In the market for a fast small van… something that will house a couple of bikes without removing wheels. Something that will cruise nicely on the motorway so I can make a journey to trails as quick as possible but of course always abiding by the designated speed limits!

I know you can remap a caddy and those astra sportvans go pretty well but neither are cheap, any others?

Most vans will happily sit on the limits (especially the revised lower ones)

Nissan Elgrand.

3.2 v6 petrol…..doesn’t get any better.

You do realise that ‘fast’ vans don’t exist as you are limited to lower speeds than cars

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5YNeIuaqVY[/video]

Surely it’s got to be…

See you Wednesday if you’re out and about this week.

Yes mate, will be this week! 😀

Good Man! 😀 (Beavers)

Yep, gotta be Guy’s van

Forget the van, its gotta be his Volvo!

You can get a Focus RS mk1 engine in a Transit Connect, keep an eye out on ebay for them.

A van i could buy preferably 😀

Zafira GSi Turbo?

You can get a Merc Vito with a V6 in it. Nice.
Otherwise a standard Sprinter would have been able to do Guy’s 150mph challenge in standard trim, (at least that’s how it appears every time I use the motorways) 😀

Yea even a Vito swb is too big. Parkings turd at mine.

Touran 2.0tdi sport. Decent vehicles. I was guna buy one. A T4 transporter came up instead.

I saw Supervan 2 at silverstone a lot of years ago. Absolutely awesome speed and noise. As engine in the back maybe no room for the bikes though….

Yea even a Vito swb is too big. Parkings turd at mine.

In what way – either theres a space to park in or there isn’t.

swb vito’s are only about 6″ longer than an Astra Van or a Connect, and the same length as a mondeo.

I could get 2 bikes in our old Skoda estate with the wheels on.
Vito is available with a 3.0 litre V6 220 bhp motor.
Just remember all vans will be subject to Low Emissions Zone charging.
Also 50mph speed limit on national speed limit roads or 60 on dual carriageway.

maccruiskeen – Member

In what way – either theres a space to park in or there isn’t.

Well not really, sometimes there’s space for a smaller vehicle but not a fat one (I drive a mondeo estate, it’s physically bigger than a lot of parking spaces, as well as not having great corner sight… SWB Vito is easier to park imo!

Alright, people carrier but who cares…

TBH I prefer Supervan 2.

In what way – either theres a space to park in or there isn’t.

Fair point, the compacts are shorter. I just like the thought of a small car derived van thats tall enough to just wheel the bike into and tie… moon and stick perhaps.

Probably looking at caddy or connect aren’t i.

I am considering swapping my car for a van at some point so I’ve been having a good nosey at them when people deliver/collect from me at work. Connect or Caddy looked good, Doblo similar but a lot cheaper (the guy driving it really rated it as well!) For bigger vans Vito looks great (chap I know loves his V6 auto one) although as above I really like the look of the new Transit Customs – much more so than the T5. The Custom is the only one I’ve driven so far and I thought it drove really well.

Fair point, the compacts are shorter. I just like the thought of a small car derived van thats tall enough to just wheel the bike into and tie… moon and stick perhaps.

Probably looking at caddy or connect aren’t i.

Depends on what your parking issues actually are. Vans tend to have their wheels out at the corners so have a comparatively long wheelbase size for size compared to cars – but FWD vans usually have pretty poor steering lock so although compact can have pretty big turning circles as a result. My old 5m long SWB sprinter was much more manoeuvrable in small spaces than most cars. I use a Berlingo quite a lot at the moment and I think its manoeverabilty is pretty crap. VW T5s are like a barge – Austin Powers style 3 5 7 9 point turns 🙂

Vivaro’s can be remapped to 150hp and are nice and cheap (also galvanized so no rot issues), recently took mine on a trip to Lake Garda, 4 fully built up bikes in the back and plenty of room for kit

VW T5s are like a barge – Austin Powers style 3 5 7 9 point turns

hhhhmmmmmmm 😕 never once had a turning circle issue in our T5, our Vito had far more lock but the T5 has been absolutely fine and no worse to manoever than our Fiesta

my t5 has a better turning circle than my passat did. easier to park as well.

lower speed limits are a bit of a pain.

My T4 is less difficult to manoeuvre. Than my focus ST estate. Touran is a caddy with windows.

santacoops –

I’ve recently picked-up an 84PS VW T5 campervan, which I thought would be woefully underpowered and need a remap urgently (my last car had 370hp)…but is absolutely fine. My point being that it’s surprising how easily you can adjust to lower performance and that you may not need a “fast” van.

You may remember that we thought that we lived near each other (via some Bristol thread); you’re welcome to have a poke around our T5. Bikes will be going on via a towbar-mounted rack.

Yes Ben. Tried emailing before but it didn’t work. Drop me an email anyway, mines in the profile. Cheers.

You can have a nose around my fast T5 too if you like when I next manage to get out on a Wednesday ride 🙂

My 132bhp T5 can do 190kmh… It can also do 6,7ltr/100km (42mpg) on a run…. Southampton to Essex sitting at 60mph.

Speed is relative…. If you were in Germany I could on understand the need/desire for a fast van. In the UK less so.

My 140Bhp T6 will do 70mph all day long and a lot more if you’re that way inclined. It will also do 40+ mpg and is the most comfortable way of doing big miles with sh*t loads of stuff.

Have a look at MTM Tuning in Germany if you want a fast van….

T5 LWB, remapped to 204bhp. It’s quite nippy.