I've had the new van for a week now, thought I would share my experience.
Got a family of 5 so the Touareg was getting a bit small. Fantastic car to drive and towed our 1600 kg caravan with ease. Putting a 5 bike carrier on the back of it was also a major ball ache.
So options I got down to were a used D4 or a new swb Kombi van (impossible to find a used one with the right spec). Even a 4/5 year old discovery has pretty bad depreciation, so the Kombi it was.
It would have been so easy to go for a top of the range 199 DSG with 4motion, but after some advice from my neighbour who has towed massive caravans in his time I decided to drop the 4x4 requirement. So which Engine ?
I test drove a 150 manual. plenty of life in it, but didn't like the gearbox (must be at that age), so DSG highline it was. Also paid for 3 seats in the front, 2+1 in the back, leatherette (Bargain), rear camera (no brainer), tow bar and leccy doors. The final option at an extra £1500 still feels a bit of frivolous, but hey they are cool.
So how does it compare to the Touareg ?
I don't miss the 4x4 at all (yet, see later). And the roads round us in rural N Wales are really really bad, mud everywhere, huge potholes and b-roads mostly not gritted. When it snows i'm sure all season tyres will be enough.
The DSG box not quite as smooth as the Torque converter that was on the T-reg, but still pretty good and I don't have any issues with reverse that some complain about. Works well with the cruise control.
Insurance cheaper yay!
Tax cheaper yay !
The T-reg was a 204ps engine, surprisingly I don't miss the extra torque for speed, don't think it would suit the van if you ask me (again maybe i'm at that age).
The higher driving position I find better in the Kombi, didn't expect that in fairness. Really relaxing to drive, probably a bit more than the T-reg.
Lights you may ask ? Nah no problem the H7s compared to the Xenons on the T-reg are fine. Don't do much night driving anyway.
Found one big difference today. The T-reg never budged in high wind. I can definitely feel it in the Kombi, hopefully high wind assist (or whatever its called) will help.
Disclaimer....Haven't towed (first trip planned in 4 weeks) yet so I may yet come to miss the T-reg, but at the moment I don't.
No regrets, loving the van style already, but T-regs also still cool.
Neil.
Got a family of 5 so the Touareg was getting a bit small. Fantastic car to drive and towed our 1600 kg caravan with ease. Putting a 5 bike carrier on the back of it was also a major ball ache.
So options I got down to were a used D4 or a new swb Kombi van (impossible to find a used one with the right spec). Even a 4/5 year old discovery has pretty bad depreciation, so the Kombi it was.
It would have been so easy to go for a top of the range 199 DSG with 4motion, but after some advice from my neighbour who has towed massive caravans in his time I decided to drop the 4x4 requirement. So which Engine ?
I test drove a 150 manual. plenty of life in it, but didn't like the gearbox (must be at that age), so DSG highline it was. Also paid for 3 seats in the front, 2+1 in the back, leatherette (Bargain), rear camera (no brainer), tow bar and leccy doors. The final option at an extra £1500 still feels a bit of frivolous, but hey they are cool.
So how does it compare to the Touareg ?
I don't miss the 4x4 at all (yet, see later). And the roads round us in rural N Wales are really really bad, mud everywhere, huge potholes and b-roads mostly not gritted. When it snows i'm sure all season tyres will be enough.
The DSG box not quite as smooth as the Torque converter that was on the T-reg, but still pretty good and I don't have any issues with reverse that some complain about. Works well with the cruise control.
Insurance cheaper yay!
Tax cheaper yay !
The T-reg was a 204ps engine, surprisingly I don't miss the extra torque for speed, don't think it would suit the van if you ask me (again maybe i'm at that age).
The higher driving position I find better in the Kombi, didn't expect that in fairness. Really relaxing to drive, probably a bit more than the T-reg.
Lights you may ask ? Nah no problem the H7s compared to the Xenons on the T-reg are fine. Don't do much night driving anyway.
Found one big difference today. The T-reg never budged in high wind. I can definitely feel it in the Kombi, hopefully high wind assist (or whatever its called) will help.
Disclaimer....Haven't towed (first trip planned in 4 weeks) yet so I may yet come to miss the T-reg, but at the moment I don't.
No regrets, loving the van style already, but T-regs also still cool.
Neil.
