VWtの September 2017 の目次

VWtofactoryfitautonomousbraking Volkswagen is to become the first commercial vehicle brand to fit all its Vans with autonomous emergency braking systems (otherwise known as Front Assist with City Emergency Braking), meaning all customers ordering a new Caddy, Transporter or Crafter Van since 1 June will be guaranteed an additional level of safety as standard. If you aren’t up to speed, what AEB does is monitor the road ahead, detect obstacles, warn the driver and, if the driver ignores the warning, automatically applies the vehicle’s brakes. Fix up, look sharp because it’s been suggested that AEB is, “the most significant development in vehicle safety since the seat belt” and claims are being made that AEB will save more than 1,000 lives and 120,000 casualties in the next 10 years. It might even…

As mind blowing automotive creations go, few have surprised us in recent times as much as Steve G’s absolutely bonkers Caddy R. This relatively humble looking, bar the VW R ‘fast blue’ paintwork, VW Van blew us away at GTi International recently when it clocked a 3.7-second 0-60 time and hit 100mph in a shade under nine seconds, and all with what appeared to be complete ease. We had to find out more. Turns out Steve had been working on his ‘toy’ project for the last couple of years in the garage on the side of his house and, with lots of help from VAGtech in Milton Keynes, he’s produced the UK’s fastest C20 Caddy. Ever. The way this thing launches is mad. With AWD, it just takes off –…

“Yo VWt, you very kindly did a Readers’ ride piece on my last Van at the tail end of 2016, and mentioned you’d like to do a full shoot on it at some point. Just after it went into your great mag, however, I sold the Van to fund this, my new build. Now I’m hoping you might like it enough to do a shoot on this Van instead? “I bought it last October as a straight white Panel Van, then set about having it sprayed and getting the dash and door cards covered in carbon material, and then hydro-dipped. The Van was at the spray shop for months though, resulting in me pulling it out unfinished and taking it elsewhere. “Sam at Moore’s Campers then carpeted it out and…

Hydraulics. The most straightforward way to get a T4 on the floor, without requiring a mechanical engineering degree or a massive investment in fabrication time. Cue letters and social media outcry… Okay, we’ll admit it’s not as easy as that makes it sound, but the fact is, if you want to drop your T4 as low as it can possibly go and maintain some semblance of ride quality, then ‘juiced’ suspension, particularly a system that relies upon a fluid displacement set up with a remote spring box, is unquestionably the way forward with that unconventional torsion bar front suspension. Truth be told, we’ve always thought it rather strange VW decided to go back to torsion bars after it made the leap forward with MacPherson struts on the Type›25, but I…

“People come up to us at shows and ask me where we got the materials for the furniture. I have to explain that it all comes from… a tree” If you’ve a keen memory, or even one that isn’t particularly sharp, you’ll most likely remember the Pioneer-equipped ‘Weekender’ Van built for the audio company as a demonstrator by Shrewsbury-based Rolling Homes. A relatively new name on the scene, the company was tasked to build the demo Van for the company after Rolling Homes’ Ben Cooper approached them to discuss stereo requirements for his own Van. Ben’s Van was initially intended to be a demonstrator for Rolling Homes but was so successful that he eventually sent back his company Audi in favour of the T6, which he now uses as a…

It’s been a manic couple of show months aboard the good ship VWt. This time on the Wall of Cool we’re concentrating on the VW extravaganza that is Wörthersee, plus throwing in some of the very best pics you’ve sent us recently. So, don those sunnies, get a brew on the go and get ready to view Europe’s largest, most inclusive, VW-based alpine vacation. If you’d like to see your Van in these here pages, buzz an email to james.wallace@kelseymedia.co.uk or send us a pic on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/ vwtmagazine…

 VWt: Watcha Kev, how’s tricks? A little birdie tells us you had a feature car back in the good ol’ days of Max Power? “I’d like to see people taking more risks with colours and graphics” KH: Ha ha, the birdie was correct. I had my modified Escort GTi in Oct 2004 Max Power. It’s something I’d set as a to-do since I was 15 at school. My dad’s mate picked me up from school in his yellow RST Van and took me for a spin. I was hooked straight away, and have owned modded RS Turbos, Cossies and VWs ever since. VWt: What is the automotive achievement you’re most proud of then? KH: Mmm, tough one, as I’ve loved doing so many of my old customers’ cars, but I’d…

