California T7 hybrid off road?

[pele]

Hello,
I'm planing to buy a new California hybrid 4-motion for light off road use, with lift kit and all terrain tires.
Is there anybody with real life experience of the off road capability of new T7 California? Does the 4motion works well?
I have tried to find any photos and information of the offroad modifications done but not much available yet. Seikel seems to be the only one having the lift kit for T7 California? Delta has done some modifications to Multivan, and I have contacted them two times but no reply.
How about wheels and AT tires, has anybody found and use anything? 17 or 18"? Could 255/55R18 fit without lift? How about speedo adjustement for bigger wheels?

 

[Adam8374]

It is a VERY capable 4x4. No conventional 4*4 can come even close to the precision and controlability of an electric 4x4 drivetrain.

Te only limitation is ground clearance. It's about 19cm and that is not much.

Regarding tyres: you want as much sidewall as possible. Mine 245/45r19 are far from optimal. Go for 17 inch to get more sidewall to be a bit more secure.

See these 2 offroad tests. both very detailed. Both in a foreign language but you can turn on captions on. I havent found anything this detailed in englishlanguages.

This one has a paid second part. It's well worth to pay to see it. The guy is a profile rallye driver, he knowa his stuff....

And a last, not as good video:

 

[pjm-84]

Ouchhhhhhhhh....ground clearance......bouncing off that sill didn't sound healthy

 

[Adam8374]

Anybody has other offroad videos? I couldn't find anything in English....

 

[Adam8374]

This air suspension kit will be available soon. I might go for it https://streetec.shop/en/streetec-o...multivan-vw-t7-california/?pvari32-0-1-49=150

 

[RedWhiteMonkey]

Self levelling air suspension would be lovely, but for me it is so expensive that it would need a lotto win before I had it done.

 

[FivetonesCali]

Trouble with after market air suspension, unless it’s very well thought through, gets really bouncy the higher you ride. The opposite of the desired behaviour.

 

[Adam8374]

I tried few offroad rides and the ground clearance is very limiting. Would be lovely to be able to raise it, even for few meters would be helpful.... I needed to give up couple of times just because one big whole or rock....

 

[lohr500]

I guess once you have a decent set of off-road tyres and whatever electronic/mechanical traction control trickery is fitted to the vehicle, it's always going to come down to ground clearance and the vulnerability of the floorpan and components mounted low down on the vehicle.

I remember years ago going round the Land Rover test track in a 1st generation Freelander. The traction was very impressive. But hearing and feeling the scrapes on the floorpan and exhaust as we tackled some of the rougher sections made me realise that I wouldn't want to take a similar vehicle of my own around those sections. On the other hand the Defender and Discovery models made easy work of it thanks to improved ground clearance and having key components all mounted high up or well protected.