[streaky]

Hi folks

I'm needing a new van , someone crashed into me and the admitted liability !
Anyway I was using a 2004 fiat scudo 2.0 l hdi with a 400 l tank in the back .
What is like to know is what other vans out there are decent in fuel and can take the weight of my 400 l tank ladders equipment etc and are decent on fuel ??

I'd still like a small van similar size to the scudo or smaller ?

What about the new shape berlingo , partner , kangoo ??

Anyone selling ?

[mike1986]

I've just bought a second transit connect. Really good workhorse and excellent on fuel, probably the best van reliability wise I've ever had. If you get the lwb theres plenty of room for your window cleaning gear. Does get very cramped though when i have to get the pressure washer in also

[Pete Thompson]

I have a VW Caddy with a 400 Litre system in the back

Loads of room, and plenty of payload, and 2 sliding side doors as standard.  I love my caddy, I'd highly recommend.

Also, not bad at all on fuel, even with the aircon on.

[Simon Mess]

Hi folks

I'm needing a new van , someone crashed into me and the admitted liability !
Anyway I was using a 2004 fiat scudo 2.0 l hdi with a 400 l tank in the back .
What is like to know is what other vans out there are decent in fuel and can take the weight of my 400 l tank ladders equipment etc and are decent on fuel ??

I'd still like a small van similar size to the scudo or smaller ?

What about the new shape berlingo , partner , kangoo ??

Anyone selling ?

Funny that you mention your scudo's good mpg as there was a post on here late last week or earlier this week from someone wanting to push his van as he was using so much fuel!. The van in question was a fiat scudo!

As for your question, unless you really want or need a smaller van, i would go for another scudo, or its citroen/peugeot kissing cousins (they are essentially the same van). If you want a smaller van you could certainly go for a connect, that is what i have, a lwb 230 (500l tank), and it has proven to be very reliable over the 4.5 years i have had, but contrary to what Mike says, they are not especially economical for a van of that size (not going by what i have read on various forums). I drive pretty gently most of the time and get 40mpg average at most, whereas i have read that caddy's, belingo's and partner's can get closer to 50mpg. If you want to stick to fiat, the current doblo has a 750kg payload (the lwb is 1000kg) so should manage a 400l tank, and having a 1.3 turbo diesel, should also be pretty frugal.

[harry willett]

I've got a fiat doblo maxi great van does between 40 and 60 mpg and hhas a ton capacity side doors both sides

[PoleKing]

I can't get my head around these little engines.
1.3 Doblo.
1.6 in the new vivaro!

Technology is certainly coming on.
I guess I am just old school, I like the big lumps.
Anything smaller than 2.0 and I just couldn't trust it.

[Clever Forum Name]

My new van is 2.2 and 125bhp and i am so glad i went for the bigger engine. It pulls weight with ease.

[H20cleaning]

Yeh mines a 1.9 lwb primastar.... So sluggish! If the van was newer i would get it remapped but not worth it.

[streaky]

Thanks guys
I like the scudo size and mpg is ok ish reckon I'm getting just over 30 mpg fully loaded
I'm looking at a few just now if I could get nearly 50 mpg on a van that would be great !
These modern small engines sound great

[Spruce]

I think the motor industry has done an excellent job of 'educating' the public to believe that HP in a diesel is the same as HP in a petrol.

So when PSA went from 2.0 90hp on the Hdi diesel to the 1.6 Hdi with the same 90hp they convinced many that they were getting the same thing but with a smaller engine. What made it even better was lower emissions which reduced road fund licence. Initially they were going from the 2.0hdi in the Berlingo/Partner to the 1.4 Hdi used in the C3 and C2. They were going to supply that in either a 70 or a 90hp diesel so they weren't offering anything different than what they already had in the 70hp non turbo 1.9 or the 90hp turbo in the 2.0.

All the mechanics through all the dealerships did training in Slough on the 1.4 but it never came out. They held on for the introduction of the 1.6 hdi because they were worried that the public wouldn't accept such a drop in engine size on a diesel van.

Nowhere now do people look at the torque these new smaller engines are producing and compare them with the older bigger engines. The manufacturers have also disguised the torque produced by quoting performance figures based on turbo boost in 3rd gear.

The C5 models prior to 2004 were a prime example. The 110 hp hdi was towcar of the year where the 2.2 in the same car wasn't rated as a caravan tower at all. In 2005 the facelift C5 came out in the 2.0hdi with 136hp (not as good a caravan tower as the 110hp on the previous model) and the 1.6 110 hdi which couldn't pull a caravan at all. The horsepower was there but the torque or turning force wasn't.

I still believe bigger is better, but in time that opinion will die out with my generation as the generations behind me will not have anything to compare what they are given. One day, someone will see a 1.0l turbo petrol engine fitted into a Mondeo size car as the norm.

[Jakey boy]

Ford transit connect long wheel
Base Highroof, loads of room, and a superb reliable van!

[Simon Mess]

I think the motor industry has done an excellent job of 'educating' the public to believe that HP in a diesel is the same as HP in a petrol.

So when PSA went from 2.0 90hp on the Hdi diesel to the 1.6 Hdi with the same 90hp they convinced many that they were getting the same thing but with a smaller engine. What made it even better was lower emissions which reduced road fund licence. Initially they were going from the 2.0hdi in the Berlingo/Partner to the 1.4 Hdi used in the C3 and C2. They were going to supply that in either a 70 or a 90hp diesel so they weren't offering anything different than what they already had in the 70hp non turbo 1.9 or the 90hp turbo in the 2.0.

All the mechanics through all the dealerships did training in Slough on the 1.4 but it never came out. They held on for the introduction of the 1.6 hdi because they were worried that the public wouldn't accept such a drop in engine size on a diesel van.

