SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


We automate the 2015 Volkswagen T5 Kombi 2.0 TDI, 103 kW, Trendline with DSG

Bulli for you

Posted: 25 March 2015

Exterior pics by author

Flower Power bus pic from somewhere off the Internet

The cheat sheet
Price (basic) R486 200, as tested R505 550
Engine: 1968 cc, four-cylinder turbodiesel
Power: 103 kW at 3500 rpm
Maximum torque: 340 Nm between 1750 and 2500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 14.7 seconds
Maximum speed: 172 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.6 l/100 km
Tank: 80 litres
Warranty: 3 years/120 000 km
Maintenance plan: 5 years/60 000 km; at 15 000 km intervals

It began in 1947 with a pencil drawing: Netherlands car importer Ben Pon saw a simple flat-bed vehicle at the Volkswagen plant and, based on that, sketched some ideas for a Beetle-based transporter in his notebook. Production of the brainchild began at the Wolfsburg plant on March 8th, 1950. Ten vehicles were built that day.
 
Since then more than 11-million T-series pickups, flatbeds, panelvans, kombis, minibuses, campers and ambulances have been sold worldwide. Adventurers drove one of the first campers across the Alps in 1950 and Flower Children (“hippies” to you ancient squares) took one overland to India in search of Enlightenment. So began a revolution. 

My younger brother and two mates bought a cheap, but tired, 1966-model panelvan for their coming-of-age tour of the UK and Europe; surfers converted them into live-in wave chasers and VW vans served as bases for early passion wagons. One of its many nicknames gathered over time was Bulli, or little bull.

Our review car was a basic but updated “2010” (because not much has changed since then) Kombi T5 Trendline with the 103-kW version of VW’s 2.0-litre turbodiesel. The update consists of a seven-speed DSG gearbox fitted for the first time to an entry-level Kombi. Basic it may be, but standard kit includes a pair of airbags, filtered air conditioning with repeater vents serving both rows of back seats, independent suspension front and rear, ventilated disc brakes at both ends with ABS and EBD, traction control, ESP with hill holder and EBA, electronic differential lock and engine braking control.

Other good stuff includes ISOFix anchors, kiddie locks on the sliding doors, rear fog lamps, a fixed towing hitch with trailer stabilisation, a trip computer and remote central locking. A quick note; the doors lock automatically once the vehicle gets underway, but only the driver can unlock them  – manually - using the master switch on his or her door pad.

Confirming that this is the base model, rubber matting is fitted throughout and wheels are plain steel with black plastic centre caps. Alloys are optional.

Add-ons fitted to our test car included park distance control (R6 800); a communications package comprising a multifunction leather steering wheel, the smarter RCD 310 radio with auxiliary socket and Bluetooth at R8 350, and the Comfort bundle with cruise control and front fog lights for R4 200.

We described the Kombi quite thoroughly in our 2010 review of the 75-kilowatt diesel, so there is no real need to repeat it, but here are some updates. We have described the seven-speed DSG (twin-clutch) automatic many times before. Although this one worked very well it felt slightly lazy – Sport mode helped it behave more like the DSGs we are used to. We wondered whether the ‘box had been tamed a little to better suit the laid-back character of the car, because although it goes and handles nicely, it’s certainly more commuter bus than boy racer.

The loading deck is flat and only 60 centimetres above ground level so loading should be a breeze. A pair of gas struts means that the hatch practically opens itself although it takes a firm tug on the assist strap to pull it down again. With both rows of seats unclipped (Note: help needed) and removed, users will have 5.8 cubic metres of load space rated at 971 kilograms, apart from the driver.

With two sliding doors and the rear hatch, access to cargo becomes laughably easy although getting at the spare wheel, slung under the body, is less so. It requires lying down in the dirt and some gymnastics with a spanner, so mechanical prowess and overalls could be worthwhile accessories.

As it has been from the beginning, VW’s Kombi is a rugged and reliable family bus, pool car and furniture truck, all in one handsome package. But it is beginning to show its age and it’s somewhat expensive for what you get. A new T6 is somewhere in the pipeline, so only you can decide whether to wait for that or grab a good, basic, no-bull T5 right now.

Test unit from Volkswagen SA press fleet

For our review of the 75 kW manual version click here

We drove the T6.1 update in 2021



What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

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