my 19" wheels first or after the lowering to see what it sits like ?
im going for eibach
thanks in advance
Imo, fit the wheels first and see how it looks.

I'm going to be honest here, for the sake of only another 2omm, I don't think I would bother. You need to disturb quite a few suspension components even to change springs, especially on the front end so risk/reward has to be weighed up.

I would suspect the Caravelle has quite a refined ride compared to a van/kombi, and I don't think you'd improve this by lowering. Just my 2 cents.
 
I rember @Pauly posting regarding lowering the caravelle think it wasn't possible because of cruise control and dynamic suspension.
 
Its a bit of a grey area at the moment, VW UK dealers are lowering vehicles with ACC & DCC fitted but i have been forwarded info from a third party quoted as coming direct from VW Germany and it states any vehicle fitted with ACC and/or DCC should not be lowered as the systems are factory calibrated to standard ride height and cannot be recalibrated afterwards to compensate for the altered ride height, heres the info i was sent
The information I am passing on to you, is straight from the factory not from VWCVUK. They are aware though, but I don't know if they have communicated it to any or all VWCVUK dealerships; I do know that the Breeze group are fully aware.
I am also aware that some of those VWCVUK dealerships have fitted lowering springs to ACC and or DCC equipped vehicles.
Both ACC and DCC are factory fitted and calibrated to a set ride height with tolerances that allow for the usual driving conditions you or I would expect to experience.
By lowering or raising your T6, both ACC and DCC are taken outside those tolerances and VW will not guarantee the functionality of either ACC or DCC; and in both cases it raises a safety concern.
ACC as you are probably aware can be adjusted for distance, but not height... my guess is lowering would reduce distance and make the lower distance settings available unreliable and potentially dangerous if the driver relies upon them.
DCC although not a concern for you, adjustable for dampening, sport, normal and comfort, but to a fixed height spring; again calibrated with tolerances. Shorten the spring and you could literally pop and shock absorber in a pot hole, bumpy ground etc.
Porsche have a very similar system, but both ACC and DCC are height adjustable. The ACC unit moves with height.
Most of the T6's I have seen images of that have been lowered, do not have the ACC unit in the grill and there are plenty of new/used DCC kits on eBay Germany that have been removed by their owners to facilitate lowering.
As a bit of side information, VW also state lowering springs should not be fitted to T6's with the LED lighting option due to calibration issues with automatic range adjustment and the really cleaver bit, MFD adjustment to drive on the right.
So unless VW put the same system on the T6 that is on the Porsche range or an after market company ( there goes the warranty! ) come up with a fix, it's ACC or DCC or both with factory fitted springs or lose the toys and go low.
 
wots DCC ?

sorry dynamic chassis control.. im so thick ;)
 
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Arrrr so if you have ACC fitted on a van and use it for work and load it up heavily so it goes very low the ACC wont work ?
that sounds daft to me
people put lots of weight in vans and they go like 50mm lower, vw might as well say
ooooh dont load ur van up for work if you have ACC
doesnt make sense
 
Interesting info @Pauly - glad I decided not to lower the new one :D

So there is some adjustment for driving on the right / left with LEDs? With the Xenons in our last van there was no adjustment although the dip seemed horizontal and I had no idea where to stick converters even if I wanted to.

In my last Merc cars, both with Xenons, there was left / right adjustment in the headlamp shell. Difficult to get and of course the manual said take it to the dealer but you could do it with a bit of patience.

@T6 dork I guess they might say that ride height due to max load is within the range but any more is outside? And as far as a conversion goes then the weight of that, passengers and kit is going to be heading for 1/2 to full load.
 
Hi Pauly, do you know exactly where this quote come from, as the following sentence is not something i would expect a manufacturer to use if they have safety concerns "my guess is lowering would reduce distance and make the lower distance settings available unreliable and potentially dangerous if the driver relies upon them"
Where safety is concerned i'd expect the manufacturer to be doing a bit better than guessing :eek:

The sensor has a range of 200m and beam angle of 12 degrees, lowering the van will have no effect on either parameter.
 
