Innehållsförteckning för November 2016 från VWt

“to spend that long rubbing anything, you have to like doing it” Until fairly recently, I was dead against the whole notion of buying around 20 different products for the simple process of cleaning a car. I’d even go as far as to say I was a bit of a pessimist, figuring a bucket of soapy water or a trip to your local superstore and five of your finest English pounds offer similar results. But do they? Or are the really friendly chaps down at your local pop-up car wash actually doing more harm than good? Then I built a car and bought a Van that both had fresh, relatively blemish-free paint on them. I started looking into the processes and the reasoning behind certain products, how important it is…

Yeah, so we know you lot might not be that worried about the vehicle itself, but the important thing here is that the 2.0-litre BiTurbo TDi is capable of reaching such prodigious levels of go. It means that for everyone who has purchased the latest 180 or 204bhp version of the trusty BiTurbo engine there will now be an official VW upgrade path to gain even more power. In much the same way as Golf GTi owners now crave a K04 turbo swap, there’s every chance that T5.1 and T6 owners will be able to unleash their Van’s inner beast sometime soon. The Tiguan in question will reach 62mph in 6.5 seconds and hit a very respectable 142mph. not bad for a family ’Wagen, huh?…

Our Van, ‘Chalky, is more of a Day Van really, we don’t want to convert him fully with kitchen units, sink, hob, all that stuff. We like to be able to sling the mountain bikes in (I’ve cut down the old bulkhead, carpeted it and added old school ‘V’ frames to push the wheels in so the bikes don’t fall over) and shoot off for four to five hours to ride some tracks. Or travel to the seaside with Den and Meg for a play on the beach and then back for fish ’n’ chips in Chalky while the two Border Terrorists eat their well-deserved fish cakes. In almost two years since we’ve owned Chalky, we’ve travelled around the whole of the Lake District, most of Norfolk, Cornwall, Dorset and…

“Visually, this is one Highline that’s been taken even higher” One of the questions we often hear asked is, “Why would you pay a company for a conversion when you can buy the real McCoy direct from Volkswagen?” Surely, an official VW product, built and sold through the worldwide VW network, will always be worth more, right? Well, no actually. We think those days are long gone when you look at what spending new T6 money will get you these days. It doesn’t matter how committed you are to VW’s wares, that sort of wedge can buy you something a heck of a lot tastier than an official VW offering. So, no offence if you’ve just handed over 50 large (and counting) to a smarmy salesman with a flash wristwatch…

What’s been done will be done again, there’s nothing new under the sun. Well, that’s what Ecclesiastes reckoned anyway and, to be fair, there’s truth in what he said. Especially since a lot of modern Vans seem to follow the same well-trodden path in terms of aftermarket wheels, sidebars, light upgrades and interior trim. But there are exceptions to every rule, and 46-year old Lawson Pope’s T5.1 is one of them. And what better way to stand out from the crowd on the high street than by adopting the signature design of style guru, Paul Smith? “I always had the idea of doing something different, and part of it comes from the original Paul Smith Mini from the ’90s,” explains Lawson. “I had always loved that, and had a picture…

It’s a full on feast of show fun this month. As well as your Vans, we’ve got ones we’ve spotted on our recent travels to Camperjam, Busfest, Grill-n-Chill and any other show we’ve hit up over the past couple of months. Now the sun has gone and the nights are drawing in, this is like Van reggae for the soul. We’re also on a bit of a stereo vibe at the moment as our Jimbo is considering what sort of massive sounds to put in his T5, now he’s fitted a split charge kit and leisure battery to keep the volts pumping. If you’ve got a funky detail in your Van, or your Van needs to be on here, drop us a line and we’ll make your Van famous. You…

After being made redundant from Autoglym, I decided it was time to man up and start out on my own with a mobile valeting and detailing business. So after thinking about what Van to have (it obviously had to be a VW!) it didn’t take long to decide that a Caddy was the one. After weeks of searching, not wanting white, I found this silver Caddy 2k in Swindon, arranged to see it, made the deal and as soon as it was home, my head started filling up with ideas. I started with ordering parts to get it ready for colour coding: Touran V1 front bumper, Sportline front splitter and rear barn door spoiler, rear bumper, mirrors and door handles. It was then booked in with Rhys at Worle Autos…