T5 suspension advice I’ve been reading with much anticipation each month the upgrades you’ve been carrying out on your project T5 and I wanted to ask for a little bit of VWt’s knowledge. I’m not that bothered about scraping along on my sump, or having to worry about replacing parts that are perfectly functional at the moment, but I am rather keen on losing the wallow from my 2010 T5.1 so wondered what you’d advise I do first? Fit anti-roll bars or lowering springs / coilovers? Andrea Deacon, Kent VWt: Like most things in life cost and budget come into play, but we’d undoubtedly begin by swapping the factory anti-roll bars [ARBs] for uprated versions from the likes of H&R. The difference in handling and feel at the…

“When we needed a little bit more space to accommodate a growing family, and my ever growing lad, Archie, we could have gone down the pop-top route with either of my T4s, but no, I thought I’d try something different. “I found this trailer in Cornwall on a popular auction site. The outside was a bit of a mess, but the inside had already been kitted out, so I nipped down there and picked it up. Within two weeks it had been completely sanded back to bare metal, while I looked around for a suitable artist to bring my Tiki vision to life. “The idea behind it was my family is growing up and Archie loves the whole VW way of life, so this is his own little space for…

“we had to drive one vehicle each – the T5 to sleep in and carry the dogs and our R32 to show” Having driven to Austria the last three years for the Wörthersee VW Treffen, this was just a short road trip for us, but it was for a very special get together of some of VW’s finest ever sounding engine.Yep, that’s right, the magnificent R32! Before the EU, emissions legislation and downsizing started to dominate the news, VW made one of its all time greatest hits – the narrow-angle, 3.2-litre, six-cylinder engine. So when we heard there was going to be a mass gathering of them, we were heading up to the Peak District like a shot. It meant we had to drive one vehicle each – the T5…

“brakes are for slowing down rather than looking pretty behind a set of thin-spoke alloys on a show field” Project T5 Owner James Wallace Costs this month • Calipers: £300 • Discs: £112 • Pads: £224 • Vagbremtechnic brackets: £256 (with Hel braided lines and new bolts) • Facelift primed rear bumper: £74 • Facelift bumper brackets: £21 each • Kombi step and threshold: £50 • Barn door spoiler: £94.99 • Wheels: £1,156 • Tyres: £240 • Rolling total: £10,504.13 (inc. cost of Van) It’s no cheap undertaking this T5 project lark, but nothing makes me happier than new wheels, (well, I can think of one other thing, but I can’t write about that here!). So, whilst I was at JPL Automotive playing about with my new Mk7 Golf steering…

August MIVW 5 August NH Hotel, Noordwijkerhout, Aanbieding www.mivw.nl Le Bug Show 5-6 August Spa Francorchamps, Belgium www.vwbugshow.be/en/ Tatton Park VW Show 6 August Tatton Park, Cheshire www.vwnw.co.uk V-Dub Island 11-13 August Isle of Wight www.v-dubisland.com Beach Buggin’* 6 August Southsea Common www.beachbuggin.co.uk VW Festival* 11-13 August Harewood House, Leeds www.vwfestival.co.uk VolkStyle Base 13 August Airport Weeze, Germany www.volkstylebase.com Endless Summer VW Show 13 August War Memorial Park, Basingstoke, Hants Facebook / Endless Summer VW show Viva Skeg Vegas* 18-20 August Revesby, Lincolnshire www.vivaskegvegasvw.co.uk Volksfest Wales 18-20 August Watton Show Fields, Brecon www.volksfest.wales Deutsche Fest 19-20 August Brand Hatch circuit, Kent www.deutschefest.co.uk/ September Edition38* 1-3 September Overstone Park, Northants www.edition38.com/events Busfest* 8-10 September Three Counties Showground, Malvern www.busfest.org V-Dubs in the Valley 15-17 September Bewdley, Shropshire www.vdubsinthevalley.co.uk Doncaster VW Festival…

