The same as my T6 review, but a T6.1
2021 LWB 150 T30 Manual, Highline Panel van.
OK, 2 months of ownership, and 6000 miles under my belt, so time to do a proper review on my new 6.1
Disclaimer: My original T6 was a fantastic van and did me proud as you can see here in my original T6 review So this isn't a comparison between the two versions 'per se'
10,000 miles and no faults to speak of.
When I say no faults, I do have a couple of gripes that I need to get addressed when the van goes in for servicing, main one being the radio. How have Volkswagen gone several steps forward with the new radio, yet several steps further backwards? DAB doesn't work, so I'm back to FM, which seems to be a common problem, but more annoying is the fact that every few days I have to re-enter my phone code for the radio to recognise my phone, and then re-input all my settings. I did read a while ago that people were having issues with the radio, but it's rather inconvenient, so that needs addressing. Although I highly suspect Volkswagen will just say it's working fine now and there isn't much we can do with it. Only other slight gripe is now I'm running a panel van with a double and a single seat, the double has no adjustments and my colleague complains it's a little too bolt upright. Not much I can do with that and probably a design to maximise loads with the bulkhead.
The van itself is genuinely a pleasure to drive. Volkswagen really have made quite a leap in refinement between my old van and the new, but much of that will be down to the fact I was low in the T6 and stock in the 6.1 at the moment. People say they do need an uprated anti-roll bar, the same as I had in the T6 and I do agree that they have a little body roll when loaded as mine is all the time, but not enough to be uncomfortable. The stock suspension is the first time I've owned a Transporter that's not slammed on the floor, but it's extremely comfortable and sucks up potholes and rough roads with total ease. As do the very uncharacteristic (for me) 16" Clayton's running 65 profile tyres, although the stock Hankook Vantra tyres are total garbage and need throwing off a cliff, but I find any Hankook tyre I've owned to be rubbish. So these will be changed ASAP.
The interior is a big improvement on previous versions, with a much more 'car like' refinement, better use of space and the USB-C outlets, combined with a genuine Volkswagen lead is super fast to charge up my Samsung phone, where as the previous ones took hours.
The biggest and by far the most impressive upgrade on the 6.1 is the steering. This is now electronic and on paper you wouldn't really pay it a huge amount of attention, but the difference between that and the previous hydraulic is striking. The van feels much lighter to drive, the input is very little and the much improved Highline steering wheel only adds to the experience.
My wife has a full electric Mini and this also has the same electric steering, but hers is no where near as light. Volkswagen have exceeded my expectations on this change alone.
It's nice to see VW putting front sensors as standard in the higher commercial models, but the fact it jams the brakes on if it thinks you are too close to an object when parking, can take some getting used to, but that's not a negative. The factory LED lights are as good as the previous ones at night, although I'd of liked more dynamic features. Again, the Mini as a comparison, has matrix headlights, which anyone who's driven a car with this feature will agree, it's fantastic. I see no reason this couldn't of been added to the headlights in the factory baring in mind the cost to upgrade to factory LEDs.
As a previous DSG owner and now a Manual, I don't really miss the DSG. The manual is silky smooth and the clutch is super light, so doesn't detract from the experience at all.
The 150 is certainly not as powerful as my mapped 204 was, but it still has enough to pull a heavy van and will still cruise at daft speeds if you want it too (apparently) but the biggest improvement on the 204 is the fuel consumption. I've always been used to mid 20s at best on my T6, but the 6.1 is high 30s all the time. Maybe some of that's to do with the T6 being very powerful and therefor very playful, but the 150 has calmed me down somewhat, so maybe that's why. Again, certainly not a negative.
Lastly, I need to address the reoccurring question that I get asked. What am I going to do with the T6.1?
My T6 was slammed, different wheels every month, constant modifications etc etc. My life was different then. I've sat back over the past few months and taken stock of the money I spent on my van and it's eye watering. This only came to light when one of my businesses that's 20 years old, seemed to totally stall for months (something I've never seen, but we live in precarious times now) and I realised that all that spending would have been better placed elsewhere. Thankfully that industry has now recovered for now, but it did show me that we cannot take anything for granted anymore and my priorities are best placed elsewhere, which they are now.
So what will I be doing? The van certainly won't be slammed, mapped, tweaked or modified in any major manner. I purchased a new set of exterior plastics that are in the bodyshop for Gloss Black work, but that's mainly because painted plastic trims are much easier to look after and keep their new look much longer than the mass of unpainted bare plastic Volkswagen stick on a commercial vehicle. I was tempted to Swamper it, thus keeping the nice comfortable feel, but previous experience has taught me that once I start moving the wheels closer to the body, they only end up chipping the hell out of the paintwork, which then leads to rust, which the T6 had plenty of. So I'm keeping it as it is, with just a tyre change. That may sound rather boring to some, but I've been in the other places and I've done it to death. Plus I put some of my previous modifications down to some the issues I had in the latter stages of the T6 ownership, which again cost me a stack of cash to rectify. Hence the 6.1 still sat as Volkswagen built it in the factory. I never say never, but this is where I'm at right now.
The T6 was a different beast being low and powerful, which in turn made me heavy footed, competitive and aggressive on the roads and always stressed out when driving. The 6.1 is no head turner, doesn't kick the ass of your average BMW driver and doesn't corner like one of the Mario brothers, which in turn makes me less stressed, less aggressive and more money in the bank at the end of a month, and that's literally no exaggeration.
My 2017 T6 was a brilliant van and I loved almost every moment of ownership, and I will say the the replacement 6.1 is slightly better to drive.
As per my T6 review that I started in December 2017, only time and mileage will tell if this is going to be as good.
