Automover News: Volkswagen Australia has initiated an all-new addition to their highly successful Caddy line-up of vans and people movers called the Caddy 4MOTION. 4Motion is for all-wheel drive and its standard fit on both the Caddy Maxi Life and Caddy Maxi Van model variants. Car Advice was at the Australian launch of the vehicle this week, which included a test drive program from Albury/Wodonga to Falls Creek and back. First up was the Caddy Maxi Life. Its full model description is the TDI320 Caddy Maxi Life Comfort line 4MOTION. It might have started out in life as a compact commercial van, but in this guise, it’s a highly accomplished seven-seat people mover with a crazy amount of space and impeccable road manners.
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Despite the total absence of any soft touch materials there’s a premium feel to the cockpit of the Caddy, which also extends across to the stripped out Maxi Van. It’s a combination of all-black plastics that are nicely patterned and a highly functional console and switchgear layout, including the oversize air conditioning vents and a thick-rimmed three-spoke sports-style steering wheel donated from the Golf. The fabric-upholstered seats (from the Volkswagen Polo) are superbly comfortable, even after a few hours behind the wheel. There’s plenty of side bolster too, which keeps your torso firmly in place so as you can properly enjoy the unusually good on road dynamics the Caddy Maxi Life is blessed with. |
The second-row seats maintain a similar level of passenger comfort and are split-fold, while the third row is a bench seat set-up but does fold flat. In fact, if you want to use your Caddy Life 4Motion for house moving runs or trips to the local tip , all rear seats fold dead flat for easy high capacity loading. But if that’s not enough, you can easily remove the rear seats completely (row-by-row) for a Maxi Van-like load capacity. Most people movers in this segment lose much of their luggage capacity with all three seat rows in the upright position, but that’s where the Caddy Life is the standout vehicle. Not only is the aperture of the tailgate completely unencumbered for both width and height, allowing for dishwashers, washing machines and dryers to slide right in, but also there is a tone of space behind the third row.
Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life TDI320 4MOTION 2.0-litre common-rail direct-injection turbo-diesel six-speed DSG (Direct Shift gearbox), 103kW/320Nm: $45,490 (Manufacturer’s List Price).
Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Van TDI320 4MOTION 2.0-litre common-rail direct-injection turbo-diesel six-speed DSG (Direct Shift gearbox), 103kW/320Nm: $36,490 (Manufacturer’s List Price).