Volkswagen Caddy TDI Van Range
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.
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Not that the Caddy TDI isnt cost effective, its 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 TDI is the top dog in the latest Volkswagen Caddy Range. Below it is the SDI model which is less advanced, less powerful and £900 less expensive than the £10,810 (basic) TDI. The SDI is the bean counters choice. Although it features the Caddys 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, youd probably choose the SDI and spend the £9,000 on some monogrammed shag pile floormats for your Bentley. If you were looking for a van that youd be using for work, day in day out for the foreseeable, £900 might seem a small sum to scrape together for the benefits associated with TDI motoring.
"Of all the interiors in all the small vans out there, the Caddys is the nicest place to be"
Volkswagens 1.9-litre TDI Pumpe Duse engine (to give it its proper title) has popped up in numerous models and states of tune throughout the VW Group empire. The version were looking at here produces 104bhp but with a bit of tinkering, the self-same powerplant has gone on sale with 150bhp in VW Group passenger cars. Now, 104bhp isnt a huge total these days and 0-62mph in 13.
3s will get you precisely nowhere against even a moderately warm hatchback but compared to the mind-numbing 20.5s served up by the SDI and the general sluggishness in the wider small van market its quick. The 250Nm of torque at 1,900rpm makes the biggest tangible impact on performance by ensuring that theres 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.
The SDI engine is also of Volkswagens direct injection Pumpe Duse configuration but without the benefit of the variable geometry turbocharger and intercooler bolted on to the TDI, its showing on the road is vastly different. Fuel consumption is also slightly better in the TDI. All Caddys come with the same five-speed gearbox, although its optimised in the different versions to suit the different torque outputs of the engines. Driving the TDI is a pleasant experience.
Until the revs reach around 1,500rpm theres very little going on but then the surge of power hits and youve 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. Theres even the option of Volkswagens DSG semi-automatic gearbox if you so desire. 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 TDI is a great package for the van driver. It is at the bulky end of the small van spectrum and consequentially doesnt feel as nimble as a Citroen Berlingo about town but on longer trips, its smoothness and solidity pay dividends.
None of the Caddys 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 drivers 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, its 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 theres 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 Caddys is the nicest place to be. The Caddy TDI carries a maximum payload of 819kg 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. Van buyers who will be actually driving the model they choose will like the Caddy TDI a lot. The similarities to Volkswagens Golf are evident in the car-like interior quality and the lofty standards of engineering.
For these kinds of buyers, the Caddys price premium over similar products and the TDIs over the SDI is easily justified. The overwhelming temptation for businesses and fleet managers, however, will be to install their drivers in the markedly slower but no less impressively constructed SDI. Its a difficult quandary but for those of the opinion that a happy employee is a productive employee, the TDIs smiles per mile ratio might swing it.
Facts At A Glance VAN: Volkswagen Caddy TDI van Range
PRICES: from £10,810 (basic) ENGINES: 104bhp 1.9 PD TDI
PERFORMANCE: 0-62mph 13.3s / Max Speed 103mph MAX PAYLOAD: 819kg