2021 LWB 150 T30 Manual, Highline Panel van.
OK, 2 months of ownership, and 6000 miles under my belt, so time to do a proper review on my new 6.1
Disclaimer: My original T6 was a fantastic van and did me proud as you can see here in my original T6 review So this isn't a comparison between the two versions 'per se'
10,000 miles and no faults to speak of.
When I say no faults, I do have a couple of gripes that I need to get addressed when the van goes in for servicing, main one being the radio. How have Volkswagen gone several steps forward with the new radio, yet several steps further backwards? DAB doesn't work, so I'm back to FM, which seems to be a common problem, but more annoying is the fact that every few days I have to re-enter my phone code for the radio to recognise my phone, and then re-input all my settings. I did read a while ago that people were having issues with the radio, but it's rather inconvenient, so that needs addressing. Although I highly suspect Volkswagen will just say it's working fine now and there isn't much we can do with it. Only other slight gripe is now I'm running a panel van with a double and a single seat, the double has no adjustments and my colleague complains it's a little too bolt upright. Not much I can do with that and probably a design to maximise loads with the bulkhead.
The van itself is genuinely a pleasure to drive. Volkswagen really have made quite a leap in refinement between my old van and the new, but much of that will be down to the fact I was low in the T6 and stock in the 6.1 at the moment. People say they do need an uprated anti-roll bar, the same as I had in the T6 and I do agree that they have a little body roll when loaded as mine is all the time, but not enough to be uncomfortable. The stock suspension is the first time I've owned a Transporter that's not slammed on the floor, but it's extremely comfortable and sucks up potholes and rough roads with total ease. As do the very uncharacteristic (for me) 16" Clayton's running 65 profile tyres, although the stock Hankook Vantra tyres are total garbage and need throwing off a cliff, but I find any Hankook tyre I've owned to be rubbish. So these will be changed ASAP.
The interior is a big improvement on previous versions, with a much more 'car like' refinement, better use of space and the USB-C outlets, combined with a genuine Volkswagen lead is super fast to charge up my Samsung phone, where as the previous ones took hours.
The biggest and by far the most impressive upgrade on the 6.1 is the steering. This is now electronic and on paper you wouldn't really pay it a huge amount of attention, but the difference between that and the previous hydraulic is striking. The van feels much lighter to drive, the input is very little and the much improved Highline steering wheel only adds to the experience.
My wife has a full electric Mini and this also has the same electric steering, but hers is no where near as light. Volkswagen have exceeded my expectations on this change alone.
It's nice to see VW putting front sensors as standard in the higher commercial models, but the fact it jams the brakes on if it thinks you are too close to an object when parking, can take some getting used to, but that's not a negative. The factory LED lights are as good as the previous ones at night, although I'd of liked more dynamic features. Again, the Mini as a comparison, has matrix headlights, which anyone who's driven a car with this feature will agree, it's fantastic. I see no reason this couldn't of been added to the headlights in the factory baring in mind the cost to upgrade to factory LEDs.
As a previous DSG owner and now a Manual, I don't really miss the DSG. The manual is silky smooth and the clutch is super light, so doesn't detract from the experience at all.
The 150 is certainly not as powerful as my mapped 204 was, but it still has enough to pull a heavy van and will still cruise at daft speeds if you want it too (apparently) but the biggest improvement on the 204 is the fuel consumption. I've always been used to mid 20s at best on my T6, but the 6.1 is high 30s all the time. Maybe some of that's to do with the T6 being very powerful and therefor very playful, but the 150 has calmed me down somewhat, so maybe that's why. Again, certainly not a negative.
Lastly, I need to address the reoccurring question that I get asked. What am I going to do with the T6.1?
My T6 was slammed, different wheels every month, constant modifications etc etc. My life was different then. I've sat back over the past few months and taken stock of the money I spent on my van and it's eye watering. This only came to light when one of my businesses that's 20 years old, seemed to totally stall for months (something I've never seen, but we live in precarious times now) and I realised that all that spending would have been better placed elsewhere. Thankfully that industry has now recovered for now, but it did show me that we cannot take anything for granted anymore and my priorities are best placed elsewhere, which they are now.
So what will I be doing? The van certainly won't be slammed, mapped, tweaked or modified in any major manner. I purchased a new set of exterior plastics that are in the bodyshop for Gloss Black work, but that's mainly because painted plastic trims are much easier to look after and keep their new look much longer than the mass of unpainted bare plastic Volkswagen stick on a commercial vehicle. I was tempted to Swamper it, thus keeping the nice comfortable feel, but previous experience has taught me that once I start moving the wheels closer to the body, they only end up chipping the hell out of the paintwork, which then leads to rust, which the T6 had plenty of. So I'm keeping it as it is, with just a tyre change. That may sound rather boring to some, but I've been in the other places and I've done it to death. Plus I put some of my previous modifications down to some the issues I had in the latter stages of the T6 ownership, which again cost me a stack of cash to rectify. Hence the 6.1 still sat as Volkswagen built it in the factory. I never say never, but this is where I'm at right now.
The T6 was a different beast being low and powerful, which in turn made me heavy footed, competitive and aggressive on the roads and always stressed out when driving. The 6.1 is no head turner, doesn't kick the ass of your average BMW driver and doesn't corner like one of the Mario brothers, which in turn makes me less stressed, less aggressive and more money in the bank at the end of a month, and that's literally no exaggeration.
My 2017 T6 was a brilliant van and I loved almost every moment of ownership, and I will say the the replacement 6.1 is slightly better to drive.
As per my T6 review that I started in December 2017, only time and mileage will tell if this is going to be as good.
