A DRIVE to Sun City resort- Bokone Bophirima in the Volkswagen T7 Transporter/Kombi Edition, came in handy for many a reasons.
Firstly, it is bigger standing 5.050mm long, the wheelbase has been increased by 97mm to 3.100mm, providing a roomier interior.
Its available with a long wheelbase with an overall length of 5.450mm.
Thanks to its increased size, the payload is now 1.33 tons, and the towing weight has been increased from 2.5 tons to 2.8 tons, while the roofload increased from 150kg to 170kg.
Secondly, the nicely touched 17 inch alloy wheels that are wrapped in a generous amount of rubber, made sure our ride was excellent- suffice to say potholes are still prevalent en-route to the resort, that was playing host to the much awaited SA Music awards, two weeks ago, of which I was covering.
And despite being physically disadvantaged, yours truly sat on drivers seat without any hiccups, thanks to the Transporter’s ample space and adjustable seats.
According to VWSA- the latest-generation Volkswagen (T7) Transporter/Kombi is based on the Ford Tourneo/Transit, which continues to raise some eye-brows, folks.
But hey, it did transport us in style- as heads continued to turn in and around Mogwase and other adjacent areas in Rusty, prompting a local male who was in company of his family at the shopping mall to averse ‘its time I should exchange my old VW Kombi with this new edition’.
The design of the body colour-coded grille, bumper and the LED headlamps give the front-end a slightly more upmarket appearance, with EDITION limned at the outside boot- that comes at 3,002 mm of space even with seats up. As for luggage for the traveling crew- it was seamless.
We ended up packing unnecessary stuff- believe me-stru…
The interior is styled with fascia featuring some LED day-time running lights, air vents and plenty of body colored bits that would normally be finished in a gloss or plastic black.
The interior is a boosted by multifunctional steering wheel that controls and adjusts cruise control, a steering mounted gear lever, volume level buttons, and configuration of the driver display.
The drivers display is accompanied by the massive and informative 13-inch touchscreen that has all of the phone connectivity apps. The system also features Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility as standard. While there is no wireless charge pad, there are numerous USB outlets dotted throughout the cabin, also for the rear passengers, to keep devices charged.
Also loved the soft leather material that doubles as spill-proof- they know in such a big kombi, anything can spill especially on long haul trips. So, is the interior that is absolute a great space to be in and shows that there has been plenty of thought put into ergonomics by Volkswagen.
The seat arrangement accommodates 8 passengers- it can fit the entire Netball team- including the driver and had slight adjustments mainly to get into the last row at the back and some additions that are optional individual seats with electric eight-way adjustment (front passenger: six-way) and four-way lumbar adjustment are available.
Surprisingly, the feature of heated front seats is available- we did not use one, owing to high temperatures.
Because our trip began from Jozi to Lichtenburg and off to Sun City- my partner had the option of adjusting rear air conditioning to keep cool- it was sunny throughout, as we traversed the farms through terrains, associated with NW.
She also used the roller blinds since she was seated in the middle row with her friend- one of the niceties inside the Transporter.
A question was asked, if these are automatic sliding doors- ‘unfortunately not’ I responded calmly, since they both closed smoothly.
All this did help to identify that the 2.0 TDI engine was refined as ever and in inclines and declines the 8-speed automatic transmission handled all the changes well.
The engine unit outputs stood at 125 kW and drove the 4MOTION® all-wheel drive.
As for safety, it ticks all the boxes with features such as safety airbags and lane detection- you could disassemble it if you feel it irritates you.
A family kombi or soccer team transporter- it does the job- and keep your eyes on the diesel having averaged between 9-8.3l/100km over three-days. Had to control my acceleration not to exceed 140km/h
Kombi 2.0 TDI 125kW 4×2 EDITION Auto SWB (8-seater) retails for
R 1,167,400
It comes with three-year/120,000 kilometre manufacturer warranty, five-year/60,000 kilometre EasyDrive maintenance plan, 15,000 kilometre service intervals and 12-year anti-corrosion warranty.
Verdict
Performance 1-10 (7)
Fuel 1-1 (6)
Image SLM (The Transporter Kombi 4×2 EDITION handles well on any terrain.)
