are you talking vans like mitsubishis,econovan type thing?
i recon they are the go especially for carting the sailing gear around...i wouldnt hesitate to get another 1 if i ever have the company car taken off me!

What about the Vito? Can you fit boards in them ok? They look a little short to me. After talking to Red on the way back from a sail on the weekend I am looking at the idea of trading my ute in on one.

From my experience Toyota hiace vans use more fuel than say a commordore or Falcon wagon, particularly on the highway (where the wagons are quite good). Something to consider if fuel economy is your prime motive. The turbo diesel Vetos etc are far more economical.

Mate, vans are the way to go! I'm on my 3rd since 1989.

You saw my Econovan at Grn Pt on Sunday. In it I had 4 boards,3 masts, 2 booms, 5 sails, the mandatory tub of w/s sh#t and even my golf clubs. (in case the wind dies early). Most of this goes below the shelf in the back or up on the interior roof racks, so you can sleep in it at a pinch.
I don't always carry all my gear, and it means if you wanna go sailing further away (eg sandy pt) with a mate or 2, you can get all your gear in one vehicle. - social

It's the long wheel base which is the only way to go if you're a windsurfer. The Econovans and Mazda E-2000's are a bit longer than the other vans. (Hiace, Mitsubishi, VW's etc).

Mine's got a rear bench seat too, so can seat 6 people. It's been great for occasional snowboard trips too where we'll head up for a weekend, drive down to the bottom of the mountain Saturday night, cook, camp and save mega $$$$ on accomodation, head back up the mountain for Sunday. Too easy!

Living day to day driving to work etc, you develop an attitude readjustment. -have to learn to chill out and be prepared to cruise, not hoon (which is not such a bad thing.....no tickets from Mr Plod)

Get dual fuel. Costs me $40 to fill up on gas , $100 on petrol . (that makes a difference to your attitude when you're tossing up how far you want to drive. eg Sandy Pt, Phillip isl etc)
I'd also suggest an alarm system for piece of mind. You don't have to be full proof, just a tougher alternative to the car next to you !!!!

As long as I'm able to windsurf, I'll stick with vans. They have great spin offs to other aspects of life too. Moving furniture, being able to by big stuff at Bunnings and bring it home yourself etc.

So long as your partner has a "normal" car, you end up with the best of both worlds. QED

Reckon most windsurfers with vans will back me up.

See ya on the water Steve.

But yeh definately get a Toyota, definately the most reliable by far, everyone will tell you they are the best, which is why they are a little more expensive, but worth it

CJW said...

From my experience Toyota hiace vans use more fuel than say a commordore or Falcon wagon, particularly on the highway (where the wagons are quite good). Something to consider if fuel economy is your prime motive. The turbo diesel Vetos etc are far more economical.

as i said i have a taxi business and our sedans are falcon wagons the toyota's dont use any more fuel and less to repair,as i said spare,s arent a problem

Got any questions on the Mercedes-Benz Vito Vans then hit me up as I sell them and think there the best thing since sliced bread.
They have huge amounts of comfort and feel & drive like a passanger vehicle.
Mail me direct or just post up here so all can see, happy to help.


Pat

if you get a white one you can join the "white van club". (very prestigious)

I've got a white Delica SWB diesel. I thought about the LWB but I live in Sydney and decided it would be too cumbersome in Sydney traffic.

Compared to a car it doesn't handle corners very well as its fairly top heavy. However when you accomadate this into your driving style then its okay. I fit two boards, around 2.4 to 2.5 M in length, a couple of masts, booms and around eight sails of various sizes into it, plus some other gear, fold up table and four chairs and other crap into it like tools and stuff. I can fit another board into it but it has to be shorter.

With all this stuff I can have two passengers and the driver. Its a sever seater unloaded. It has a nice sunroof and the crystalite roof in the back. Mine also has this cool reflective tint on the back windows so its really hard to see inside it. Not all Delicas have this. Infact its doubtful there are two exactly the same as each other.

I've only taken it off road in 4WD mode a few times on my parent's farm and it went fine up and down fairly steep hills and rough ground.

Not sure about parts but there are a few places selling parts online. Some mechanics apparently won't touch them as they are an import but other mechanics are fine working on them. I guess all vans are a hassle to work on compared to a car.

Economy is quite good, around 10 litres per 100kms around Sydney traffic. However diesel is so bloody expensive now it costs me $100 to fill up the tank. Its fine on the highway. The engine takes a while to get going but has plenty of torque.

I don't need it as a daily driver as I walk to work and my wife walks to the train station and catches the train to work. I don't think this sort of vehicle is the greatest commuter in city traffic. We are thinking about buying a smaller car for city driving.

They are an interesting vehicle.

I'd say it was easier to live with a van as compared to say ummmmmm genital herpes

sflack said...

Really? the toyota hiace that are like 2.4 litres???
I dont think a turbo diesel would use more than a 2.4litre! Plus diesel is sellin at like 2bucks a litre! Robbery!

I thought the hiace's would be good on fuel.


snides8- yeah im talking like just your average van to cart windsurf kit around and also to sleep in!

Usually vans are setup with diff gearing to suit driving around town and performance is okay. They are generally not setup for highway cruising, which is why their fuel economy gets worse the faster they go.

My E2000 needs to get revving to 5k rpm to get anywhere near okay acceleration, which is probably not good for it. As someone else has said, you get used to it and know that you can't overtake too many people, so take it easier. Even if it had the same fuel economy as my Commodore, the noise from it reving hard makes it nicer to drive it a bit slower.

I expect some of the modern vans like the T5 and the Vito have better gearing to suit highway cruising.

you learn to drift front wheel drive
you get the phrase pedovan when ever people refer to your vehicle
you can sleep in your car
8 people in your car is normal
you never get stopped by the cops

What makes a van is the amount of stickers youve got on it
You gotta ensure you have your country flag some where.

These will ensure you will find similar people to talk to at the beach.

Da locals will get to know you real quickly...........and probibly set REX on to you to investigate.

Rex well like you or hate you instantly ............this is the difference between life and death ............... and will cause you to **** your pants and wish you were in a volvo at the hotel.

Either way your going to be paying a price, smashed off your face to a point were you may as well be dead ,or you ll be getting the **** kicked out of you.

On a positive note .....stickers can help identify koooooooooks and warn you of future dangers before entering da water

Either way a van with stickes causes problems.

Then you got crew looken for TRENDY CLOTHES........ LIKE BOARD SHORTS OVER THE WET SUITS and wetsuits over the board shorts,long pants over the wet suit (you got the picture)..........

ANYWAY ITS........Like hitting a jack pot when da young criminal trendies see a van with stickers i am a kiter on it.

Consider a custom paint job way mellower

And if ya want a quick one, the Toyota 2.7 motor has a super strong bottom end and will handle a mid size turbo and intercooler to net a tidy RWKW figure.

Or, a few guys are dropping V6's into them and EFI 304ci V8's (have seen pick of one with a 350 chev but not sure if this is running yet or not)

I have also seen a few L300 vans with 351 Clevo motors in the running sub 11sec 1/4 mile.

But of course all this type of fun will kill any hopes you had of economy.

If you really want to know a lot about vans, spend some time have a look through some of the MX forums. It seems the guys riding bikes love them.

Out of the toyotas vs VW's - which is more expensive for spares?
and besides the transmissions what are the *common* reliabilty issues with either makes?

I remember talking to a bloke at sandy pt, he used to own a VW & loved it but said the spares were crazy expensive, like $1500 for a waterpump. Was he talking crap?