My Van is a 2.5-litre, 130bhp, LWB T32. The story of us owning ‘Lady blue’ is simple. I had been thinking of doing a conversion for a while as I like the camping experience but I’m none too keen on sleeping in a tent! Having said that, I bought a new tent the week before I saw the Van on eBay. My wife, Lucia, and I both agreed that while doing a Van from scratch was a lovely idea, it wasn’t practical for us at the moment as we have very busy lives, so instead decided to buy a Van, put our stamp on it and improve it as we go. When we saw this T5 on eBay, I’ll be honest, it was the colour that sold it to me.…

“hundreds of islands scattered around, all with white sandy beaches” We set off in the middle of July for the 2.40am ferry sailing from Holyhead in North Wales, hoping to avoid the Dublin morning traffic. The ferry was quiet and the roads in Ireland at 6am were almost deserted so, within 30 minutes, we were turning off the Dublin ring road, heading west. Having looked into campsites and possible wild camping spots, Clifden ecoBeach Campsite in Galway was our first destination. Unfortunately, after a four-hour drive we arrived at the campsite only to find there were no camping spaces. But, if you want to do a camping trip to Ireland, you have to try this site as it looked amazing. Oh yes, we will be back. As a result of…

“You helped raise over £21,000 for Cash for Kids, and one lucky chap went home with the ’67” “the perfect way to spend a weekend with your family” VW Festival is now well established and getting bigger and better every time. Last year was my first time at the show as the official snapper and, even if I hadn’t landed the job this year, I’d have gone back for the weekend anyway as it had such a nice vibe about the place. The event runs over three days and is held at Harewood House, and all the superb gardens and grounds that brings with it. Yes, believe it or not, they have penguins there, just outside Leeds. The show has something for everyone, and this year was a…

Hate is in the air Dear VWt, I have an issue with your persistent featuring of air-ride Vans. I’ll be honest, I hate air ride, always have. The idea that a Van only looks good when parked seems totally absurd to me! As an ever increasing number of lowering kits are available for the Transporter market, why is there a need to spend in excess of three times the cost of the very best coilover and lowering kits on rubber bags that fill up with air? Also, and this is the part that really offends me, how do people go about setting their suspension geometry correctly when the ride height is variable over such a range? Surely, they’re butchering tyres as a result of running on air? Or maybe I’ve…

My Van was brought from a private seller in Weymouth around two years ago now. He had started the change by putting 22-inch rims and coilovers on but everything else was standard white Panel Van. The transformation needed to begin with a set of windows all round and new Audi-style headlights. Then the wheels, although the 22s looked nice, the ride wasn’t, so I found these 18-inch rims from a seller on the popular auction site. They came from a Caravelle and it rides beautifully now. Then to design the inside from scratch. I began by ripping the original plywood panels out and cutting fresh versions for carpeting in Mega Van Mats stretchy carpet. I really wanted to try something different from the typical full-length side cupboards and ¾ rock…

It’s difficult to stand out in the Transporter crowd nowadays. Things have naturally, and perhaps quite rightly, followed a path that means practicality and useability often win over flair and creativity, especially when it comes to interior treatments. Whether that’s because the established layouts work so well and can’t really be bettered, or because we’re all instinctively rather inclined to tow the line or go with the flow, but the predictable one-sided kitchen run and overhead storage can sometimes seem a little bit generic. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a set up that works and does the job at hand, but sometimes wouldn’t you just like to throw away the rulebook and aim for unique? You only need take one look at Matt Ayres’ facial hair to realise he’s…

“reclaim your right to buff on a Sunday” Cleaning dirt and road grime from your Van won’t only make it shine, it also offers you the chance to keep an eye out for any damage, such as scratches and stone chips, and to keep on top of them before they become a more serious problem. With everybody leading such hectic lives these days, there is a current trend for taking your vehicle down to the local car wash and letting a swarm of people smother your vehicle in soap suds and jet wash them off, all while you talk to the office on your Android device. Alternatively, you can let someone loose on your car in a car park while you dash in and do a bit of shopping. Not…