Table of contents for February 2017 in VWt

“Eventually, the cream rises to the top” It’s Christmas Eve as I write this. Deadline looms at the start of January and, while I should be feeling upbeat and festive as We’re Going On a Bear Hunt is on TV, I’m not. There are no shows to go to at the moment, it feels like it is dark all the time and I haven’t got any excess money to fritter away on my Van. In a nutshell, winter seems a bit rubbish. I never imagined I’d suffer from SAD, but maybe I do? The shining light on the horizon, however, is that I’ve just finished whacking down a load of shows on our 2017 Events list, and there’s more than ever to get stuck into next year. Too many even?…

VW I.D. at CES Modular and autonomous – that, we’re told, is the future for VW control systems. Sounds scary if you ask us. For those who actually like driving to get to a destination, VW’s presentation at CES 2017 (the giant consumer electronics and technology trade show in Las Vegas) will focus on the networking of people, vehicles and surrounding environments. Volkswagen will present its visionary I.D. electric vehicle (dubbed a Microbus by many) for the first time in America. CES is the perfect venue for this, as the concept for the first compact Volkswagen based on the Modular Electric Drive (MEB) combines the digitally networked world with an electric-powered and – if so desired – fully automated vehicle featuring an innovative control system. Best you enjoy ‘driving’ your…

It was during 2014 / ’15 that I started looking at maybe buying a Van. I was working away a lot, staying in rented accommodation or B&Bs during the week and, without your own space, it can be a bit of a pain. We had been going to Stanford Hall VW show for a few years and looking at all the different conversions, but then went to Busfest in 2015 and met the Dirty Weekender crew. I thought if paying customers were willing to stand there showing their Vans, saying how good the service was then that was good enough for me! I suppose it’s a bit of a mid-life crisis (I’ve already got the motorbikes). The children are growing up fast so we made the decision to go and…

The Ws WHEN? 12 November 2016 WHERE? Surrey Rolling Road, Farnborough, Surrey (www.surreyrollingroad.co.uk) WHY? Big number confirmation Following the placement of a small ad on the T4 / T5 forum regarding a rolling road day to be staged at Surrey Rolling Road on Saturday 12 November, a few tuned Transporters jumped at the opportunity to see who has the biggest turbo, who makes the most boost and, ultimately, whose Van plots the highest graph. As some kind of reference point, there were also a couple of other tuned VAG cars involved to act as useful benchmarks, and to encourage the power hungry to keep going in their quest for ever more powerful Vans. The results were not necessarily what people expected. Of the five tuned T5s that arrived, two of…

To say you get to meet a diverse selection of people in this game is an understatement. You get your highly modded Vans that are lower than your gran’s, well, you know and, at the opposite end of the spectrum are the purists that would lose their minds if you messed with any aspect of a Van’s originality. But this month we have something completely different: a custom-made motorhome with its roots in one of the most iconic caravan designs ever produced – the Airstream. Home of the custom-built motorhome is Retro Tourer, based in Braunton, North Devon, the brainchild of husband and wife team, Buzz and Marion Burrell – two funky folk who are Volkswagen enthusiasts through and through. “I bought my first Beetle when I was 15, which…

Regenerative braking is helping manufacturers achieve better fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions.It works by harnessing and converting the kinetic energy produced during braking and deceleration into electricity, where before it would simply be wasted as heat. There’s no doubt this is a great technological advance, until it comes to split charge systems. Such systems are the usual method for charging the leisure battery in a Campervan. They come into operation while your vehicle is running, using a traditional alternator, which adds load to the engine to give a continuous charge until the battery is full. Usually, a voltage sensing relay is fitted between the vehicle starter battery and leisure battery, and while the alternator is running it charges both batteries, ensuring the voltage does not increase beyond 13.5V. Then,…

Geoff has been fitting air ride to vehicles since before it was cool, and his 2003 2.5 SWB T30 Kombi was arguably the first in the UK to ride on compressed air, having originally been converted in 2006. His ’53-plate T5 sits on made-to-measure HavAir front struts, which Geoff has made by a well-known, UK-based suspension manufacturer to perfectly suit wheel diameter and width, with the much debated front hub mod helping to get it right down on the ground. At the rear, fabricated air bag platforms support Firestone donut bags. The rest of the system comprises a five-gallon tank, twin Air Zenith 0B2 compressors and a custom four-way, eight solenoid valve control set up with ½-inch lines for speedy operation. There’s no expensive ride height sensors here, Geoff’s eyes…

Having owned 13 vehicles in my four years of driving, only two of them remaining standard, I knew that when I wanted a Van it had to be a T5, just for the sheer amount of aftermarket parts available. Like most first time Van owners, I started with a fairly standard silver Van on Range Rover wheels, and thought I’d leave it at that. But everything went downhill (no pun intended) when I found, and became a part of, the Lowdown Transporters page on a very popular social media outlet. Having spent multiple hours every day for a couple of months flicking through all the photos and posts on there, I knew I had to bag my Van. Everything else just took off from there. I sourced the parts and…

“I can drive it at just a few millimetres above maximum drop now” Ah, hydraulic suspension, eh? The preserve of the lowriding LA gangster, right? So how on earth has it found its way on to an increasing number of former builders’ Vans in recent times? I’m penning this having just finished writing about a Type 25 Single Cab that’s been treated to a Rayvern single pump, fluid displacement system broadly similar to what our Scottish T4 protagonist, Gordon Higgins, has fitted to this most attention grabbing of T4s so, if you’ll excuse the pun, I’m all pumped up about hydraulics right now. If you’re a regular reader of VWt, think back to Issue 26 (Feb 2015) and you might remember Gordon’s Van as it’s been through more overhauls than…

