A boy for everything: testing the new Volkswagen Caddy
The universal model has changed dramatically and is now practically a twin of the Golf.
Who is the most important Volkswagen of the last half century? Most people would say the Golf is the second best selling car in history.
Some would say that it is the Touareg that brought Volkswagen into the premium segment and significantly increased the company's margins.
But for several million people around the world, the most important Volkswagen is this one: the Caddy.
"Caddy" is the name of the boy who carries your clubs and chases your golf balls.
The name is not accidental - the first Caddy is indeed a Golf-based pickup truck, created for the American market and only later brought to Europe. Then, for a short time, the Caddy was based on the Polo. Finally, in 2003, Volkswagen finally created it as a completely separate model. Which remained on the market for a record 17 years without fundamental changes, although the Germans claim that these are two different generations.
Fundamental changes are taking place only now, with the advent of the fifth generation.
This car is no longer a pastry chef, as we condescendingly called this type of machine in Bulgaria. And credit goes to the Nissan Qashqai and all the SUV psychosis that was unlocked after its 2006 introduction.
The off-road frenzy has wiped out an entire class of vehicles that previously looked so promising: the so-called minivans. Cars like the Zafira, Scenic and Espace like the 8007 have either disappeared from the market or have very little life left.
However, this has created a problem for some customers in this segment - those who want the same car for work and family needs. And also for those who surf, ride a bike or like hiking in the mountains. These people need volume and practicality that no compact SUV can give them. And so they suddenly began to focus on the segment of multifunctional cars - the former "banichars".
And this made the pastry chefs change significantly. The fifth Caddy finally really lives up to its name as something closely related to golf. In fact, this car on the MQB platform is almost identical to the new Golf 8. It has the same suspension, at least in the front, the same engines, the same length.
The difference is in the rear suspension. The previous Caddy had springs. The new one-piece beam with shock absorbers and anti-roll bar features the famous Panhard bar. Volkswagen claims this increases comfort without affecting cargo capacity. But the biggest advantage of this solution is that it takes up less space and frees up additional volume, so even two Euro pallets can now be placed in the short base of the Caddy truck.
The cargo version has a boot volume of 3700 liters. The passenger can accommodate up to 2556 people with the rear seats removed. With five people on board, the luggage compartment is still an impressive 1213 liters. You can even order a short Caddy with third row seats.
The abundance of space inside is also due to the fact that the Caddy has grown - it is 6 centimeters wider than the previous one and 9 centimeters longer. The sliding door on the long base has become wider, by 84 centimeters (70 cm on the short one), and has become even more convenient for loading.
In honor of buyers looking for a family car, an imposing panoramic glass roof is also available, with an area of almost one and a half squares, as well as 18-inch alloy wheels.
The interior resembles the Golf, too: the Caddy offers the same innovative touchscreen devices and the same multimedia devices up to 10 inches in size with a minimum storage capacity of 32 GB. HDD. As with the Golf, we're not entirely keen on removing all of the buttons. Using the touchscreen while driving can be distracting. Fortunately, most of the functions can be controlled from the steering wheel or a very sophisticated voice assistant.
the new generation is definitely more comfortable than before. There is, of course, plenty of room for any items, as well as a very clever rubber barrier that protects your smartphone from scratches, as well as from falling and sliding under the seat during a sharper maneuver.
The engines look familiar too. There will be naturally aspirated petrol in some markets, but Europe will offer mainly the 1.5 TSI with 114 horsepower, as well as a few 75-liter turbo diesel options ranging from 122 to XNUMX horsepower.
but this time Volkswagen did their homework and tried to make it really clean. The diesels are equipped with a sophisticated dual urea injection system and two catalysts. It works immediately after ignition, avoiding severe cold emissions that are common in this type of engine.
Of course, more technology means a higher price tag - as does any new model that has to meet Brussels' requirements.
The cargo version costs just over 38 levs for the short base with a petrol engine and reaches 000 levs for the long version with a diesel engine. The passenger has many more possible combinations and equipment levels. The base price of a petrol Caddy starts at BGN 53, for which you get air conditioning, multifunction steering wheel, cruise control and power windows.
In the penultimate level of Life equipment, with an automatic DSG gearbox, the car costs 51 leva. And for the top-end Style with a diesel engine and seven seats, the bar rises to almost 500 levs.
At the start of the new year, there will be a long Maxi base (on average BGN 5000 more expensive), as well as variants with a factory methane system and a plug-in hybrid. With a more powerful diesel, you can get all-wheel drive.
Unfortunately, the design doesn't exactly follow the bold lines of the concept we saw a year ago. But new pedestrian protection regulations and aerodynamic engineers intervened. Their achievement is impressive - this Caddy has a drag coefficient of 0,30, which is less than many sports cars of the past. According to Volkswagen, this translates into a reduction in consumption of about 10 percent, though we haven't driven it long enough to confirm.
To sum it up, this vehicle remains a real Caddy that will look for your lost golf balls and transport your clubs. Or, more simply, it will help in the work. But at the same time, for the first time in its 40-year history, it can now serve your family on weekends. A real boy for everything.
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