Yet another mini-review

I bet you were, you cheeky little Krautophile.

Have you driven any decent spec Turbo Diesel vans recently? Before we get all 'my knob's bigger than yours', my recent experience is largely Ford with a little bit of Renault mixed in, and IME, "they all do that, sir".

I think they do that on purpose.

You are probably the only person I've never met who this makes the blindest bit of difference to. Ford as the interior benchmark, and without "soft touch" plastics in sight?

If I need a small van, I certainly won't be choosing it on your advice alone. (c:

Last 2 shapes of Transit, old shape Sprinter.

No, really? ;-)

My point is that it was a good as you get in a lot of modern cars. Which is unusual for a van.

Obviously. It's my opinion alone. YMMV.

Drive a Vauxhaultssan Trafvarostar and you'll be *very* impressed. Having said that, you'd probably describe it as lifeless, lacking in steering feel, and rubbery in feel.....

I was following a spiritively(?) driven newish Traffic Dci 100 SWB thing the other week when i had a Micra 1.4 loaner and it took some serious effort to keep up with it on a fast twisty A road, the van easily out dragged the micra and almost outhandled it too.

Most surprising!

Tim..

I didn't like the 100bhp Renault van I hired recently. The 100bhp Trasnit I hired a few weeks later was a far better proposition, only thing missing was a higher top gear IMHO.

The T28 is a bit smaller than that and, at a guess, have an engine and gearbox lifted straight from the Golf / Passat 1.9TDI.

Had *very* similar performance to the MkV Golf courtesy car I had last month.

Heh, you could probably happily fit the van you're talking about into the back of either of the vans I'm talking about.

In that size range, T28 can't be worse than a Trasnit Connect IMHO. The driver's seating position doesn't relate very closely to where the steering wheel is, the controls redefine "wooden" and what self respecting automotive manufacturer honestly pitches a vehicle in which a cassette player with the radio is optional?

That's not a positive for the van, though.

Don't see why you say that, 'cos the 1.9TDI-PD lumps are exactly the kind of oil burner you say you like.

Depends how heavy whatever it is you're carrying is, doesn't it.

Hmm, IME the way these things deliver power and torque means that they feel grunty whether they are empty or full. Especially at motorway speeds.

Nah my point is that it's a bad thing for the Golf, eh?

And, I've always preferred multivalve diesels. The 1.9 has two valves per cylinder.

How do you work that one out? - they're both quite spritely things, with more than enough power and handling to see off most other drivers on the road. It was just a bit of a surprise that the van was so car-like to drive. It was very different to the outgoing shape Transit - which, although good for a van, was pretty much nothing like a car to drive with it's 3ft long gearstick and steering wheel nicked from a passing bus.

The T28 is smaller, but not a lot smaller than a SWB Transit.

Some would say it was better for that. Certainly less peaky than the 2lt

16v TDI lumps. Although the 2.0 is a bit more familiar for those coming from petrol lumps.

Where are you getting this? Are you for real?

The van isn't like a car to drive. The Golf is like a van to drive.

Hope that helps.

Will you listen to yourself? Not to long ago you were reckoning non-peaky engines, petrol or diesel, were s**te, what we all needed was a peaky TwinSpark donk.

The point with the multivalve diesels is that you get the low down torque (translating into power) that gives the diesel that nice, long geared, lope... with more action above 4,000 rpm. It's the best of both worlds.

Give me an old fashioned, the party is over by 4,000 rpm turbodiesel over the majority of petrol engines any day, but give me the party is still on until 5,000 rpm turbodiesel over that, I'm happy. That's what I did with the Saab.

-- The DervMan

Where did I compare a T28 with a Golf? - other than in the power delivery.

I think you'll find that I have always preferred the old 8v TSparks because they're more relaxing to drive.

No, you don't. It's completely pointless taking my TDI above 3k rpm most of the time.

[snip]

Then you need a less pikey diesel. :-p

Try the Isuzu / GM donk, the Ford TDCi, or the Fiat / GM pieces of kit.

But seriously, the Passat 2.0 TDI I drove didn't object to the top half of the tachometer. The 2.0 TDI I had was the 140 (if the 170 is now out, this was way before its time) but it felt absolutely fine.

Is it possible your VAG dealer has managed to mess it up?

No.

It will rev right the way through, but the best way to drive it is to keep it under 3k rpm and let the torque do the work.

Get a room you two, Steve, stop trying to arouse Dervy.