“layered and textured sound, as close to perfect as possible within the imperfect confines of a vehicle” Subtle? Most definitely. Effortlessly cool? Of course, it’s in VWt. Shocking and surprising? Well, probably not until you step foot inside this masterpiece of new wave in-car entertainment and turn up the volume. Long gone are the days of hoofing great sub enclosures that restrict access and / or useability. The ICE industry has come of age, cleverly evolving away from outright decibel fests into sublime stereo imaging, and the manufacturers of the audiophile quality products are now focussing on layered and textured sound, as close to perfect as possible within the imperfect confines of a vehicle. For anyone who likes a nice set of high-end, stand-mount speakers and a costly ‘separates’ system…

“This is my Karmann Colorado, a coachbuilt motorhome that the wizards from Osnabrück convert from a bare T5 chassis cab to include all of the high-end motorhome features you’d expect to find. “Having traded up from a lovely T5 2.5 174 Sportline that we heavily modified, the Karmann is like another world inside, and it was the outright value of the vehicle that first attracted us to it when we started looking for a T5 replacement. It’s a 2009 model and it’s believed to be one of only 10 in the UK at the moment in right-hand drive. I spent ages looking for one and finally located this one in the wilds of Bolton. “It was a CAT D write-off, and had a damaged bumper, dented passenger wing and scratches…

“we can’t help thinking that ‘simple’ family shows like this are the future” Fundamentally, VW people just want a field to camp in with their mates. It doesn’t really matter if that field is filled with 20,000 other people and a drag strip, or if it’s on the outskirts of a sleepy Hampshire village with sheep in the next door field and the occasional Chinook overhead. As we’ve come to expect from the Just Kampers Open Day / weekend, it’s all about being able to kick back in a wide open space, indulge in some sun and neck a few cold ones, safe in the knowledge that 100% of the proceedings from the weekend are given to Cancer Research UK. That’s right, 100%. The Open Day itself is just on…

“It was always intended as a working Van, pure and simple” The Swiss are famous for many things – staying a long way away from international conflict, impeccable timepieces, chocolate and, of course, a secretive financial system that would throw shade on Gringotts Wizarding Bank – but it seems that there is now something else they excel at. Swissvax has been manufacturing car care products since 1930, but has only recently started making noise in the UK automotive scene. The sole British importer, Swissvax UK, has put its money where its mouth is and built this stunning T5 Panel Van, which shrieks the values the company stands for: exceptional quality and protection for everyday use. However, that wasn’t necessarily always the intention. Company boss, Chris McDonald, takes up the story.…

“We didn’t want to just go for a big money aftermarket package” There’s a school of thought that says suspension and brake upgrades should always come before you add more power to any vehicle. While we generally agree with that, we were so excited about bolting the hybrid turbo onto Project Shed’s 1.9TDi engine last year that we did that before we undertook one of the key upgrades we have always had in mind, which is to fit bigger discs and beefier calipers, along with uprated pads. This became even more important after the H&R anti-roll bars made their way onto our Van as the increased confidence and performance they inspire resulted in us carrying so much more momentum through the bends that the standard poverty-spec brakes felt overwhelmed at…

T6 Campervan An all out assault on the Campervan senses that defines good times in the countryside, at the beach or at your favourite MTB retreat Blinding T5.1 A facelift masterclass with the T5 / T6 mod everyone’s going potty for. New age curtains? We certainly think so Banana Bus Iain ‘Dicky’ Dickinson’s amazing, banana brake caliper-wearing T5.1 bass ’Wagen in all its glory Danny MacAskill Yep, that’s right, the trials bike riding genius talks about his latest T6 and how it makes life on the road so much easier Plus Company profile: Leighton Vans, the northern purveyors of all that’s good in the world of brand spankers VW Vans Product focus: the lowdown on the high up. That’s pop-tops and elevating roofs for your T4, ’5 and ’6 How…