Eurovans (LONG)
Forget about the Transit
What I want is a Sprinter 616 CDI crew cab
Manual Tranny, heavy brakes/struts and #8200 Payload
Thats the same engine as an American Sprinter so you have a
22+ MPG van with a trucks payload
see:
http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/con...-bed_truck/technical_data_from.0006.0006.html
If you are intrested in Eurovans, start at
www.whatvan.co.uk
(keep in mind they are using British Units)
http://www.whatvan.co.uk/fordtransit.asp
Excerpt from: ANYVAN.CO.UK
Ford Transit TDdi — July 2004
"The more power an engine boasts, the thirstier it's going to be, right? Not always. The fact is that an engine with lots of horses on tap won't have to work quite so hard to get you to your destination as its less powerful stablemate, assuming both are driven in the same manner. As a consequence it won't burn quite so much diesel, unless you decide to exploit its performance to the full. It's a truth that was borne out during a recent Ford Transit test drive in South East England and Northern France. Ford has recently revised the line-up of 2.4-litre Duratorq diesel engines installed in its rear-wheel drive Transit, adding a 137 bhp TDCi version fitted with second-generation common rail fuel injection and a six-speed manual gearbox as standard . Also new is a 115 bhp TDdi direct-injection variant. The 125 bhp TDdi remains available, but solely in conjunction with the Durashift semi-automatic gearbox, while a 90 bhp TDdi completes the picture.
Having driven the 137 bhp TDCi earlier in the year — it's superb — we looked forward to the 115 bhp engine being pitted against the 90 bhp. Both vans were long-wheelbase medium roof T350 3.5-tonners carrying a 750kg test load. On day one the conditions were grim, with a howling crosswind and periodic squalls of rain. At times it was a struggle to keep the vehicles in a straight line and the fact that drivers were able to do so is a tribute to the van's inherent stability. The fuel figures reflect the atrocious weather. They also reflect the fact that most of the test was conducted on smooth and relatively uncongested French toll motorways, where high average speeds could be achieved. The more powerful of the two vans returned 25.3mpg, while the less powerful averaged 23.5mpg. That made the 115 bhp lump 7.54 per cent more fuel efficient than the 90 bhp offering."
Continued at
http://www.whatvan.co.uk/newvans_s.asp?id=4252
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Excerpt From Ford Transit Large Van of the Year 2003:
"Even the most successful manufacturer cannot afford to become complacent. If you want to keep sales at a healthy level, and retain market share, then you've got to keep improving your products. That's something Ford clearly recognises and its decision to fit anti-lock brakes (ABS) as standard to all Transits sold in the UK proves it. That's one sound reason for making Transit What Van?'s Large Panel Van of the Year for 2003.
The system includes EBS — Electronic Brakeforce Distribution — with Traction Control up for grabs as an extra cost option. What's more, Ford has taken the extraordinary step of offering customers the choice of either front- or rear-wheel drive in virtually all payload categories. Some customers may require front-wheel drive because they need more cargo space and a lower loading height, while others may favour rear-wheel drive because they regularly tow a heavy trailer. With Ford they get a choice. They get a choice of engines too, including an excellent new 2.0-litre DuraTorq TDCi common rail diesel available in front-wheel drive models. Frugal and refined, with plenty of low down lugging power and top-end wallop, it pumps out 125 bhp. Non-common-rail 2.0-litre DuraTorqs are also on offer at 85 bhp — new for this year — and 100 bhp, and both benefit from new Hydromount engine mounting systems designed to cut noise, vibration, and harshness. Rear-wheel drive models are powered by 2.4-litre diesels at 90 bhp and 125 bhp. A rear-wheel drive 141 bhp 2.3-litre petrol Transit is available too, along with a version that will run on either petrol or LPG. Users can claim exemption from the London congestion tax. While most customers will be happy with a man...
///Skipping ahead/ //
...Jumbo
Returning to Transit, the big (12.3m3 cargo area) capacity Jumbo van is now in production in Turkey. Transit assembly was recently transferred there from Belgium; Britain's best-selling panel van is also built in Southampton. Ford is determined to use Jumbos powered by the 137 bhp TDCi as a weapon to combat Mercedes-Benz's Sprinter. “We're talking here about big vans with a 4.1m load length,” says Fisher. “It's a sector worth 11,000 registrations a year, but only 2,000 are Jumbos, with Sprinter the market leader at 7,000 sales. It's had a relatively uncluttered run up until now.”
So it's going to be Sprinter versus Transit Jumbo from now on, in a no-holds-barred fight for registrations and domination of the outside lane. Let battle commence!"
Continued at
http://www.whatvan.co.uk/voy_r.asp?manufacturer=Ford&model=Transit
Other eurovan sites of intrest
http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedkingdom/mpc/mpc_unitedkingdom_website/en/home_mpc.html
http://www.courierexchange.co.uk/
http://www.whnet.com/4x4/sprinter.html
There are also Open Forum's like this one in England and Germany
I hung out there a lot before i bought a Sprinter, when i asked there about rumors of blown engines and vans tipping over, those guys thought I was Nuts!
The German forums required translating via Google and that gets rather tedious.
The guys over there said that mostly they had a sliding partition/cargo barrier, behind the drivers seat. it holds a folding rear bench seat that flipped out into 1 or 2 bunks (upper/lower) I had the Mfgs link, but I can't find it now.., but it looked slick.
Dave
