By Ian Strachan.
When you drive a car that’s based on a van, you probably wouldn’t expect much in the way of creature comforts. But in the case of the Volkswagen Caddy Life, you’d be wrong.
Based on the Caddy van, the Caddy Life comes with a range of features you’d expect to find on an upmarket saloon. You get an excellent touchscreen infotainment system with six-speaker DAB radio, and multi-function display, front and rear parking sensors, a multi-function leather-trimmed steering wheel, lane-keeping aid and smart silver 16 inch alloys. Not the sort of things you’d expect in a commercial vehicle.
But that’s the Caddy Life’s strength. It combines the advantages of a big estate with the interior versatility of a people carrier and the practicality of a van.
Despite being based on a commercial vehicle. this tall, roomy and supremely practical car still looks good. It has a solid appearance, with a purposeful stance on the road. You can see its van heritage in the boxy shape and rear sliding doors, but inside you get premium features and a fair degree of comfort as well as impressive load-lugging capacity.
Inside, because of its height, the Caddy Life feels big, and it is. Even with the split folding and removable rear seats up you still have an impressive amount of space. This car will eat up the weekly trip to the tip, with bags of space to spare. There’s also storage drawers under the front seats.
You get a nice airy cabin – a bit like driving a small greenhouse -and great all round visibility. The large tailgate opens to reveal a low loading height to save your back muscles.
Driving position is good – quite high if you raise the driver’s seat – and instruments are large, simple and clear, with much of the car’s function controlled from an 8.25-inch touchscreen.
Despite its height this car still handles well. Cornering is crisp and positive and the ride is soft without being too wallowy.
I drove the petrol powered Caddy Life with a 1.5 litre turbocharged engine pumping out 114 horsepower. It’s not the most refined engine in the world, but neither is it the most sluggish. Inside the car it feels smooth, with good flexibility and power whenever you need it, linked to a seven-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox. Fuel consumption is fairly frugal – 42.2 miles to the gallon in mixed driving.
Standard equipment on the Caddy Life SWB which I tested includes air conditioning, DAB radio with MP3 compatibility, USB port and app connection, steering wheel-mounted controls, remote central locking, automatic stop/start, electrically adjustable door mirrors, lane keeping function, cruise control with speed limiter, twin halogen headlights, sliding rear doors (good in tight car parks), electric front windows and traction control.
The Caddy Life gives you a lot of vehicle for your cash – which is just £29,548 on the road for this specification. Pearl effect paint comes at an extra £618.
