Campervan life: bigger isn’t always better

Just as early bird tickets go on sale for next year, we take the big VW Grand California camper to one of the last festivals of the year

Ford announced another entry into the camper market last month. The weirdly-named Ford Nugget is based on the Transit (the Custom model, for those in the know) with an interior fit and finish courtesy of long-time German experts, Westfalia. Quite a nice job, as it turns out.

Mind you, Ford introduced its campervan by having a suit announce it at a show, surrounded by other suits and as far removed as possible from the sodden fields, sucking mud, shock-cord engineering and composting-loo Armageddon that constitutes the typical duty cycle of a camper. And, while Ford has eyed the leisure camper market with envious eyes for years, it has struggled to match the history and appeal of the VW Camper.

What’s more, Volkswagen is fiercely guarding its hard-won territory, which stretches back to the very early 1950s when Westfalia actually built VW’s campers. The VW California range will not be included in the next part of the collaborative agreement with Ford, to combine the one-ton Transit Custom and the VW Transporter T7 on the same chassis and build them in Turkey. When that happens in a couple of years, VW’s California will move from its current T6.1 Transporter base to its own unique MQB Microbus platform. So, yah boo sucks to Detroit from Wolfsburg, then.

The foremost environment for the VW Camper is the music festival and while these events have taken a bit of a hit through Covid, there were still around 500 or so this year catering music and food to everyone from disco dancers to wig-out specialists and opera buffs.

Mindful of the toxic miasma of the toilets by the end of four days, we elected for an on-board loo for this year’s End Of The Road festival on Cranborne Chase, near Shaftesbury. Enter, the VW Grand California. Based on VW’s Crafter van, this 5.9 metres long, 2.4 metres wide and 2.9 metres high monster is much bigger and taller than the standard VW T6.1 California and comes with its own wet room (we’ll get back to this). The six-metre, 600 model sleeps four at a pinch, but there is a single, double-bed 680 version that is 6.8 metres long and requires you to have an over 3.5 tonne driving licence.

It’s the price that will rock you more than Ezra Furman’s guitar angst; £80,666 on the road, for the 175bhp/302lb ft two-litre turbodiesel with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Unlike its smaller sister the T6.1 California, which comes in front- and four-wheel drive, the 600 Grand California only drives from the front (the 680 version offers 4x4) so it’s best to keep a eye on the weather for developing ooze in your camping field or – like the stricken campers at this year’s Burning Man Festival – you might not get out.

As I put the tea on, I surveyed the spec sheet for my home for the next four days…

It weighs 3,083kg, has a max weight of 3.5 tonnes and will tow up to 2.0 tonnes. The payload is 417kg so if you’re carrying four (the maximum it will sleep), you’ll need to pack light; just the Spandex for me, then. The water tank, for example, carries 110 litres and reduces the payload to just 307kg if brimmed.

Of course, our van came equipped with just about every conceivable extra, though to call the wind-out sun shade an “awning” stretches credulity almost as much as its £972 price. The auxiliary heater was another £690, the diesel or electric heating/mains electricity system £684, the very useful rear-view camera £288, the ventilation for the loo was £222, grey metallic paint was £1,434 and the extra over-cab bed with access ladder was £2,574.

Considering the bamboozling complexity of that bed, I’m amazed it was on the list in the first place. Fully specced, our van came in at a cool £86,846. Mind you, a T6.1 California Ocean fully specced, with a 4x4 drivetrain and a 201bhp turbodiesel and DSG seven-speed transmission will set you back £81,068 on the road. Even though prices start at £61,322 for the Beach version of the smaller van, the options list is a scary place.

Note here, though, Californias are some of the slowest depreciating vehicles ever, in the past retaining almost 60 per cent of their value after three years and 60,000 miles. With that in mind, buying your own VW camper isn’t such a fanciful idea.

If those standard Californias live in the shared space between commercial vehicle and family holiday pantechnicon, the Grand California sits firmly in the former category. It feels big, it feels heavy, and you need to take care when on the road. Top speed is 101mph, no 0-62mph acceleration is quoted but I reckon it’s more than 12 seconds and we managed 25 miles per gallon in everyday use.

The ride is good, but the big wheels and commercial tyres crash over anything with a sharp edge. Cornering needs to be slow and deliberate, and while the many cupboards have stiff, positive-locking latches, their contents, the bed frames and just about everything else sets up a clattering, clanging accompaniment to progress.

In the cabin the front seats still spin through 180 degrees, but up front is pure delivery van, hard plastics, practical cubby holes, analogue dials and a touch screen that handles navigation and sounds. Those seats are spectacularly comfortable, with independent, long-travel suspension and well-shaped cushions, just like a real truck. The door mirrors have twin elements so you get a heavily convex view of where the rear wheels are, but when manoeuvring you do need that rear-view camera.

Move into the back and there’s the usual massive, off-side sliding door, with the cooking area occupying part of the space opposite the wet room that includes the loo and shower. The double bed is mounted at the rear of the van, the other bed above the driver’s seat. It has a demountable centre, but it’s not a very useful space.

All Grand Californias are mounted on 17-inch wheels and tyres and come with a manual air-conditioning system, satellite navigation, cruise control, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel. The living space has four, three-pin plug sockets and six USB charging points, and there’s an optional water heater for the shower and central heating, along with a 70-litre electric fridge (though ours was malfunctioning and would quickly drain the battery pack, which made us wish for an electric/gas power for the fridge).

The main bed has pretty good cushions and is quite comfortable, but not if you are six foot or over. Sleeping across the van is a good space-saving move, but it means the tallest girls and boys have to sleep curled up like dormice. By the end of four days, I was fervently wishing for home.

The shower and wet room are perfunctory, but they work and the two of us used the shower a couple of times. The loo works, but emptying it is pretty gruesome and we found some quiet loos at the far side of the field instead.

In the end, the bulk and space of the Grand California is largely illusory, it’s all above your head and in tiny cupboards, which aren’t really suited to packaged goods or hard objects. Likewise, the bed is lovely and wide, but simply not long enough – in fact, the bed in the tilt roof of the smaller California is more accommodating. The loo will be important to some, but most experienced campers take their own tented loos, standalone awnings and simply travel lighter. There’s also a huge reliance on electric hook-up for this vehicle, which means that if you haven’t got it, you’ll have to run the engine to charge up the auxiliary battery every couple of days.

More than any of that, however, a camper isn’t just for the festival – and, while you’ll just about get a standard California into a garage and can use it as a regular vehicle, the Grand California is an altogether bigger undertaking. You’ll need a barn, bigger roads and not a little driving skill to manoeuvre it round a supermarket car park.

Campervans are a bit like music festivals really; bigger is most definitely not better.

On test: Volkswagen Grand California 600 3.5t 2.0TDI 177PS 8spd auto

Body style: long wheelbase, high-roof campervan

On sale: now

How much? from £80,666, as tested £86,846

How fast? 101mph, 0-62mph in 12sec (estimated)

How economical? 26.2mpg WLTP Combined, on test 25mpg

Engine and gearbox: 2.0-litre four-cylinder, turbodiesel with 8spd automatic transmission, front-wheel drive

Maximum power/torque: 175bhp/302lb ft

CO2 emissions: 284g/km

VED: £325 flat rate

Warranty: 3 years, 100,000 miles