[Closed] Are vans better offroad than cars ?

Vans have a ground clearance advantage over cars, get some all seasons tyres on to help a bit with mud.

Pickups are never the answer, unless you're a tree surgeon or something.

front wheel drive vans are good - rear wheel drive are useless unless fully loaded.

so when you go through 2 ruts, you end up scraping the crap out of the bottom end and even occasionally getting slight somewhat stuck.

There isnt much legal offroad/off highway stuff in the UK - surely you'd park somewhere sensible then use a form of transport to access beyond parking. Maybe something like a bicycle?

just get something with a bit more ground clearance, like a dacia mcv stepway or an volvo xc 70 or a subaru outback. + all season tyres.

I've used the car floor mats on the ground to get out of a muddy pickle before. If you have some old carpet make a boot protector in two halves that you can use in an emergency.

pickups are awful at everything, and blunt instrument for a bit of mud.

The problem with pick ups is the back seats have no legroom but because they’re there (as opposed to an old school 2/3 seat pick up) the cargo space in the back is too small to be practical.

Also anything you put in the back is visible and hard to secure, put a locked box in the back and people know you’ve got stuff in there to nick.

Vans tend to have more clearance than cars but RWD vans (such as my old Sprinter have terrible traction because there’s no weight over the back wheels. My FWD Transit Custom has much better traction on snowy roads but if you’re going off road it really comes down to the tyres.

Can you not just fit a different tow bar with more clearance?

PS- Vans are great

There isnt much legal offroad/off highway stuff in the UK – surely you’d park somewhere sensible then use a form of transport to access beyond parking. Maybe something like a bicycle?

When you turn up to a race you're directed into a field etc... It's not really a choice thing, you go where you're put. Sometimes it's OK, sometimes like at Gawton last weekend, it really wasn't easy.

My FWD Transit Custom has much better traction on snowy roads

A mate in Ukraine has a Octavia but the roads are so shit he has a sump please and some sort on lift kit to give him an extra 5cm maybe. Add some decent tyres and should make a difference

Yeah, much more ground clearance, unless a previous owner has gone all 'scene' and lowered it.
But bike race carparks are a special kind of no-grip slop, so factor in some better tyres too.

30mm lift kit
Front strut spacers 30mm for Ford GALAXY MONDEO

If we're taking muddy fields rather than off-roading, I have found that our T5 camper is much better at traversing boggy campsites than normal cars seem to be. I think it's to do with better clearance, bigger wheels/tyres, and the ability to move away purely on the diesel tickover, so it's a very gentle power delivery. Indeed, it has been christened The Power of Chug.

My Transit has better ground clearance than my Mondeo had but is heavier and is RWD.
So it's better on dry rutted Landrover tracks but worse in wet muddy fields

How weird. My impression of my T5, which I've had for 16 years, is that it is dismal off road. So much so that I won't countenance grassy campsites unless they are bone dry

Definitely not a pick-up unless you have a general dislike for paying tax and want a tax-dodge - ground clearance is good but poor seating for any rear passengers and very poor cargo space that makes pinching things rather easy - no access to rear of the vehicle from inside the cabin and unless you stick a towball carrier on, your bikes are going to be hanging over the sides/end and get rubbed and bumped.
Cars are also good but you then need to consider how everything is carried, vans tend to be more practical for that kind of thing as generally the bikes get put in the back, the humans get in the front and front-middle and you drive off.
I'm all for a van - ground clearance tends to be better but depends on the size as a near empty van is likely to have less traction control. For what you have described I'd be looking for a van that hasn't been adjusted for a 'scene'...

I have no desire to go down the van scene route.

If i were to go for a van it would be a simple Trafic type thing. The only stumbling block on that one is the wifes hatred of vans.

STW issue Octavia Scout with some winter tyres on?

When you turn up to a race you’re directed into a field etc… It’s not really a choice thing, you go where you’re put. Sometimes it’s OK, sometimes like at Gawton last weekend, it really wasn’t easy.

I thought you might have been the Mondeo equivalent to heli-boarding whilst searching for the elusive Instagram worthy brown-pow.

FWD diesel engined van on skinny standard wheels with correct load rated all season/MS/BFG All terrain's.

Peugeot Partner Escapade - 30mm raised suspension compared to its identical Berlingo, big steel sump as standard and Dakar worthy headlight grilles. I've just bought a 2.0HDI minter.

must be all the extra weight in that t5 camper, my T5 is better now with winter tyres on but it will still spin a wheel pretty easily.

My rwd Toyota Hiace spins out on a wet tissue.

On a horrendously muddy work site field last year my Trafic on winter tyres never got stuck in 3 weeks. The only other vehicles that were the same were Landrovers or pick ups.

I'm in no way a pick-up evangelist, but my company Navara has room for full size adults in the back. I got a roller shutter thing fitted which makes the bed reasonably secure and bikes will fit in with the front wheels off (although I do use a towbar rack). They are hopeless in mud with the standard tyres, but 4WD helps, obviously. I've fitted Pirelli Scorpions which are much better and reasonably quiet and stable. All that said, I'm retiring soon and looking forward to having a normal car again!

Pickups look great but its so much nicer getting back to the van getting inside when its peeing down and they have a lot more room if you buy a medium side one onwards also when the roads are a bit flooded vans are better not owned a car in 16 years only had vans.

Peugeot Partner Escapade – 30mm raised suspension compared to its identical Berlingo, big steel sump as standard and Dakar worthy headlight grilles. I’ve just bought a 2.0HDI minter.