Hi Pauly, do you know exactly where this quote come from, as the following sentence is not something i would expect a manufacturer to use if they have safety concerns "my guess is lowering would reduce distance and make the lower distance settings available unreliable and potentially dangerous if the driver relies upon them"
Where safety is concerned i'd expect the manufacturer to be doing a bit better than guessing :eek:

The sensor has a range of 200m and beam angle of 12 degrees, lowering the van will have no effect on either parameter.

Simple Pythagoras suggests it would affect it.
 
Simple Pythagoras suggests it would affect it.

But so too would chucking 1 ton in the back !

Sounds bogus to me, just can't see how lowering 20/30 mm will change the calibration.

And the bit on the LED headlights is just frankly rubbish, all the MFD does when RHD is clicked is lower the beam a tad, the angled kick up is still their just a lower. Nothing fancy whatsoever.
 
But I suspect the minimum working range has been set to 200m - lowering will reduce that range. Probably not by much (I could work it out but TBH can't be bothered) but still by a significant amount.
Say the sensor is 0.5m off the ground - reduce that to 0.46m and you've sliced 8% off that height so you've cut that range to 184m. Not a lot but 16m is still just over three whole vans.
 
Hi Pauly, do you know exactly where this quote come from, as the following sentence is not something i would expect a manufacturer to use if they have safety concerns "my guess is lowering would reduce distance and make the lower distance settings available unreliable and potentially dangerous if the driver relies upon them"
Where safety is concerned i'd expect the manufacturer to be doing a bit better than guessing :eek:

The sensor has a range of 200m and beam angle of 12 degrees, lowering the van will have no effect on either parameter.

The text i posted is not direct from VW but has been rewritten (im Guessing) into an email
It came from here in a round about way
dubtvans Home
 
But so too would chucking 1 ton in the back !

Sounds bogus to me, just can't see how lowering 20/30 mm will change the calibration.

And the bit on the LED headlights is just frankly rubbish, all the MFD does when RHD is clicked is lower the beam a tad, the angled kick up is still their just a lower. Nothing fancy whatsoever.

Im not confirming or denying just passing on what i have been told/found out

I can confirm 100% that the LED headlights have four way motors in them and are capable of moving up/down and left/right
 
I do agree the height makes a difference, simple maths really ! But the system has to cope with variable ride heights - even your cali will have various ride heights depending on how many folks and beer is on board, a standard panel van even more ! To suggest that lowering a van( within limits ) makes the system dangerous and out of calibration is just frankly ludicrous .

If the system is so finely balanced that 20mm makes a difference they'd need an on board set of scales to weigh the passengers !

The original post has a BS smell to it....
 
I do agree the height makes a difference, simple maths really ! But the system has to cope with variable ride heights - even your cali will have various ride heights depending on how many folks and beer is on board, a standard panel van even more ! To suggest that lowering a van( within limits ) makes the system dangerous and out of calibration is just frankly ludicrous .

If the system is so finely balanced that 20mm makes a difference they'd need an on board set of scales to weigh the passengers !

The original post has a BS smell to it....
It's only a suggestion with a bit of maths thrown in. I guess a lowered vans average height is lower - so it's get lower still if loaded.
I don't know but there could be a reason and I'm just using my noggin to suggest one.
 
Pythagorus theory would have no effect on the sensor, if a sensor can see 200m at 0 degrees then wether it is located at 1mm or 1metre from the ground, it still has an effective range of 200m, the road contours will determine how far the sensor can see within 200m

For pythagorus to have any effect you would have to assume the either 1) sensor is located tilting towards the road, 2) that it only sees at a downward angle 3) a lowered van would be lowered more at the front than rear

We've got a car with the same sensor, when fully loaded the car sits a comfortable amount closer to the road than unladen the ACC still works fine no matter how the car is loaded.

As lowering springs will be stiffer than stock springs, i doubt a fully laden van fitted with either spring will be that much lower than each other.
 
We have lowered our 204 Exec with ACC and DCC, on the VW Eibach springs to keep the warranty intact, and have absolutely no issues whatsoever. I also know of one other who has done this as well. The lowering springs were listed for the vehicle, at VW.
 
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