Cars of this family is considered to be commercial, but the talents of "Caravel" extend far beyond simple transportation. We ugotovili for this land the ship far more responsible test of the tour, went on to open new land for themselves.
"The Volkswagen Caravavella" is an expensive pleasure. How much is it?During the winter break, we and a group of friends plan to carry out tourist intervention in Europe. We had a short journey: we set ourselves the goal of reaching from Peter to Amsterdam, where none of us had ever been. The route we have routed through the Baltic states: here in the most western part of Russia, the Kaliningrad region lags behind Moscow for an hour later. From there, we planned to house the house until Berlin and, staying there for a couple of days, end up in the capital of the Netherlands, tulips and bicycles. The task is clear, the targets are set. The only question is one.The water was as follows: a team of six (three pairs, each pair of them), a snow road in Russia and expensive fuels outside itConsequently, it was necessary to have a sufficiently large and powerful car, preferably with a manual gearbox and a stabilisation system, and we did not want to lift the oil economy of Western Europe as much as possible. It turned out that the system of the values we have identified was ideally suited to the "Folkagene" vans of the T5 family. A spacious multi-seat salon, heavy and economical diesel, a variety of equipment-all this can be found in the arsenal of "Transporter-T5". As it is not difficult to guess, this is the fifth generation of German "merchant". Last year, Volkswagen, the result of which the family cars were given the letter of the GP-T, are the Germans celebrating the machines crossing the elevator. The most utilitarian member of the family is "Transporter"The chute is higher in the tabel of the ranks of "Caravella", which is distinguished by the improved interior of the salon: it is more "bus" than "truck". We chose the Caravell intermediate for the trip to pick up the Comfortline. In fact, the money is available in finance: the car in the most accessible execution of "Trendline" starts from 1,038,800 rubles. But it makes sense to pay more than one hundred thousand for "Comfortable": it is not cheap, but in addition to a lot of small things (illumination in small mirrors, soft upholstery of the ceiling, curtains of windows, etc.), this performance is carrying the really useful and necessary things for such a significant machine. Let' s say winter is not going to interfere with an additional heater with separate control from the salon and an advanced system of air ducts, an electric drive, and a heating of mirrors. In addition, it is difficult to imagine a modern car without electric lifts and onboard computer. Yes, and not too much needed, the arm-chair arm, located on both sides of the front seats, proved to be indispensable in the long term. All T5 power units have a capacity of 2 litres. The most accessible is 85-strong turbodiesel. It is not much more expensive (+ 19,000 rubles). and a petrol motor with a capacity of 115 l. c. And if you add another 35,000, then there will be 102 diesel forces. But we had 140-strong turbodiesel, which is more expensive than the base motor for 139,600 rubles. It is necessary to understand that this amount includes the upgrade of the "mechanics" to the six steps. On the top of the aggregate chain, the 180-strong biturbo was unnatural: an additional 40 "horses" would cost about 192,000 roubles!That's a little too much. It is reasonable to spend the money on the "robot" DSG ($126,700). (a) A total of 129 800 It is not going to work to combine a 4x4 transmission, a machine gun, and 140-strong engines, so it is necessary to choose the top engine. But the price is less than 1 654 800 rubles. However, our "Karavella" was worth 2,290,000 rubles. The price was influenced by numerous options that could easily be bypassed: 17-inch LTL, electro-hydraulic power steering with variable performance, side "wickets", and boot doors, rain and light sensors, RNS-310 media (in which some navigation did not work), and a stand-alone heater with timer control. And here's the parktroics, the alarm and the extra pillows, thank you!Size matters. How does he look?Our "Karavella" was also a long base. The additional 400 mm, which the Germans estimate at 50,000 rubles, "fell" to the right place: for a crowded team such as ours, there will be no space in the cabin. At the same time, it is easier to manage with a thunderd that waved a 5.3 meters simple: the overvision from the height of the driver's seat is unprecedented. I practically stopped using the interior mirror, and I almost stopped using the outer "purest", which reflected the whole world. In the city, the size of the vans is shocking: it even seemed that if we were to go to the "Caravelle" to the underground, let' s say, I wouldn't be able to turn around. However, after the passage of time, I managed to place the dimensions of the car in my head, and then I snored easily into the bowels of the parking lot. On the driver's seat "Caravella" is not in the driver's seat, but you come in, overcoming a comfortable step. The door opens so wide that it is sometimes necessary to hold the wheel and drag it out. And on the