From Kombi To Caravelle.....our New Demo

[BognorMotors]

Hello all

The TSI is off the road and up for sale, so it's time to build the replacement.

As you can't buy petrol anymore, we've gone back to the BITDI 204PS 4Motion SWB Kombi. And even though nearly ten years ago, I vowed never to have a black car or van again, we've got a deep black pearl SWB.

If any of you follow us on Instagram or facebook, them Im sure you would have already seen the progress, but I'll put the details here.

The factory specification we've gone for is;

T30 SWB Kombi - T30 to allow a 275/35 tyre
2.0BITDI 204PS
4 Motion
Deep Black Pearl
Highline
DSG
Caravelle Dash
Side air bags
Heated front Seats
Electric side doors
Electric Tailgate
Electric Sunroof
Programmable night heater
High Beam Assist
LED lights
Discover Pro Navigation
App Connect
Front and Rear Sensors with Camera
Removable towbar
Adaptive Cruise Control
Electric Folding mirrors
Twin USB
Cab carpet
80l fuel tank
Side scan
All Weather tyres - These are currently for sale if anyone wants a set ?
Accoustics Pack
Heavy Duty suspension - The system automatically selected this with the night heater
2+1 Rear seat
4 remote keys

Basically I don't think there was an option we didn't select!

So Paul (my senior tech) and I wanted to do something even more special with this van. We decided to do a full Caravelle conversion in the back, but not with the traditional 3 seat bench and two captain chairs, we want it to be a bit more special, so opted for four captains swivel chairs! The conversion list for the van is as follows;

Exterior

Bilstein B14 - Fully lowered
H&R ARBS
Vossen HF-2 20" x 9/10.5 Alloy wheels - Custom finished in textured bronze
275/35 20 Comforser Snow tyres - For Alps snowboard trip at Easter
275/35 20 Good Year F1 for UK
Sportline front Spoiler with lip
All Exterior Plastics Colour coded
Black badges
Rear Badge removal
REVO stage 1
REVO air filter
REVO/Alcon 380MM Black big brake kit
Black painted rear callipers to match
20" spare wheel conversion - This is in case of a puncture - So the wheel goes over the humongous brakes!
Black trapezoid side bars



Interior

Full Sound deadening - 2mm Silent coat - This includes the engine bay, Underfloor, roof and front doors.
Full Insulation - Dodo Thermo van Liner Extreme and then 100MM Dodo thermo fleece, where it would fit
Black carpeting
Rear 1/4 Glass with custom trims
Front/Rear Focal speaker upgrade
8" Passenger Underseat Focal Active Subwoofer - Swap 2nd battery to under drivers seat to allow this
Re-trim of factory front headlining in Black suede liner
One piece rear headliner in ply, with LED's and mood lights - trimmed in black suede liner
Caravelle floor rails, carpet change to black
4 Individual Caravelle swivel captains chairs
Custom leather in Tan Nappa
Black Suedeliner Panelling made from ply with hidden clips throughout
4 x USB plugs in rear for each seat

There has been a lot of new techniques for us, that we've used with this van, and Paul has been on it for 13 days straight to get everything 100% correct

We still have the A & B pillars, and sun visors to re-trim in black suede liner to match, but this will come later. Also we are thinking of having the front ceiling plastics resprayed in black to match. Im off to the alps on Friday for a family Ski/Boarding trip, and this was the deadline. We will be doing a few hundred shakedown miles this week to confirm all is perfect before the big 1600mile round trip.

This is the only picture we have pre-work, but I think you all know what a standard kombi looks like;



Its not quite finished yet, but this is how it looks now - Leather coming tomorrow and the final couple of bits then we will get some proper pics;







Thanks for reading

 

[DaveyB]

Wow that is hell of a list both from OEM options perspective as well as upgrades. Haven’t seen those particular vossen rims before, colour suits the van really well. Be interested in your thoughts about the brakes as the Revo anchors are something I would like. Will they fit with 19’s or only 20’s?

 

[Tourershine]

Looking sweet. Not sure about the colour, but more annoyed you have an 80l fuel tank, when I was assured they were no longer an option offered

 

[Jay17cali]

Stunning
How much for the winter tyres I’m definitely up for them if there a good and a decent price

 

[BognorMotors]

Wow that is hell of a list both from OEM options perspective as well as upgrades. Haven’t seen those particular vossen rims before, colour suits the van really well. Be interested in your thoughts about the brakes as the Revo anchors are something I would like. Will they fit with 19’s or only 20’s?

Thanks for the comments, the wheel are really special, and the textured finish just makes them more so!

Revo offer the brakes in 355/380 fitments - On the Revco page there is actually a template you can cut out to see if they fit. If you are ever in the area, have a drive, they really do feel very progressive and powerful.

 

[DaveyB]

Thanks for the comments, the wheel are really special, and the textured finish just makes them more so!

Revo offer the brakes in 355/380 figments - On the Revco page there is actually a template you can cut out to see if they fit. If you are ever in the area, have a drive, they really do feel very progressive and powerful.

What size are the “big” vw brakes on a 180/ 204?
Bloomin’ eck, hadn’t realised they were that expensive!

 

[BognorMotors]

Not sure, but I know they are not as big ;-)

 

[DaveyB]

Not sure, but I know they are not as big ;-)

The VW big brakes only just fit behind my 18” T5.1 sportlines, and I was hoping to keep hold of those as winter wheels when I finally get a slightly bigger and nicer set. If I go for a Revo brake swap, i’m therefore anticipating that the 18’s will never go over the top. 320mm seems to stick in my mind for some reason.

 

[Pauly]

I was gonna go 330

 

[Loz]

 

[chriscroft]

Blimey
I can match you on the VW spec, but the aftermarket bits WOW!!!!
Love the wheels
And look forward to a brake review

 

[BognorMotors]

If you follow our instagram and facebook, you’ll see we’ve covered 1000 miles in it now - We road-tripped down to Alpe D’Huez, where we are presently snowboarding/skiing for the week. The van is very balanced with the brake kit and stage 1 map - really looking forward to it fully loosening up.

I've forgotten to upload some interior shots, so here goes - It is suffice to say that my kids, 17, 12 and 10, loved being fully reclined on the 12 hour trip

Pics courtesy of Leon at Coastal Custom, when we popped over for the install, so apologies that the van isn’t clean.......

 

[marmite monster]

That interior is awesome

 

[BognorMotors]

Thank you. Courtesy of our friends @CoastalCustoms