The Volkswagen Caravelle, affectionately known to many South African’s as “iCara Cara”. Built around being a people carrier, the Caravelle has been around since 1960 and the reason why it’s still around is because they sell and VW keeps making it better and better. I recently got a chance to drive the latest T6.1 which is a facelift of the T6. Here are five things we love about this people carrier.
From the first generation Caravelle with it’s quirky looks to the more modern looking one, it is one of the most recognisable cars on the road. The latest T6.1 carries on with the tradition with subtle exterior updates that enhance the cars good looks. It gets new Day Time Running lights, and new rear LED lights which will help you differentiate it from the T6. To make it stand out, it has 19 colour options of which six are new and seven newly combined two-tone paint schemes. With six newly designed wheels, the optional 17-inch Posada wheels are by far the most unique and good looking wheels.
Technology
The biggest change inside the Caravelle and one I love the most has to be the infotainment system. The Discover Pro Media with navigation (which is super easy to use) and 10.25-inch digital cockpit comes as standard. The infotainment system supports wireless Apple CarPlay which means goodbye fussy cables when connecting your device to the infotainment system. The Digital Cockpit is a gem as it’s highly customisable and super easy to navigate even on the fly.
Practicality
One of the things that makes the Caravelle so desirable is its practicality. Moving seats around is easy, it’s got plenty of room and heaps of storage space to store small and biggish items. I swear young and old people won’t find it difficult to move things around to their liking. If you’re an outdoor person, this particular model is perfect as it’s fitted with VW’s 4Motion all-wheel drive system. So when the going gets tough in muddy or bad surfaces the all-wheel-drive system can get you out of those sticky situations.
Safety
It comes with quite a bit of safety features which come in handy for many situations. Optional safety equipment comes in the form of Trailer Assist and the advanced main-beam control system Light Assist, and Adaptive Chassis Control DCC with dynamic chassis. The rest comes standard such as Electronic stability control (ESC), Automatic Post-Collision Braking, Hill Start Assist, Hill Descent Assist (for 4MOTION all-wheel drive), Tyre Pressure Loss Indicator, lane change assistant Lane Assist, cruise control with speed limiter and Park Assist. Quite a bit of standard kit.
Value For Money
When it comes to the topic of value for the money some people might agree and some might disagree. The Caravelle comes with a whole host of standard kit and when it comes to options there are very few on the list. It’s comfortable, very practical and one can do long trips with ease. With the price tag of R1 149 400 before options, it is very well priced compared to its key rivals.
