A Grand way to go camping
Luxury camping with the ease and comfort of a Volkswagen van? Sounds good to us. And it was, writes Damien O’Carroll.
Big campervans are a fairly common sight on New Zealand roads, after all a big chunk of our tourism industry is involved in big white mobile chicanes lumbering around our roads.
But you know what isn’t so common? A true factory-built campervan direct from a car maker that has rolled directly off the production line on to our roads as opposed to being a purpose-built motorhome, converted van or cab/ chassis with a camper unit on it.
What are you on about? Isn’t this VW just a converted van?
Not at all. Historically Westfalia was the camper maker of choice for Volkswagen, which would do just that, but when that company was snaffled up by Daimler in 2001, VW had a bit of a rethink and decided to simply do it all itself.
The original result was the brilliant Transporter-based California, complete with a pop-top and cool retro two-tone colour scheme, but now they have expanded the concept – quite literally – with the imposing Crafter-based Grand California. And it is a truly grand way to go camping.
The Grand California is available in New Zealand in two forms – the medium wheelbase four-berth 600 and the long wheelbase two-berth 680. That’s right, you read that correctly – the larger 680 has less beds.
Why? Luxury baby! The shorter, taller 600 fits in its extra beds up above the cabin and crams a smaller double bed up the back, while the longer, lower 680 just has a single, much larger double bed that actual full-size adults can fit comfortably on.
The 680 also adds extra storage in the form of a small wardrobe section (not having somewhere to hang clothes is a major pain in the smaller 600) and extra under-bed storage cupboards. It is also close to a metre longer, at an imposing 6.8 metres in total length.
That sounds like it could be challenging on the road. Is it?
Not particularly. While the 680 is utterly massive, it really only asks you to be mindful of its length, or more specifically, its massive wheelbase. And while it is still quite tall, it’s not like you will be heading into a multi-storey car park in it, so it’s rarely an issue. The Grand California 680 is really no more challenging to drive than any other large van – as long as you stay aware you are in a large van (and are mindful of low tree branches), there are rarely any issues.
In fact, the most fraught it got during my time away with it was navigating on to the small camping ground in Kawhia where typical Kiwi camping ground parking meant every available inch was stuffed full of utes and SUVs, with a few fairly tight squeezes.
The 680’s huge mirrors, excellent forward visibility and that great camera made it fairly effortless though.
So you went to a traditional Kiwi camping ground in a massive Euro camper?
Absolutely. What else would you do?
Sure, the big, slick-looking Grand California looked a wee bit out of place squeezed in among many tents, several caravans and an elderly Toyota Hiace campervan, but cracking open that first beer and kicking back to enjoy the view of Kawhia harbour after setting it up was as relaxing for me as it probably was for them.
It’s just that my set-up would have been much easier, mainly because there is so little of it you need to do.
Pull into the site, plug it in, flip the front seats around and that’s about it really.
There is a simple touchscreen for any settings you want to adjust (like whether the water is heated by gas or electricity), but most of it happens automatically anyway.
The Grand California takes all the clever touches in the smaller California and adds so much more – like an entire bathroom, for example.
Packing in a shower and toilet, the Grand is completely selfcontained,
even boasting a solar panel on the roof that can keep the on-board batteries topped up for a couple of days of off-the-grid adventures if you so desire.
The interior of the Grand California is an exercise in clever, well-thought-out design, with the placement of the fridge being particularly smart.
While initially it seems odd that the kitchen bench sticks out covering half the large side door opening, it all makes sense when you realise it houses the slide out fridge drawer, making it cleverly accessible from both inside and outside the camper.
Likewise all the light switches are reachable from inside or outside, while every window (and even the main side door) is fitted with integrated flyscreens and blinds.
But, best of all, the double bed was impressively comfortable and remarkably spacious. Which is all I really care about when camping, which automatically rules out any silly thoughts of tents.
This is an automobile review, so what’s it actually like to drive?
Ah, yes, that bit. Like I said earlier, it’s really just like a large Volkswagen van, which means remarkably comfortable, impressively frugal (I averaged 10.1L/100km over 500km split between highways and very hilly, tightly winding back roads) and surprisingly capable.
All Grand Californias come as standard with AWD, so the 680 felt impressively sure-footed on the tightly winding roads leading out to Kawhia, and while it isn’t a sports car, it can actually hold its own through a corner impressively well for its size and weight.
You are aware of its bulk, however, but on the highway down from Auckland, the Grand California is a supremely good cruiser, with excellent driver assists and a lovely big wedge of torque sitting right where it needs to be to keep the big guy on the boil – even allowing for overtaking when needed – and the 130kW/ 410Nm 2.-0-litre turbo diesel four is a nicely smooth and refined thing that does an admirable job of hauling the 3364kg 680 around with minimal fuss.
Any other cars I should consider?
While there are no shortage of campervans available out there, the idea of one straight from the car maker that has been designed and engineered with passing a crash test in mind and comes with a factory warranty and a nationwide service network makes a strong argument for the grand California right away.
In that regard there is really only the Grand California in the large segment or, if you don’t need the whole totally-self-contained thing, the smaller Transporterbased California Ocean.