Volkswagen Transporter is not only a model series with a long history, but also the old T1/T2 or the new T5/T6 have been recognized by car fans in terms of B style. Of course, this Van model can be used not only for business purposes, but also for home travel. For example, the Transporter in front of you has a kitchen, can take a shower, and can sleep. This Trakka Trakkadu AT model based on the Volkswagen Transporter was built by Australians. They successfully transformed the compartment for business meetings into a “capsule apartment”.
Maybe you haven’t heard of Trakka. This Australian company was established in the 1970s. At that time, they had already started some modification work for Volkswagen’s models. Of course, in addition to Volkswagen, they also modified Fiat and Mercedes-Benz. Some of the Van models. This time Trakka got the prototype directly from Volkswagen’s German factory, and it only took a week to complete the transformation. The company plans to build 50 models per year, which means that only 50 customers can get this Volkswagen brand “camping van” every year (you have to queue up early if you want to).
The test drive car we got this time has some optional accessories, and the price is 120,000 Australian dollars (about 600,000 yuan). The price is only 85,000 Australian dollars (about 427,000 yuan), the main difference is that the latter is only the front drive. The AT in the name of the Trakkadu AT we tested stands for All Terrain, that is, it uses the Volkswagen 4Motion four-wheel drive system. Trakka says 75 percent of vehicles sold will be all-wheel drive.
Maybe you are already thinking about getting a Van for weekend trips, but few vans are fully equipped with home equipment; maybe you have also seen some small RVs, but it is also a tangled problem without four-wheel drive. So this Trakka Trakkadu AT card that can sleep, eat, and take a bath meets your requirements. You just need to prepare money and line up as soon as possible.
If you have paid attention to Volkswagen Transpoter before, then you must have some impressions of the T6-based California camper they launched not long ago. This car is a model released for the European market, and it is also a model developed by Volkswagen itself. However, compared with the camping van produced by Trakka, Volkswagen’s own model seems a bit “entry”.
Like Volkswagen’s California, Trakka’s Trakkadu AT also uses a liftable roof. This design is more to expand the usable height of the car. After all, as a campervan, passengers have more time to stand in the car, such as cooking and washing dishes. This set of roof lifting system uses pneumatic lifters to complete the lifting process, and it is also very easy and convenient to use.
There is a touch control panel on the counter at the rear side of the driver’s seat. Through this panel, passengers can deliberately understand the power situation of the vehicle battery or control the electric equipment. There are two sets of batteries in the whole car, one is the traditional driving battery, and the other is the battery pack that supplies power to the equipment in the car. If you want to charge the latter, you only need to start the engine, and of course you can also plug in the power supply. In addition, there is an electric fan in the car, as well as a 240V power interface and two USB ports.
The induction cooker in the “kitchen” is directly powered by the engine, and it only takes 5 minutes to boil a pot of water. The faucet in the sink has hot and cold water for passengers, and the shower at the rear (more on that later) also uses the same water method. Of course, the water after cooking and washing dishes will flow back to the gray water tank under the counter for recycling.
With a kitchen, of course, a dining table is needed to enjoy the food better. This car does not use a fixed dining table, but uses a foldable table board. In addition to eating in the car, passengers can also move the table board outside the car. It is also very comfortable to enjoy a cup of coffee under the awning. This small table board can be folded and stored behind the driver’s seat when not in use, without affecting the usable space in the car.
The car can accommodate four people for sitting and dining. Both seats in the front row can be rotated, but the main driver’s seat can only rotate at a small angle due to the steering wheel, while the passenger seat can rotate 180 degrees. rotate. The second-row seats slide fore and aft, and it all depends on whether the occupant wants space or rear storage. Also, the second-row seats are not just seats, slide them forward and fold the backrests down, and you have a double bed.
Considering that the customers of this car will really camp in the car, the manufacturer has also carefully prepared privacy glass and blinds, and the front windshield and car windows have also prepared blackout curtains to provide more privacy protection. The “heating” in the car is driven by the engine, but you can smell some diesel in the car. If you can bear it, save it. If it is really cold, you don’t have to care about the smell.
The storage space in the car is really comparable to those “smart tools for returning money”. There is enough space in the cabinet to store tableware and kitchen utensils. In addition, the volume of the car refrigerator can fully meet the short-distance travel needs of two people. As a camping car, a wardrobe is also a must. In addition, there is enough space at the bottom of the second row of seats to store some luggage.
The awning on the side of the body is electrically extended, but some manual operations are required when using it. It is very easy for two people to operate it together. This is the first time for Trakka to use electric extension awnings, before they used manual.
In addition to the function of the most primitive “door”, the tailgate of this car has another function – to form an expansion area with the hanger. You may wonder how much space can be expanded by the size of a tailgate? You must know that this is the tailgate of a van model. In the corner near the rear, Trakka has configured a hand-held shower, which is convenient for passengers to shower in this extended area without worrying about getting the car wet.
After talking about the infrastructure, let’s talk about the performance of this car when driving. The car is based on the long-wheelbase version of the Volkswagen Transporter and uses a 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine. This engine has a maximum power of 132kW and a peak torque of 400N m, and the sound of the engine when it is running also sounds very thick and powerful. In fact, this diesel engine can really drive this car with ease, even though the car produced by Trakka is 700kg heavier than the original model.
This diesel engine is matched with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and its shift logic is still very good. Many Volkswagen owners may know that Volkswagen’s dual-clutch gearbox will have some slight frustration at low speeds, but it is not so obvious on this car. After the speed is increased, the shifting speed of this gearbox is still very fast and accurate.
Such a big body and such a heavy weight may make you think that this is a “gas tiger”, but in fact this car’s fuel economy performance is very good. During our test, there were also some congested road sections, and the fuel consumption of this car did not exceed 10 liters per 100 kilometers. The manufacturer has equipped this car with an 80-liter fuel tank, and the cruising range can be well guaranteed.
Trakka’s engineers upgraded the shock absorbers of this car and replaced them with Seikei’s long springs to increase the height of the chassis. Now the car’s ground clearance is 220mm, and the passability has been improved. At the same time, thanks to the help of the four-wheel drive system and the rear axle differential lock, this car produced by Trakka can conquer more complex road conditions. The comfort of this car is very good when driving. After all, this is a high-end model that focuses on business positioning. The improvement of the suspension does not affect the driving quality. The steering is also very flexible, and it won’t make you think that this is a 5.3-meter-long Van. However, due to the modification of the roof, you may notice a slight deformation of the roof when cornering sharply, but this does not pose any safety hazard. In addition, the sound insulation of this car is also worse than that of the original model without a roof, but it is completely at an acceptable level.
The center console is equipped with a multimedia touch screen as standard, and it has Apple CarPlay function. Satellite positioning and navigation require additional optional functions. In addition, this car is equipped with a reversing radar and a reversing image as standard, so it is not a problem for users who drive a van for the first time to park.
The above is the Trakka Trakkadu AT model, a very good camping car, of course, if you plan to queue up to buy one, it is recommended to choose the top model. Although the price of 120,000 Australian dollars is not cheap, the assistance of the four-wheel drive system is still necessary for a campervan, not to mention some more practical configurations.
