After all, even for our least-epic power, we will’t withstand the urge to take to the roads. And whilst the usage of the California as a day-to-day driving force round a Somerset the town, with an occasional toll road jaunt thrown in, isn’t in point of fact its meant function, it handles the duty conveniently. After all it does: decrease the pop-up roof and fold away the tray-sized desk and the California is basically a massively flexible midsized van, this means that it must be simple to power in all scenarios.
The high-up, van-based riding place provides nice visibility, the boxy design makes it simple to position and the 196bhp 2.0-litre TDI diesel engine, pushed thru a seven-speed dual-clutch computerized gearbox, makes fairly mild paintings of a system that weighs 3080kg unladen. For the reason that weight, the journey is beautiful first rate, too, and so long as you’ve taken a little of time to stash the whole thing away correctly, you gained’t pay attention too many rattles from the cabin.
So is the power dynamic? Exciting? Smartly, no, after all now not. It’s a industrial van, with all that involves: it’s completely useful and extremely simple, with out providing both thrills or grievance. Undoubtedly, it’s essential power one for masses of miles, say from London to central Germany, in ease and luxury.
However why waste the time doing so when the actual pleasure of the California is to be discovered now not within the adventure however in taking part in it if you’ve reached your vacation spot? Particularly if that vacation spot is, ooh, 10 toes out of your start line.
It doesn’t take an epic power to grasp the iconic attraction of the Transporter. When Autocar evaluations automobiles, one in all our key standards is ‘health for function’ – how neatly it does the activity for which it used to be meant. That’s probably the most outstanding factor concerning the Transporter: for seven many years, it’s been designed to do a complete vary of jobs, and it has succeeded as it excels at they all.
And so, because the California departs, it’s with authentic sorrow that I go back to my present house workplace. Which has given me an concept: as a substitute of reopening the Autocar workplace, in all probability lets all simply figure out of Californias someday…
BUZZ ISN’T LIGHTYEARS AWAY…