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We bought a 4x4 Yeti about 6 months ago. It's the 170bhp one so like a warm hatch but a bit higher and wobblier. It's only Golf size inside though. Tiny compared to a Mondeo. Fully removable seats are a bonus but it's still not very long. The high, square boot is handy.
As I said before, we've already been slithering around in some absolute grease pits and it was fine. Michelin Cross Climate tyres. We've got the off road pack with the underbody protection which is good as I've already heard a few hefty dings!
I would have bought an Octavia Scout and was actively hunting one but it's for the Mrs really and she preferred the Yeti. I'd snap your hand off for a Transit Custom if we could find a suitcase with 20 grand in it.
I find vans pretty cramped. I'm aware that the rear seats can technically be further back but generally you sit really upright with your knees at right angles and nowhere to lounge back and relax. Compared to a car where you sit with your legs in front of you, I find the seated position of the car to be more spacious and comfortable, regardless of the interior volume. Vans are also way noisier, due to less sound deadening and a large, echo-ey space behind.
I find the opposite, especially for long distances. I can comfortably drive 1000miles in 2 days in my Vito. 100 miles in my wife’s BMW kills me.
My Vito is quieter too. Vito Tourer v 335d M Sport
I've never been in a quiet van yet. My Mondeo is a lovely place to be. Just at times a bit dubious on where we can go or not.
Maybe we just need a bit more planning and thought on where we do or don't park
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.
Presumably, then you can look around the fields and see who else is struggling and who is doing remarkably well and go from there? I know when I've organised events with "in field" parking we've put proper motorhomes in a separate area with the least risk of getting stuck, and left it up to the T5s etc to make their own mind up if they were motorhomes or vans.
Our criteria was how sure are we can push/tow everyone out if we need to.
My Renault Master is front wheel drive and has Maxxis mud and snow tyres. Traction is terrible. I've got stuck three times in not very muddy fields that my Maxda 6 just breezed through on Cross Climates. I grew up driving off road so I know what I'm doing, but I ended up buying a winch for the Renault.
My van....
and when the quad breaks down it gets pressed into service feeding the sheep!
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RustyNissanPrairie
Full Member
front wheel drive vans are good – rear wheel drive are useless unless fully loaded.
@RustyNissanPrairie Wooah there! I won't have that said - they're bloody excellent for drifting around a wet roundabout! I spent my late teens drifting stationary and IT supplies around West Cumbria.
I then drove onto a patch of wet grass (only 2 side wheels) for my lunch and it got stuck...buried itself up to its rear axle.
Does Welshfarmer's video cut there as it got stuck? 😉
That said, the car park at Peaslake is rammed every weekend with T5s, so there must be a reason.
Aye, the reason being they're all stuck in there.
Our T5 on normal tyres wasn't the best on wet grass. Not had a chance to test our Transit Custom on all-seasons on anything more than a wet campsite, but it found amazing traction in the snow towing our caravan out of the campsite at Loch Morlich and back into Aviemore.
IMO tyres are a big part of it.
DickBarton wrote:
Does Welshfarmer’s video cut there as it got stuck?
😉 let's just say I wasn't able to make anymore progress in that direction. I was able to reverse out though. Trouble was the main ruts to the left had been dug by Landrovers and were far to deep for the van, while the route I was on meant I had to avoid a tree stump and was unable to turn left back beyond the deepest ruts. In the end I had to get the front of the van winched around a few feet to the left to allow me to carry on and out. This was a t a camp with my seriously hard-core off-roading mates, and everyone of them was mightily impressed with just how capable the T5 was.
Bad and pickups same tax situation. No dodging going on.
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.
Huge differences in ground clearance depending on specific vans and models...
Also there is ground clearance and ground clearance... i.e. delicate bits vs not so delicate. (Plenty of vans the suspension struts drop very low but you can afford to scrape over something)
My Traffic H2 is high.. suspension also copes with places like the rogate car park much better. (For example)
All uplifts I know ONLY use RWD they have a trailer and 10-15 passengers so YMMV (MPG also poorer on RWD)
Squeezing all three of you up front every time you do a family trip? Stuff that, you’re wife’s onto something
No squeezing is required with the Trafic/Vivaro ... can't speak for other vans but I'm sure many are fine only issue is lack of cup holds for the central seat. (Had a 3XL mate in the passenger and Ollie in the middle)
I’ve never been in a quiet van yet. My Mondeo is a lovely place to be. Just at times a bit dubious on where we can go or not.
as nice as modern vans are, they’re not as quiet as cars for sure.
£400-£600 in sound deadening works wonders though you might as well add insulation whilst you're at it. Vans start off with none (or close)... a layer of low freq. and a layer of high freq. and they are quieter than most cars that usually have some.
(Mine is Dodo 12mm over Hex roll) https://www.deadening.co.uk/collections/cld-sound-deadening-mats?gclid=CjwKCAiAp8iMBhAqEiwAJb94zwLNcdcVIMMt1AZ5GASAbYTF-4BKbc4QL_BpH9EyCFXuHEYTKqNqXhoCrJMQAvD_BwE
It won't be Bentley/RR level though unless you pay for double glazed windows as well.
