Volkswagen Caddy 2.0 TDI Van : CADDY OR GOLF CART?

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The Volkswagen Caddy's Golf underpinnings set it apart from the rest of the small van sector and with 2.0 TDI power, it's better still. However, you do pay for the privilege. Steve Walker reportsâ€¦

Some commercial vehicle buyers will never actually have to get behind the wheel of the model they choose and they know it. Fleet managers buying for employers or clients and businesspeople buying for their own companies do so secure in the knowledge that their executive saloons are outside in their personalised parking spaces, waiting to spirit them home. Because of this, these kinds of buyers have very different priorities from customers who will be running the van themselves. Typically, purchase price and running costs are given top billing while issues of driver comfort, performance and desirability take a back seat. Corporate customers will usually seek out the most cost-effective vans they can find but user-choosers are more apt to select something like the Volkswagen Caddy 2.0 TDI.

Not that the Caddy 2.0 TDI isn't cost effective, it's just that you pay a little bit more for it than you would for an equivalent model from a rival manufacturer. Volkswagen are usually less forthcoming than their competitors when it comes to offering discounts and special offers as well. On the plus side, being a VW, the Caddy will command a higher residual value than its contemporaries. Oh yes, and that manageable extra outlay gets you what is probably the most impressive small van currently on sale in the UK. The Caddy 2.0 TDI is the top dog in the latest Volkswagen Caddy range. Below it is the 1.9-litre TDI model which is less advanced, less powerful and £500 less expensive and then comes the SDI. The lowly 2.0-litre SDI is the bean counter's choice but is pretty agricultural by modern standards. Although it features the Caddy's superb Golf-derived build quality, its 68bhp output makes for laboured acceleration during which it emits a gruff, chugging engine note. If you were thinking of buying a fleet of 10 Caddy models for your business, you'd probably choose the SDI and spend the saving on some monogrammed shag pile floormats for your Bentley. If you were looking for a van that you yourself would be using for work, day in day out for the foreseeable, the required premium might seem a small sum to scrape together for the benefits associated with 138bhp 2.0-litre TDI motoring.

"Of all the interiors in all the small vans out there, the Caddy's is the nicest place to beâ€¦"

Volkswagen's 2.0-litre TDI engine has popped up in numerous models and states of tune throughout the VW Group empire. The version we're looking at here produces 138bhp but with a bit of tinkering, the self-same powerplant has gone on sale with 168bhp in VW Group passenger cars. Now, 138bhp isn't a huge total in a passenger car these days and 0-62mph in 10.6s will get you precisely nowhere against even a moderately warm hatchback but compared to the mind-numbing 13.3s served up by the 1.9 TDI Caddy (we won't even mention the lazy acceleration of the SDI option here) and the general sluggishness in the wider small van market - it's very quick. The 320Nm of torque at 1,750rpm makes the biggest tangible impact on performance by ensuring that there's acceleration on tap at the slow engine speeds where most urban driving is carried out. The TDI is a direct injection engine rather than one of the newer-fangled common-rail diesels but Volkswagen have developed it to produce extremely high pressure fuel injections for greater power and efficiency. Driving the TDI is a pleasant experience. Until the revs reach around 1,500rpm there's very little going on but then the surge of power hits and you've got a satisfying spell of punchiness at your fingertips. Keep the engine plugged into this sweet spot and the Caddy TDI feels really brisk with the strong, accurate gearchange switching positively between ratios. The Caddy handles with some aplomb too. Body roll is none too prominent and, try as you might to unsettle it, the modified Volkswagen Golf chassis has balance and grip in good quantities. The steering has a nice weight to it but tells the driver little about what the wheels are doing. Overall, the Caddy 2.0 TDI is a great package for the van driver. It is at the bulky end of the small van spectrum and consequentially doesn't feel as nimble as a Citroen Berlingo about town but on longer trips, its smoothness and solidity pay dividends. None of the Caddy's competitors can match its build quality. The Volkswagen Golf is viewed as one of the best put together family hatchbacks and the Caddy is a commercial vehicle, yet many components are shared and the same high manufacturing standards are apparent in both. From the driver's seat you could easily mistake the Caddy for a Golf. The large digital readout in the centre console, the oval air vents, the large gearknob, it's all shared. High quality plastics are used throughout, panel fit is exemplary and the doors slam with a hefty thunk. Storage is reasonable for a van of this size but there's no cover on the glovebox and the door pockets are on the small, shallow side. Of all the interiors in all the small vans out there, the Caddy's is the nicest place to be. The Caddy TDI carries a maximum payload of 725kg and provides a load volume of 3.2 cubic meters. This is round about par for the course in the sector, although the Caddy is a bigger vehicle than most of its contemporaries. Buyers needing more space can select the longer wheelbase Caddy Maxi which has a 4.2m3 load volume and 470mm extra in length. Van buyers who will be actually driving the model they choose will like the Caddy 2.0 TDI a lot. The similarities to Volkswagen's Golf are evident in the car-like interior quality and the lofty standards of engineering. For these kinds of buyers, the Caddy's price premium over similar products and the 2.0 TDI's over the other engines on offer is easily justified. The overwhelming temptation for businesses and fleet managers, however, will be to install their drivers in a markedly slower but no less impressively constructed 1.9 TDI or 2.0 SDI model. It's a difficult quandary but for those of the opinion that a happy employee is a productive employee, the 2.0 TDI's smiles per mile ratio might swing it.

Facts At A Glance VAN: Volkswagen Caddy 2.0 TDI van range ENGINES: 138bhp 2.0 TDI
PERFORMANCE: 0-62mph 10.6s / Max Speed 116mph MAX PAYLOAD: 725kg