Volkswagen Caddy diesel panel van offers car-like dynamics backed by a comfortable drive

Unlike passenger cars, commercial vehicles such as vans and lorries aren't typically packed with cutting-edge technologies. After all, these workhorses' main purpose is to deliver cargo reliably and economically. In recent times, the biggest innovation in the commercial vehicle industry has got to be electrification - take a quick glance through our Reviews section, and you'll notice that all recent vans are electric.

However, today's Volkswagen Caddy is still diesel-powered. But it has got something going for it - the new Caddy is built upon the MQB platform, which underpins cars such as the Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3 and Skoda Octavia. So, let's find out how this car-derived van drives like!

Rugged utilitarian design with a touch of modernity

I kid you not, every single person that I've shown the Caddy to thought that it was an EV. The front fascia consists of a pair of large head lights in a familiar shape (it's distinctly VW) flanking a front grille section that's blanked off in the same black, unpainted plastic material that makes up the rest of the bumper.

The lack of a grille and the combination of the head light's shape with the slim grille gives the Caddy's face a hint of the futuristic-looking ID cars. And yet, the steel wheels with hub caps and the unpainted bumpers reassure you that practicality and frugality are the main takeaway here.

While you won't find any LED lighting on the exterior, the Caddy has a sleek taillight housing that adds to its aesthetics. Yet another touch of modern design can be found on the side and rear left door - instead of mechanical handle and latches, the Caddy is equipped with electric ones that require minimal effort to operate (though only time will tell if they would hold up to the excessive usage that commercial vans tend to see).

It's built like a car and feels like one as well

Open the front door, jump inside the Caddy and you'll be greeted with the familiar feeling - especially if you have driven the current Golf. But even if you haven't, the cabin of the Caddy looks and feels like a typical passenger car - right down to the excellent ergonomics.

The seating position isn't too high up, and you aren't forced to sit extremely close to the steering wheel like in most vans. In fact, the seats are height adjustable, while the steering wheel has both height and reach adjustment, allowing you to find the perfect seating position for a comfortable drive.

While the 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system is expectedly simple, it is intuitive to use - large tiles on the home screen allow you to access features such as the radio or Bluetooth media, vehicle information and the like. Like on the Golf, the climate control system is accessed through the touch screen display that can be brought up at the quick touch of the button located beside the centre air-con vent. Although fiddling with the touch screen on the go isn't the best experience, the blanking plate that replaces the touch slider on higher-trim Golfs serves well to brace your hand for steadier movements.

On the go, save for a really echoey environment due to the un-upholstered metal shell that makes up the cargo compartment, the Caddy's interior is rather well-insulated. Thanks to the rubber flooring that covers the entire cargo compartment, road noise is much lower than typically expected of vans. The partition that divides the cab from the cargo compartment further helps to isolate noise while retaining most of the cool air from the air-con within the cab.

Diesel power makes plenty of sense for a commercial vehicle

Yes, you still can get a diesel-powered vehicle in this day and age, and I'll even argue that it makes the most sense if you have plenty of deliveries to complete on a daily basis.

While electric vans typically boast a reasonable range of 200-300km, the Caddy, with its diesel engine, will easily do close to 1,000km (I drove it for 263km and was still left with a projected range of 770km left). With 120bhp at 4,250rpm and a healthy 320Nm of torque at just 2,500rpm, the 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine provides plenty of oomph to haul cargo around as well.

Without any load, there's so much low-end grunt that mashing the throttle will ensure tyre screeching noises off the line. For the most part, you hardly need to go above 2,000rpm and this results in a quieter drive with excellent fuel economy.

Being built upon the MQB platform has other benefits for the driver. Unlike many commercial vehicles that use heavy-duty leaf springs, which prioritise loading capacity over comfort, the Caddy has coil springs at the rear like normal passenger cars.

Thus, instead of the uncomfortable and crashy ride quality that many commercial vehicles have, the Caddy rides like a slightly stiffer passenger car and it also handles like one.

While it's car-like to drive, there's still plenty of cargo space!

Car-like qualities are great, but as a commercial vehicle, the most important thing has got to be the cargo space. There's 3.1 cubic-metres of cargo space, with a length, width, and height of 1,797mm, 1,614mm, and 1,272mm respectively. As a point of comparison, the Nissan NV200 has a cargo compartment that is around 100mm longer and taller, but also more than 100mm narrower than the Caddy. Depending on the type of cargo that you are transporting, the additional width of the Caddy's cargo compartment can be useful.

Visually, it looks like you could definitely fit a couple of bicycles or other bulky objects (such as furniture or boxes of goods) in the cargo area with ease. With its low floor, sliding doors on each side, and a split rear door, loading cargo into the Caddy shouldn't be a troublesome affair either.

If you are looking for a commercial vehicle for your business, the Caddy sure seems like an excellent choice - there's plenty of utility, and the diesel engine sips on fuel (resulting in a truly impressive range, along with cost savings). And there's probably the biggest selling point of the Caddy - it's car-like dynamics offer an effortless and comfortable drive that you don't usually expect from a van in its class.

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This article was first published in sgCarMart.