Tech-te-tech, tech, te-tech it out. What-wha-what-what-what’s it all about? Let’s turn this, turn this party out. We’re sure the VisionTech (VT) lads like a bit of rowdy hip hop as much as the next man, but talk to them for more than 10 minutes and you’ll realise they’re not the boisterous, brash, look-at-me Essex lot you might be expecting. Despite all of the dance and hip hop-fuelled banging, crashing and scratching they’re renowned for at shows, the reality of a chat with the Van building chapter of VT is quite different. In fact we’d say Dan Lewis is a fairly reserved, and definitely laid back, sort of bloke. There’s never a big sell, he doesn’t ever try and force how great his products and services are upon you, he just…

At the very start of November last year, we popped up to see the Lowdown Transporter posse at a pub just outside Coalville, Leicestershire. It was unofficially entitled the 5th of Low-vember meet and the plan was to gather in the big field out the back of The Bulls Head, set an enormous bonfire up, indulge in some roasty, toasty marshmallows and just spend an evening camping out with a bunch of mates with low intentions. It went well. Lots of alcohol was consumed, only one person fell over and, even though the temperature dipped to -2degC due to the elevation of the place, everyone emerged smiling the next day, those with night heaters perhaps smiling a little more. Let’s have it. If you’d like to see your Van on…

Bridgit Ware’s parents owned a Type 25 Campervan in the 1990s and then, in early 2000, her mum decided it would be great to upgrade to a brand new T4. She saved hard until 2002, when a brand new 2.5 TDi (88bhp) T4 Panel Van, finished in Ice Blue, was purchased from Eurovans, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles of Westham, East Sussex. Fitted with twin air bags, a half-height bulkhead, mudflaps, VW alarm, delivery package and number plates, the grand total came to £13,386.13, including a £1,640 discount. The Van was immediately taken to Leisuredrive FG Ltd, Unit 10, Corporation Street, Manchester (nowadays trading from Kearsley in Lancashire) where it was converted into a Camper, following Leisuredrive’s Plan B, which comprised a midi bed, elevating roof, two-ring gas cooker / grille, fridge,…

When Chris Turner got in touch with us about his ‘budget’ T5 build, at first we simply didn’t believe him. Based on our experience of T5 ownership, it’s just not possible to build a pop-top, four-berth Camper on the budget he was proposing, but he was adamant it could, and would, be done for less than £5k, including buying the Van! Admittedly, running Evolution VW Interiors helped keep the costs down as Chris did most of the hard graft himself, but some things still needed farming out. With a few dents to account for on this 2006, ply-lined, ex-builder’s hack, it was off to the paint shop to have the front and rear bumpers colour coded and the tailgate straightened. Then it was off to Explorer Camper Conversions in nearby…

February Dubfreeze 19 February Bingley Hall www.dubfreeze.co.uk March Ultimate Dubs * 12 March Telford International Centre www.ultimate-dubs.co.uk The VolksWorld Show* 25-26 March Sandown Park, Surrey www.volksworldshows.com Dubs at the Mill 31 March – 2 April Haselbury Mill www.scrumpydubbers.co.uk April Vee Dub Family Weekender 7-8 April Oak Tree Arena, Somerset Elemental VW Show 8 April Rayleigh, Essex www.elementalvw.org.uk Dubshed 8-9 April Eikon Exhibition Centre, Northern Ireland www.dubshed.com Elsecar at the Races 9 April Doncaster Racecourse www.elsecarattheraces.com GTi Spring Festival 9 April Santa Pod Raceway www.vwaction.com/gtispring Clubs Unite at the Beach* 9 April Warren Farm, Brean, Somerset Bus Types VW Show 14-16 April Oswestry Showground www.bus-types.co.uk Big Bang* 21-23 April Santa Pod Raceway www.big-bang.co.uk Stanford Hall* 30 April Stanford Hall, Leicestershire www.stanfordhallvw.com May Van West 5-7 May Warren…

“Emerging with hotdogs and a plastic fork… how romantic” Off we go again in our little yellow Van, this time in search of a magical Scandinavian adventure. We scuttled down south to the white cliffs of Dover, arriving at 6pm for an 8pm crossing, our early arrival being slightly more premature than we could have anticipated. By 10pm, the queue of families, businessmen, lone travellers and couples were all becoming restless and hungry. We waited and waited and waited, for movement, activity, anything! People were ransacking their boots for snacks and supplies, so we raided our own. Sam burrowed his way through tins of rice pudding and the baked beans in the back of the Van, emerging with hot dogs and a plastic fork, which we shared on the back…

It’s been roughly a year since I’ve had access to the 207,000-mile T5 the magazine bought as a project Van mid-way through 2015. A lot has changed for the magazine since, but the Van is now back with me after I bought it from the company molesters who were treating it as an actual Van. Fancy that, eh? Using a Van as a Van? The cheek of it! Anyway, after I’d scraped off a few months of neglect from the roof and emptied the load area of feathers and general poultry mayhem, it became apparent that no one had opened the bonnet for quite a while. The coolant level was at zero, the alternator had been changed for the wrong one (without a free wheeling pulley on it so the…

“We owe so much to those fish-smelling, child-attracting, monochromatic little waddlers” VWt: Hi Paul, at the very start of your VW Festival journey, what prompted you to start up and host it at Harewood House? PS: As a team of five young and eager VW enthusiasts, we visited two locations to potentially host our brand new show. Elvington Airfield was 38 acres of concrete and, while that ticked the boxes for some of the team, myself and Shane preferred the peaceful and family-friendly environment Harewood has to offer. It overwhelms and consumes you when you get there. You can switch the rest of your life and worries off and just enjoy three days of the good times. VWt: Have numbers grown consistently over the years? PS: Yes! We were amazed…