Removable rear seats in those?

I'm itching to buy a van, they just make life better and I really miss having one. The problem is that even ropey old Trafic's and Vivaro's have doubled in price.

To answer the OP...No vans are not better off road than cars. They might have more ground clearance which is an advantage but then it's all about tyres. My T5 used to get stuck in any moist grass if the ground was soft. It was useless. Current Yeti on all season tyres has chugged through some knee deep slop with no issues. It's actually hilarious.

Vans are also great for throwing motorbikes in Weeksy

Oh i'm very much aware of that Colp and the trackday side of things would make our own van a LOT eaiser... Although i do have a motorbike trailer, still, a van would be better and easier.

Pickups look great but....

🤐

What does your wife hate about vans?
Nice high driving position and pretty much all are comfy on a long journey. SWB fits parking spaces and probably the same footprint as your mondeo.

Nice high driving position and pretty much all are comfy on a long journey

Got to be 2 seats up front though - a bench is always terrible

iirc my old SWB T5 was 5cm longer than my current mk4 Mondeo estate, so basically the same but the Mondeo can definitely get into more carparks

She has her own Focus on a 20 plate so it's not a parking/driving etc. It's more from the rare times we'd use it for family trips and they'd be cramped and indeed noisy in her opinion. She's done enough van trips to track to know these to be true.... as nice as modern vans are, they're not as quiet as cars for sure.

Think of Morzine trips for example. Although she's not coming next year as she's going to Croatia to a dance music festival for 7 days lol.

You need a LWB combi then.. assuming the load length is fine for your bikes.

they’d be cramped

Not sure where that's coming from, your Mondeo is pokey inside when compared the likes of a Kombi. Noise can be helped with a bulkhead, but then you lose in other ways of course.

I found driving our vans (Vito then T5) to the Alps better than taking a car. You can actually properly change you're seating position to keep comfortable as you've so much extra room everywhere.

Van clearance is much better than a car. My T6 has much more clearance than any car I've had previously, it hasn't been lowered though

Don't know if it's better offroad than other FWD cars, my last few cars have all been RWD. I'd probably take more of a chance in the van than any of my cars previously. Have had a go through a few deep puddles that looked more sketchy on a car than a van

4 motion is available in a transporter, diff locks are also available from the factory

Not sure where that’s coming from, your Mondeo is pokey inside when compared the likes of a Kombi

20+ years of hiring vans 5-10 times a year for trackdays ?

It's still wrong though. I went from T5 Kombi to Mondeo estate, Kombi is vastly bigger inside before you even look at the load space. If you've been hiring panel vans with bulkheads then that's a whole different issue

I know where you are coming from. A regular panel van feels pokey because of the bulkhead right behind your seat. A combi feels more like a big car as you are sat in a big volume with the bulkhead (if you have one) a good distance back from you.

Isn't this the answer to any "What car" thread? Maybe I have the wrong forum.

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/general-pistonheads/mazda-mx-5-monster-miata-readers-car-of-the-we/39991

More seriously how about a Skoda Yeti 4x4, very capable, very practical and still very fuel efficient

They also handle well on road https://www.evo.co.uk/skoda/yeti

If you’ve been hiring panel vans with bulkheads then that’s a whole different issue

But that's what i'd be buying if i went for a van ?

pffft, look at that ridiculous mx5. Vans, far more sensible.

But that’s what i’d be buying if i went for a van ?

Squeezing all three of you up front every time you do a family trip? Stuff that, you’re wife’s onto something

Squeezing all three of you up front every time you do a family trip? Stuff that, you’re wife’s onto something

It's honestly quite rare. The only time really is the family holiday, anything else we could take her Focus. But obviously for a MTB trip we need bikes too. Which means the Mondeo (multiple over the years) has been the vehicle of choice. But this year it's shown a few limitations.

How about a new mondeo? they come lifted now.

A mate in Ukraine Called DrP has a Octavia but the roads are so shit he still thinks he's a kid he has a sump please and some sort on lift Lowering kit to give him an extra 5cm maybe drop of 3.5cm . Added some decent tyres though and should make a difference

HA!

I did actually get my Octy lowered (and remapped), but also have cross climates.
TBH, it makes gentle field and track entry like a little off-road adventure...
Like riding a CX bike down a rutty trail..it's nice to be underbiked/car'd..

DrP

as nice as modern vans are, they’re not as quiet as cars for sure.

They are if you spend £50 on flashing from Screwfix.

The back seats of my transit custom is bigger and roomier than our SUV. You can fit 2 swivelling toddler seats and an adult comfortably in the middle. Not found a car that could do that. Plus modern vans are really nice (you get what you pay for, buy a low spec car or van and you won’t get the nice trim and spec levels, including soundproofing, AC etc)

Lots of pheasant shoots round our way and a friend used to go along with his two working dogs regularly. He mentioned a few years back that a lot of the posh shootin' and fishin' countryfolk were dropping their Range Rovers / Land Rovers / Discos for the Skoda Yeti 4x4 as a more practical option with lower running costs. These were people spending plenty of time in fields and mud each weekend over the winter, and they bought on practicality and VFM.

That said, the car park at Peaslake is rammed every weekend with T5s, so there must be a reason.

Bear in mind you're talking about a 300-yard-ish drive there and back at the end of a lot more miles to get to the site, as well as weekday use. If I was in your shoes, a high end used Yeti 4x4 would probably be what I was shopping for.