Full review

With the arrival of the T6.1, VW has updated its own campervan. The entry-level California Beach (which had a pop-top roof but no kitchen) has been dropped in the UK. Meanwhile, the California Ocean gets even more spec, including an Audi-style Digital Cockpit dashboard display, but has now headed well north of £60k.

What if you want a proper camper, built by VW in its own factory, but without all the bling? Then this new California Coast could be the answer, especially as it has a starting price of just over £55k (including the 150PS TDI motor with seven-speed DSG automatic gearbox).

It has the same kitchen, albeit in Bright Oak wood-effect rather than the Ocean’s new Graphite Grey slate trim, complete with two-burner hob with spark ignition, sink with washing-up bowl and top-loading 42-litre compressor fridge.

There are new handles, both on the practical sliding door cupboards below and the (now split for hob and sink) glass worktops, while a neat sliding table, which stores vertically alongside the rear bench seat, is retained. Anyone who is remotely familiar with the California will feel right at home.

That ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach carries through to other California features such as the outdoor table stored inside the sliding door and camping chairs in a zipped pouch on the tailgate. The elevating roof is familiar, too, but here it’s manually operated rather than electric (as per the Ocean). It’s easy to operate and reveals a new fully sprung roof bed that’s 2.00m by 1.16m.

Roof canvas is now a darker Basalt Grey (or red or blue at extra cost) but there’s no light up top and a window at the front of the roof is an option.

Although it doesn’t operate the pop-top in this version, the Coast still has a control panel for the campervan functions (fridge and diesel heater but also an alarm clock and even a digital spirit level) above the cab’s centre mirror and now it’s a much more state-of-the-art design. Like every aspect of the California, it’s integrated into the vehicle’s design in a way that even the best camper conversion would struggle to match.

Fans of the Cali will also be pleased to see the sliding bench seat (with Isofix) is another unchanged feature. It can move to infinite positions, for maximum boot space or more living room and has a large drawer below. It’s also one of the best bed systems, creating a 1.92m by 1.14m double bed (a mattress topper is recommended).

The Coast comes with adaptive cruise control, a multifunction steering wheel, Premium display for the radio, etc (Discover Media sat-nav is £1,320 extra), twin leisure batteries (150Ah), Crosswind Assist and 16in alloys, but not the Ocean’s LED headlights, dimmable interior lighting, Park Assist, Side Protection, blingier grille, three-zone automatic climate control and sat-nav.

There are plenty of options to consider on the Coast (including this new Bay Leaf Green metallic paint) but the 199PS engine and 4Motion are reserved for the Ocean. It’s easy to take the latter over £70k, though, with toys, making the Coast look even better value.