But obviously for a MTB trip we need bikes too.
We can really only get 3 bikes in the SWB if we sleep in it and can't be bothered to take the wheels off, any more and the projector screen is blocked. Day trips however I've done 7 bikes .. without taking any wheels off. (1x Kenevo, 3 Bird FS, 1 HT, 2 DJ + 1 XXL, me and Ollie)
The fording depth on a Sprinter isn't as big as you would think. Or as much as the Citylink driver thought it was🤣
Turns out air filters are good at catching alge though
- Ah so a rear-wheel drive van works well in some circumstances as well then! 😉let’s just say I wasn’t able to make anymore progress in that direction. I was able to reverse out though.
That does look like a challenge, I suspect I'd get less than halfway across the bit you were driving forward on, so happy to make fun of better drivers.
Fiat Panda 4x4 with towbar rack for the win
RWD is good for towing big things.
Remember that Mondeos were designed for fat middle aged men to use as rep/company cars so they’re comfy and well soundproofed (with about 400 cup holders).
Although I am a van convert and have had more vans than cars in the last 25 years I would say that if you’re not going to use it as a van very often then you’d be better off with a car as they mpg is better and cheaper to service, etc.
It’s all about the tyres. We have friends who live in Morzine and they reckon their old Megane with snow tyres is better than most UK people who rock up to ski in their fancy 4WD Chelsea tractors with standard tyres on.
Also vans are more expensive spec for spec in my opinion and most people are comparing the basic van model against better equipped cars as they cost the same.
If you’re going to use a van, it’s your money and not the wife’s and she has her own car then go for it. If she doesn’t like it then she can drive her own.
£500 Octavia 4x4 estate seemed to go most places the work hilux's could go, but not where the Land Rover would. Bit vulnerable to ripping off its exhaust at the flexi, but mostly satisfied the need to not slow down too much on farm and forestry tracks. Usually parked it in ditches or hedges due to a rubbish handbrake and always drove out.
Don't think the Vito I have now would, but good clearance and much improved traction on Cross Climates.
DickBarton wrote:
Ah so a rear-wheel drive van works well in some circumstances as well then!
The van is 4WD and has a difflock in the rear axle.
Check out my winter tyre test on my old BMW if you want to see how well RWD works when it gets a bit slick. Remember folks, the worse the roads get, the more important the choice of tyres becomes. With the right tyres and suitable driving style, just about any vehicle will have the ability to surprise you just where it will go.
Not sure if this link will work.... 🙂
Merc V Class fixes all the things that are rubbish about van interiors but is RWD.
Fiat Panda 4×4 with towbar rack for the win
There's a good YouTube channel for the UK Panda 4x4 club. They go to some amazing places in them.
Probably not what Weeksy wants for a weekend's mtb racing though.
For the more extreme events, such as Southern Enduros, or Pedalhounds you really need a Unimog or at least a 4x4 with a winch and associated land anchors and elasticated tow
Subaru Outback here for the last 4 years and a legacy before that for 2. Decent tyres are your friend. Yoko geolandar for mucky stuff, maxxis premitra or Nokian seasonproof (used to be weatherproof) for better economy and more road use. I got the legacy in and out of sloppy mud on Kumho Ecstas. Good old low range. Bikes in the back no problem. Don’t expect mondeo mpg.
I don't know if Vans are better than cars, but they're not as good as Converse.
if you want to drive off road 4wd and ground clearance are the most useful things to have, i’d say. oh, and more suitable tyres.
a subaru outback, forester or cross trek (not the correct spelling) would fit the bill.
edit, but if you want a van, Mitsubishi Delica is 4x4
Surely the answer is a VW Caddy Maxi Life 4motion on CrossClimates?
No bulkhead makes it feel bigger than the Mondeo, drives (almost) like a car, 4wd only when you really need it, and CrossClimates are M&S-marked in addition to being great in every other weather. Job done 😁
Ah so a rear-wheel drive van works well in some circumstances as well then
Depends ... welshfarmer has a trailer on.. all uplifts I know use RWD only.
The other part is other than tyres ground clearance. If you can keep moving (because you don't need to stop and see if you can get over the tree stump etc.) or get through ruts without scraping the undercarriage you can get through a lot of stuff. Equally you can stop on a steep slightly muddy tarmac road and be buggered.
My FWD nearly got stuck on this just because the front wheels had no weight on them. (Clearance either side was <2cm so not pleasant). Forgot I had the limited slip diff in the panic but got over eventually... someone else damaged the bridge... but first pic I found going across it)
I don’t know if Vans are better than cars, but they’re not as good as Converse.
I'm dissapointed with both, vans don't fit well, and converse shouldn't cost more than £15.
I think you’d be fine with a pickup if you’re considering one. Mine (older Ranger) has been solid at carrying bikes and has never struggled in mud.