Nowhere now do people look at the torque these new smaller engines are producing and compare them with the older bigger engines. The manufacturers have also disguised the torque produced by quoting performance figures based on turbo boost in 3rd gear.

The C5 models prior to 2004 were a prime example. The 110 hp hdi was towcar of the year where the 2.2 in the same car wasn't rated as a caravan tower at all. In 2005 the facelift C5 came out in the 2.0hdi with 136hp (not as good a caravan tower as the 110hp on the previous model) and the 1.6 110 hdi which couldn't pull a caravan at all. The horsepower was there but the torque or turning force wasn't.

I still believe bigger is better, but in time that opinion will die out with my generation as the generations behind me will not have anything to compare what they are given. One day, someone will see a 1.0l turbo petrol engine fitted into a Mondeo size car as the norm.

You can actually get the 1.0 3 cyl turbo petrol in the new connect, its rated at 100PS!.

What you say about mondeo sized cars definately rings true, everyone seems to be down sizing the engines these days!. The current skoda superb, quite a big car if you don't know, is available with a 1.4 turbo petrol, and from what i have read, it doesn't feel especially underpowered. That fancy new BMW I8 has a 1.5 3cyl petrol engine, which on its own produces 231 PS, but in combination with the electric engine kicks out 362 PS!.  It never fails to amaze me how engine technology has come on, that ford 1.0 3 cyl can also be had with 125PS in the fiesta and focus, which is about the same as the 3.0 V6 fitted to the MK1 granada (128HP), 15 PS more than a MK1 golf GTI, and just over 3.25 times the power of a mini 1000

[Scrimble]

I think the modern diesels are excellent, I have a fiat doblo maxi 1.6 multijet and the pulling power of it massive, I have had it remapped up to a claimed 125bhp and 360nm,

I have a couple of times used it to tow a car on a trailer with it and it didnt struggle one bit, still accelerated up steep hills,

[PoleKing]

I think the modern diesels are excellent, I have a fiat doblo maxi 1.6 multijet and the pulling power of it massive, I have had it remapped up to a claimed 125bhp and 360nm,

I have a couple of times used it to tow a car on a trailer with it and it didnt struggle one bit, still accelerated up steep hills,

How long ago did you get it remapped, Scrimble?
Ive often thought about doing my van.
I had my last car (Seat Leon 2.0TDi) remapped and i really liked it except the whine on the turbo. Sounded like a police car chasing
Any whine on yours?
Any negatives on getting it done?
Assume the positives are just power, torque and MPG?

[Spruce]

My personal feeling is that in our business we need to exercise a little caution when it comes to remapping.

We run our vans at very close to maximum payload which will reduce our van's performance and probably the main reason why we would want to turn to remapping as a quick fix. (I can't believe the difference in performance of my van with an empty tank of water, all junk removed and no ladders and roofrack.)

Driving with our vans on full load itself puts added stress on standard components. Manufacturers won't over engineer much as over engineering costs money and reduces profit margins. As a chain will always fail at its weakest link, so you can always expect that the first point of stress and failure will probably be clutch related.

Whilst I can't make that assumption with all vans out there, this fact is very well known by those within the motorhome fraternity who used the older 2.8 Hdi Ducato (a very popular chassis) as a base vehicle. The 2.8 was so down rated that it made a brilliant remapping candidate. Unfortunately that extra power ripped clutches apart, and as there weren't any heavy duty clutches available, owners of these remapped vehicles were still having to change gear on hills to save extra stress on the clutch. So at the tail end of story, remapping for them was a waste of money.

One of my customers has had his Renault Trafic remapped and he has encouraged me to do my van. But he uses his van to transport his bicycles around so he won't experience the same issues as a window cleaner would carrying 650 litres of water around.  

[Simon Mess]

I think the modern diesels are excellent, I have a fiat doblo maxi 1.6 multijet and the pulling power of it massive, I have had it remapped up to a claimed 125bhp and 360nm,

I have a couple of times used it to tow a car on a trailer with it and it didnt struggle one bit, still accelerated up steep hills,

How long ago did you get it remapped, Scrimble?
Ive often thought about doing my van.
I had my last car (Seat Leon 2.0TDi) remapped and i really liked it except the whine on the turbo. Sounded like a police car chasing
Any whine on yours?
Any negatives on getting it done?
Assume the positives are just power, torque and MPG?

'Just power torque and mpg?', what else are you looking for poleking?

My brother had his ldv maxus chipped, said it made a big difference to the performance, but as he drives like a boy racer, i doubt he would notice any potential benefits to fuel consumption!

[PoleKing]

I think the modern diesels are excellent, I have a fiat doblo maxi 1.6 multijet and the pulling power of it massive, I have had it remapped up to a claimed 125bhp and 360nm,

I have a couple of times used it to tow a car on a trailer with it and it didnt struggle one bit, still accelerated up steep hills,

How long ago did you get it remapped, Scrimble?
Ive often thought about doing my van.
I had my last car (Seat Leon 2.0TDi) remapped and i really liked it except the whine on the turbo. Sounded like a police car chasing
Any whine on yours?
Any negatives on getting it done?
Assume the positives are just power, torque and MPG?

'Just power torque and mpg?', what else are you looking for poleking?

My brother had his ldv maxus chipped, said it made a big difference to the performance, but as he drives like a boy racer, i doubt he would notice any potential benefits to fuel consumption!

Lol-nothing...
Just trying to cover all bases...

[Scrimble]

I had my van remapped about a month after I bought it brand new, it had about 2k on the clock at the time,

It's no different apart from it more power and torque

No issues and it's been a year and a half since, doblo has the same engine and clutch as other fiats and alfa's where in standard form they produce more power and torque

Might be different on a old clapped out van though