Engine: 69bhp 2.0 SDI
Performance: 0-62mph 20.5s / Max Speed 88mph MAX PAYLOAD: 725kg
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
Our Rating: 7.4 / 10
The SDI Engine Isn’t The Most Accomplished In Volkswagen’s Caddy Range But If Cutting Costs Is Your Number One Priority, It Could Be The Sensible Option. Steve Walker Reports…
It’s reassuring to know that £900 can still buy you quite a lot, even in this day and age. It’s a sum that would land you a viable, if slightly elderly, used supermini or a fairly impressive wide-screen television. With a wedge of those proportions, you could pack yourself off on a foreign holiday to any number of far-flung destinations, fill your boots at Harrods and Harvey Nicks or carry out a 900-item sweep of your local pound store. As it happens, £900 is also the difference between the 2.0 SDI and 1.9 TDI engine options in the Volkswagen Caddy range.
Volkswagen’s Caddy van presents buyers who are attracted by its sturdy charms with an interesting dilemma. Should they opt for the mid-range 1.9-litre TDI powerplant with its 103bhp output and variable geometry turbocharger or should they settle for the entry-level 69bhp 2.0-litre SDI and pocket £900 to do with as they will? It’s a tricky one. There’s absolutely no doubt that the TDI is a better engine from a driving perspective. The SDI develops 140Nm maximum torque at 2,200rpm but the TDI can almost double that figure with 250Nm coming on song lower in the rev-range at 1,900rpm. Compared to the TDI, the SDI feels laboured under acceleration and inflexible at higher speeds. It’s noisier too with a low clatter on start-up and a gruff note entering the cabin when it’s extended. The performance figures tell their own story. The TDI makes the 0-60mph sprint in a nippy 13.3 seconds and can hit a 103mph top speed. The SDI drivers had better hope there’s something good on the radio because they’ll be detained for 20.5s on their trip to 60mph and then there’s a modest 88mph maximum velocity to look forward to.
On this evidence, the SDI engine should have been consigned to the scrap heap years ago but, as you may have guessed, the issue isn’t quite that simple. Yes, the SDI engine is comprehensively hammered in many key areas by the TDI alternative but it still has something to offer. The draw of that £900 saving is not to be underestimated and people who succumb to it will also benefit from the SDI’s fuel economy - which, at 53.3mpg, is only fractionally inferior to the TDI’s 55.4mpg. The SDI isn’t the most modern diesel engine you’ll encounter, it featured in the previous generation Caddy van, but it is tough and reliable. At this point, committed cost-cutters should be warming to the SDI option.
Under normal driving conditions, the Caddy SDI’s lack of oomph isn’t too noticeable. It can keep up with traffic quite happily and you soon become used to the extra noise. Sharp inclines are not its forte, however, and if there’s a large load on the back the treading-water effect is magnified as the van struggles against the gradient. The Caddy SDI will cruise comfortably at 70mph although, once again, the noise level is quite high. Part of the SDI’s problem is that it’s being offered alongside the Volkswagen TDI unit which is no spring chicken itself but happens to be a very strong light commercial vehicle engine. If you look at other entry-level powerplants in UK-market small vans, the SDI fares much better as all suffer from a similar lack of guts. In the end, the choice between TDI and SDI comes down to how highly you value performance. If it’s less than £900, the SDI it is.
The current Caddy sports a pleasingly cohesive shape with curving lines around the rear, along the roof and down the bonnet representing a move away from the boxy construction of many equivalent small vans. Overall, the dimensions have increased when compared to the old model. The Caddy is now 17cm longer and 10cm wider, with the wheelbase measuring in at 8cm longer. Inside, with the aid of the space e
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