The Spanish publication named km.77 has put a 2020 Volkswagen Caddy through a sudden obstacle evasion test. The results were very poor, but the driver concluded that the car and its suspension settings were hardly at fault – the rubber was.
The Caddy picked for the test had optional 17-inch wheels installed shod in Bridgestone Weather Control tires. As you can imagine, all-season tires are decent all-rounders if you take the annual average data, but they still perform worse than dedicated summer and winter tires during those seasons.
This is why, no matter how long the team tried to pass the test at the standard speed of 77 km/h (47.8 mph), the light commercial van demonstrated uncorrectable amounts of understeer. They started gradually lowering the speed, but it was not until 67 km/h (41.6 mph) that the car finally became responsive enough for evasion maneuvers.
The Caddy’s main competitor, the Opel Combo Life, managed to pass the test at 77 km/h. Even the VW Multivan T7 pulled ahead slightly with the best speed of 69 km/h (42.9 mph). The T7 likewise wore Bridgestone tires (different model) to the test, and the crew also had many negative things to say about them.