Thinking of buying - Weight question

[Borris]

I dont understand this how not having a trailer or roof box can increase the payload.
If the total payload is 446kg & you tow a trailer the noseweight of it comes off your payload, any roof load also comes out of the payload, so 100kg noseweight trailer & 50kg roof box would leave you with 296kg payload.

I also am amazed that anyone can get near the payload limits, ok so ours is a 140 manual SE I totted up all we put in it in the summer, 6 people, 2x 5th seat, luggage - 6 small suitcases, CADAC etc etc & didnt come anywhere near the limit.

If you take your example youve got 446kg to play with, driver + 1 passenger comes out of that say 120kg, the 10% of fuel not allowed within MIRO so 7KG a tiny amount for the gas, say 25KG for food etc 25KG for pots & pans and lets be generous with the clothes 50KG each twice what you would take on a plane lets round up all the figures say 230kg that still leaves 216kg for other bits & pieces.

If youve got more people on board you have less room for luggage so the limit is how much stuff you can physically fit in.[/QUOTE]
I completely agree with your first two paragraphs.
However, as far as I can recall, I think the 446 kgs payload on the 180 DSG 4 Motion is for the standard vehicle and doesn't include optional extras e.g diff lock, removable tow bar, etc etc or dealer fitted extras. I have one of these and the reality is that the margin is tight but under certain not uncommon circumstances it would take it over the GVW. I have put our Cali on the weigh bridge and with my wife and I, no water, a full tank of fuel and the usual habitation/camping stuff, it weighed in at 2.9 tonnes. Allowing 30kgs for water it would leave us 150 kgs to play with before the vehicle is over weight.
We don't have a top box or canoes or bikes but may still have to make some adjustments if we wish to carry passengers or tow.

 

[Neilgbj]

If I lost a stone how many bottles of wine does that equate to.....just wondering...

 

[snowy55]

When I took mine to a weighbridge it came in at 2601kg.

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/cali-se-on-weighbridge.10092/

When we see other peoples Calis we are surprised at how much "stuff" they cart around, empty bike racks seems to be a favorite must have item but very often no bikes!

 

[Looby]

Mass in service quoted on the log book is supplied by VW, and includes 90% fuel and a 68 kg driver with 7 kg of luggage, spare wheel and tools, and factory fitted options. As it is a motor caravan on the log book the M.I.S also includes full water load and gas bottles at 90% contents. That is according to European Directive 95/48/ECy

If this is the case, I can't work out why the unladen weight of my 180 DSG is 2512kg according to the brochure, which doesn't include any factory options (with 90% fuel and driver) and yet my log book shows mass in service of 2451 and that's with 5 seats???

 

[Borris]

When I took mine to a weighbridge it came in at 2601kg.

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/cali-se-on-weighbridge.10092/

When we see other peoples Calis we are surprised at how much "stuff" they cart around, empty bike racks seems to be a favorite must have item but very often no bikes![/QUOTE
Yes I agree and we are probably guilty of taking stuff that we don't need. We are still working out what we need and what we don't, so the situation may improve. May have to get rid of the dish washer, the hair curlers and the rotary iron!
But seriously our 180 DSG 4 Motion has an unladen brochure weight of 2638kgs before we even went near it. Also that's without options and dealer fits as well.

 

[Bellesca]

Maybe all vans need to look at their specifics... Every year/ model is different ? We don't have any extras fitted .
From our 2015 brochure, payload is 53000(gross) - 2634 equals 446kg. The unladen weight includes full tank no driver roof load 50 kg and trailer noseweight 100 kg
Therefore if we are not using those extras we can add it to our payload???
Why can't Vw just make things siiiiiiiiimples!!!!

 

[WelshGas]

Why would VW market a 4 seater Camper with a 4 bicycle Bike Rack and Towbar as accessories if it couldn't be driven with 4 adults, 4 bikes and trailer, full fuel and water load + reasonable camper and clothes luggage?
External driveway awnings etc: would/could exceed the maximum allowable weight if carried on the vehicle, as would carrying 4 morbidly obese adults, but still a stupid design if that is the case.

 

[Bobbybus]

People, each to his own, but it does seem that a lot of us are carrying more stuff than we need to!

 

[shudycamps]

Hello all .I'm new on here so this is my first post. I am hoping to be persuaded that the Cali life is for me.
I have spent the last few days convincing myself that having missed out on a gap year before uni I should have one after retirement. The classic way of doing this is, of course, to load up an old VW micro-bus and disappear off to the sunset. I'm a bit old to risk being in the middle of nowhere with an unreliable old van so am considering cheating and buying a new T6. Which brings me to the next bit : "load up".The van would also be used by my children and their children.
I was considering a 204 PS OCEAN 4-MOTION. Payload without driver is 405kg.
4 adults (320kg) a full tank of water (30kg) 4 bikes (60kg) and a bike rack seems to put you over the limit even if the occupants were admirers of The Naked Rambler and did not want to eat or have a nice cool beer from the handy fridge! Am I missing something?
Is this the reason for the privacy glass (police can't see how many are on board!)?
Europe is full of fully laden campers going on holiday in their vans with their bikes, drive away awnings cooking stuff etc. Do the police just turn a blind eye?
Or are my calculations just wrong?
EDIT : If I am right then I would be overweight with the optional 5th seat, 5 adults, no gas and no clobber. Is it possible to change the suspension to increase the maximum load?

In having travelled thus far with just my husband and six dogs, I would shudder at the thought of having two adults in ZuluCampi and the associated weight they would bring. I think the way forward for you and your determination to accompany all of your family is to move up to a motohome. Or tell your children to find a matching Cali to wagon ho alonside your Cali. We adore our Cali, but their space is definite as apparently is their payload.