The VW Pan Americana: Travel in luxury and comfort

Image by Naresh Maharaj

The interior is very stylish with tan and black seats. The two seats in the middle row swivels around to face either the road or towards the passengers in the last row. Such a simple and practical necessity, yet so efficient.

4Motion

The new Pan Americana combines the comfort of the Caravelle and the trusted 4Motion drive system meaning that no matter where you plan to go, the Pan Americana is supremely up to the task. With a full load of luggage and passengers, I was able to reach speeds of plus 120 kmph in a very period of time. And the sports mode was equally handy. But the two sliding doors on either side of the Pan Americana was a real blessing as passengers could board and jump off the vehicle with the greatest of ease. It was a breeze, literally and figuratively.

Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG)

On the national roads, the Pan Americana ‘settles down’ very nicely and the engine is hardly audible. The seven-speed Direct Shift Gearbox was in perfect harmony with the 1 968cc engine.

Image by Naresh Maharaj

The Pan Americana‘s striking external features include front and rear bumpers painted in a textured effect, underbody protection at front and back, side sill attachments, stone guard film along the lower sides of the vehicle as well as 17-inch alloy wheels.

Superior Presence

In addition to these functional highlights, the Pan Americana also scores with a striking and simultaneously refined outfit. Tinted rear windows, smoked LED rear lights, a chrome radiator grille and the classy Pan Americana logo on the B-pillars stylishly guarantee a superior presence in visual terms as well.

The concept of a multi-functional yet stylish all-rounder that can also be used in gravel road conditions is consistently carried through to the end with multifunctional leather steering wheel, leather gearshift knob, Climatronic, entry lights with Pan Americana lettering and pedals in stainless steel look. All of this gives the Pan Americana speciality.

Quality Interior

The entire interior features a mix of high-quality, yet simultaneously hard-wearing materials. Typical styling elements such as seats with the special black and white insert, Nappa pads and edging U-seams in appropriately contrasting colour, as well as optional bi-colour leather trim, underline the exclusive character of this special edition Pan Americana, which also impresses with the rugged rubber floor mats that can cope even with muddy mountain bikes, hiking shoes and just about anything else.

Image by Naresh Maharaj

The Caravelle Pan Americana is available with a 2.0 BiTDI 132kW 4Motion engine and 7-speed DSG gearbox. The four-cylinder engine with torque of up to 400 Nm @ 1,500 rpm accelerates the Pan Americana to 100 km/h in 12.1 seconds and has a top speed of 188 km/h.

My thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed both driving the Pan Americana as well as being a passenger. Once behind the steering wheel, you hardly get the impression that you are in control of a ‘passenger van’, as opposed to driving a sedan. All the controls are around the driver and just a touch of a button away. You would think that this would be heavy on fuel, but to achieve 8.8l per 100km was impressive. A most ideal family transporter that gets my vote.

Pan Americana retail price (VAT and emissions tax included)

• 2.0 BiTDI 132kW DSG 4Motion: R962,800

The new Pan Americana comes standard with a 5-year/60,000km Automotion Maintenance Plan, 3-year/120 000km warranty and 12-year anti-corrosion warranty. Service interval is 15,000km.