Today I had to rent a transit to take some stuff from my late grandfather's bungalow to my house. I have to say it was not the most enjoyable drive and I have a new respect for "White Van Man".

It was a 53 plate 90 LT 350 which I think is only 90 BHP in a long wheelbase, high roof transit. Needless to say it was slow. 70 was possible - JUST!

The engine was a diesel and had no guts at all. It sounded a little odd - at one point I thought it was on the spin cycle! I'm not sure how much insulation there was between the engine and the cabin. When we stopped to load it up we found the cabin heated up quite a bit - but the weather was overcast.

The seat was also uncomfortable - especially after a 2 hour stint behind the wheel.

I actually prefered the old K plate transit minibus I drove at college a few years ago. It was much more driver friendly.

Has anyone else had to rent one of these for the day - or does anyone have to drive one regularly for work (you have my sympathies if you do!)? Perhaps being an 18 month old rental vehicle that was due for a service meant it was far from its best.

I got back in my Furby this evening and was glad of the poke from the engine. That's the one advantage of driving something so poor - it makes you appreciate it when you've got a good car to go back to.

Rented a 350 a couple of years back from U-drive. Quite liked it actually, very chuckable round corners and quite spritely up to 60mph. No idea what engine it had in it, but it was a SWB non-high-sided one

My worst van hire was a high-sided LWB VW from U-drive which was truly terrible. SDI and with 120k miles on it was literally falling apart at the seams and took about a minute to get up to 70mph! :(

Chris

Try a sprinter - they always seems to scream out in front of everyone else, occasionally with the indicator used appropriately

Most of the modern vans are actually very fast, TD or petrol. A fair few can easily hit 100 mph when empty, and do 90ish when loaded...

Must have been a slow one then

Yeah.. the Sprinter CDI's are fast... as are the VW vans.. especially the 170bhp tdi

the decent spec transits aint bad either, the new tdci engines are a bit weak low in the rev range but are quite perky on boost

Have you driven the Iveco equivalent of the Transit - awful thing. The Transit drives so much better!

New Transit is pretty good too, my parents have one (although he drives it off-boost most of the time, for some obscure reason). I bet my dad is getting ace fuel economy for say 6 months, then it will gradually start building up the junk. Needs a bit of a booster.

i drive a 2.3 petrol transit all day and its pretty nice, goes quite well(145bhp/140lbft) and handles fairly well untill its wet then the rear end becomes a little twitchy at times

i also find it pretty comfortable but fuel economy is terriblein ours, but then again we rag the nuts off of them

and mine will hit a ton on the flat and a ton 5 on a slight decline fully loaded

I might be driving the new Toyota Hi-Ace soon with the high roof. New company vehicle. It has over 30BHP more horsepower than the Sprinter Merc too (The Sprinter is about 90bhp, so looking forward to speeding on the highway with bus:D

Got tio druve a very pleasant van at work the other day. An 05 plate Renault Kangoo. Actually drove really well, and it was a diesel too.

I've driven some sheds though - knackered transits are not pleasant, but then astramax vans were always a laugh and driving a "three seats up front" crewcab felt like driving a HGV, even though it was just a 3.5T flatbed...

i hate kangoo's, stupid thing with a massively high roof

i hate kangoo's, stupid thing with a massively high roof

I agree its butt ugly, but to drive, it was a very pleasant experience compared to some van's I've had to drive.

The radio worked, it had RDS and was clear - driving position was nice, it had power steering, good visibility, and was quite nippy. I'm not sure what engine it had, but I think it was a 2.0 litre TDI of some form.

i'll keep my transit thanks

it'll actually spin the rear wheels in the dry

A few years ago i drove a brand new LDV Convoy 600 miles. The noise level was deafening and it was a dog to drive. Every time i see someone in one i feel really sorry for them.

The transit is a Bentley compared with that.

A Sprinter does sound good after yesterday.

Just gone through the Ford website and it looks like I had a 2.4TD with 90PS rather than BHP. I think I'd have preferred the engine from Bengie's transit. That would have been fun!

Dont people remap those diesels then Would have thought a little remap lovin' could make them even faster

Dont people remap those diesels then Would have thought a little remap lovin' could make them even faster

Not sure about remapping them - think Superchips and Unichip have offerings, but much cheaper to just get a Dragon tuning box for it Reminds me, must order mine

Chris

Some transit van raced me a few weeks ago in my Golf GTI, and I had to really try to get past, well surprised.

Some transit van raced me a few weeks ago in my Golf GTI, and I had to really try to get past, well surprised.

Don't worry Paul... You'd have had him in the twisties

Next time rent a LWB Hi-top Movano from Murketts!!!

It is great van to drive and has a massive diesel engine so lots of poke. THe best bit are the mirrors - they have small ones built into the bottom of the main mirrors which you can angle down so you don't catch kerbs and are great for reversing!!!

Like you I quite got into the whole white van driving experience

i thought all big vans had the double mirrors nowadays :confused: my transit does!

Have you driven the Iveco equivalent of the Transit - awful thing. The Transit drives so much better!

I used to drive an Iveco Daily for a living and I loved it, when it broke or had to be serviced we'd end up with a hired Transit to replace it and I hated them. The old Transit was fine...these new ones are real ****.

The Daily might not be very reliable, but to drive/use it is the finest panel van on the market.....the load capacity, turning circle and performance knocks spots off of all the others, including the Merc Sprinter.

My old Iveco Daily with my old Skoda.

i thought all big vans had the double mirrors nowadays :confused: my transit does!

They probably do... I just rented one for the day :P

I drive a MK4 Astravan, all day every day (Until August the 1st that is) which does heat up in the sun as it's just a single skin to the rear. 1.7 DTi is fast and chuckable when empty.

I also drive a VW LT35 occasionally, not sure what engine is in it but it'll spin the back wheels for quite a while in second when changing up from a spirited 1st gear sprint!