night before our departure in Peter came a cold rain, and in the morning I found "Caravavella", frozen in the ladies of the steamer Heorhiy Syed. It was not only a long time to warm the windshield glass from the ice cork, helping "the winders" and the omyvka, but also to call off the sensors of the parking lot, who had gone completely mad. This had to be done more often than once, with a heavy snowfall in the face of the road, especially during the overheads of trucks rising to the local boughs. A sleeper. What's he like inside?Alternately, the representatives of the men' s half of our Ark migrated from the cab to the salon. In the course of the change of the driver, of course, it will not be possible to change the driver from the cabin to the place of the navigator: the floor is absolutely flat, and the distance between the front seats is quite decent. There were three rows of seats in the passenger compartment: the first and the second, two local seats, and the last row was a 3-seat sofa. It was not surprising that he was the one who had the greatest success: his legs could be pressed upon him, his feet could be forgotten entirely by the righteous sleep. In any of the 2-local series you can also get quite tunnivo, especially if one person claims it. It was the most interesting place in the car-after, of course, the driver's seat. And, on the sides of the backs of the elongated armour, adjustable to the same height, they provide the stunning convenience of the landing: on ideal European roads, it is possible to put their elbows on them, railing of "Karavella" by the fingertips. I didn' t sit in one of the cars so relaxed and waxing! But the main thing is that you can go a completely unthinkable distance without any hint of fatigue. The only downside which has been found on the long journey is the absence in the passenger part of the passenger cabin of "passing" accessories: no cup holders or folding tables at Caravewell, alas, there is no: there is only a single drip opposite the entrance door-and nothing more. All this can be found in "Multivana"-not so important, but much better suited for long-tie. But the driver and the navigator are not decimated: there are huge two-storey pockets in the doorway and a cup holder from the center panel. Stability itself. How's he going?The combination of a long base, a broad track, and an excellent ESP, inspireates a very unspeakable sense of confidence. Even on the uncleared road, the car is so confident that it holds the course that it seems to be without a complete drive can do whatever you want. The way to overrun the snowstorm, which separates from the meeting, does not cause the slightest problem: it is simply a steering wheel to mark "Caravella" direction, and it will go where it is given an order. On the road we could easily bypass the endless convoys of trucks, but we were only able to take the rarest of our own cars. And if our Karavella was a four-wheel-drive ... I don't think she'd be even in the middle of the winter. The 140-strong diesel' s zily, if when it was not, it was only at full load (we were six plus baggage), and at the same speed for a hundred. But a clear "mechanic" with well-chosen gears maximized the motor insufficiency maximized. And when I was driving a car with a minimum of traps, it seemed to me that the bus was too much to do, so there was no such thing as a big machine like that! I think if the concept of "drive" is applicable to commercial machinery at all, Volkswagen has the right to expect it to represent it. "Caravella" is the most pleasant one, not even to acquit it, but has surpassed our expectations in terms of fuel costs: the average flow of 8.5 litre is, I believe, perjury. But there was also the negative: on the way back, as soon as we crossed the Russian border, the turbodizel was sagged: the engine thoroughly overslept and stopped gaining momentum. The situation was corrected by the rigid "rubber": after the ignition and restart of the force, the force returned. But the scenario has come: such stories have been repeated several times. I am unable to write on the quality of the fuel, because the first case occurred at the "solilke" Customs office. I take all my driving. What's he doing?We did not place special cargo tasks before Caravella: we were primarily interested in its passenger abilities. Nevertheless, each traveler took with him, let' s say, in the bag. Most of the carb was placed in the trunk, where the small backpacks could be put on each other: the height of the space was larger than the depth. But it turned out that the luggage compartment could be easily built in the parlour, sitting under the sofas. During the cruise to Europe, each of the participants grew more and each new thing easily found a place in the hospitable salon. We'll take cars, as well as a peter talent like Caravella (get bigger-T5) isn't that much. Perhaps, except for the "Mercedes Benz Viano" and "Høndai-N1", there is no one to remember. But Høndai is picking up a pick, and Mercedes is more expensive and not so diverse. And if I had a wealth of wealth, I would immediately go out and order myself a four-wheel-drive "Multivane": a more universal machine, which is capable of competing with the plantain, is impossible to imagine. Volkswagen Karavella