A new Van

Boo777 SG

My dad is goin to sell(or scrap...his choice) his Suzuki Swift. Was planning to buy a van, perferrably running a diesel engine.

I sucked when I'm looking at other vehicles other then cars. Any good brand/model recommendations?? Was looking at the Renault Kangeroo, kinda cute looking, but European products tent to be expensive.

Perferr the van to have a low C.G., wide body so it won't look as it could topple over at a bend(Suzuki Carry is definitely out), and a nice compartment to install ICE. HP no very important but must be enough to go up a slope(at least as steep as the 1 in BBDC) with a full payload. Wheel/Tyre profile not important. Gear shift best be manual. And of cos, low fuel comsumption...hee hee. I'm not asking for too much am I??

If anyone got a pic of his van's ICE compartment, could post it here so I can have an idea for this "project"(going to codename it IVEC) when the van arrives. Remember to remove ur number plate before u post the pic here for security reasons... thanks.

P.S. There goes the Suzuki Swift, and my SMSA dream goes along with it... T_T

bo liao SG

As for van,abit hard to intro but if i really would say, i will recommand that there is 1 van, the volkswagen caddy 1.9 tdi...got turbo 1 lea Laughing ..really lah! also quite close to the 2000c.c range, i do not know what is the top speed, i only know its a powerful van, from my friends and bcos i ever played with a red colour van.The van's pickup is like wtf? Fyi, i'm 27 & drives a 2nd hand old mod prelude, from 0-100km/h i was behind that van, but after that 100km/h,slowely win that van.

I was travelling at about 170km/h, but that van is mayb say 2 to 3 car's length behine me,constantly throughout till that van filtered out at kallang.I would say that van got potantial, well, if you want, some fridays or saturday night you maybe make a trip down to seleta dam see see loh...there are some of that van together with the very loud white vito.Ever seen them few times....
One of my friend who also drives a prelude -now changed to S15-hv a friend that drives that van,he told me that they hv a club, then i was again.... Shocked ,but no doubt, that van not bad.
Cheers.

Ah Wei SG

Many pple don't go for the caddy cause it has no side door. Which mean is a disadvantages.

Btw, I will recommend Peugeot, friend own one. Must say its definitely than a Renault (which my dad owns one).

Photoshop SG

My brother dirves a Citreon Berlingo diesel. He says its a great vehicle. He has been driving all kinds of vans all his life.

Boo777 SG

Thanks for the tip guys, it really helps.
List of Vans known to me so far:
Renualt Kangaroo
Opel ??
Peugeot Partner
Citreon Berlingo
Suzuki Carry(definately out)
Toyota Hi & Lite Ace
Hyundai H100
Volkswagen Caddy(haven't seen 1 yet)

Lists of selected vans:
Renualt Kangaroo(outlooks, low C.G.)
Opel ??(same as Kangaroo)
Peugeot Partner(wider wheelspan than Kangaroo)
Citreon Berlingo(same as Partner)
Volkswagen Caddy(horsepower potential)

^correct me if I'm wrong, toking big money here so can't afford to make mistakes. (or my dad is going to strangle me by tying my neck to the exhaust pipe and drag me across Singapore)

Will be goin to the Car mart(dunno which 1) with my dad this coming weekend, hmmm... will look into Caddy, got some potential(diesel turbo) by the way bo liao describes. Too bad itz diesel engine, or it can beat tat prelude of his hands down. Note: Petrol engine out-performs Diesel Engine at higher engine revs.

Anyway, the vans nowdays look very similiar in design, now I have to look into their details, performance, payload space, C.G., price, fuel consumption... so much homework to do... T_T. Just like back in the old days when I was learning the parts and doing research on the cars..... ha ha!!

bo liao SG

Well, ya lor,but 1stly, my prelude old liao mah.....how to win a new vehicle, for me vehicle,is can reach high speed but slowely slowely den reach high speed..lol...the caddy i find its look front part not bad but the rear abit(no offence to anyone driving a caddy here)but i read the specs on net, here is wat it say.1900cc,turbo charge wid electronic controlled direct injection diesel,dun realy understand wat it mean,torque is at 210 Newton Meter at 1,900 rev.....90 bhp.te vehicle is 1170 kg.

i dunno lea, is it jus the 60km/h sticker or its more den it looks.lol
te spec say til lik god but mayb its for carry loads so den got such power...i dunno lah, but get urself a van u'r confortable wid, but power also does a part ,-cos for me, when i driving, i sometime over take ppl, but so slow,i myself also paisay... Embarassed Laughing

slikpizz SG

ever considered mercedes vito?

Boo777 SG

Well err... Mercedes Vito... not bad, but itz a little too big. I'm looking for something smaller, but thanks for the suggestion.

Just went to the showroom in Car City(AML) today, very huge place(1st time there), damn, they sell all kinds of cars, Evos, Rexes, S15s, GT3000s, Porsches, GTIs, EG6s, CRXs, you name it!! Hmm... never see any Skylines there... Oops, back to the topic.

My dad and I saw a van(ground floor), very similiar design to the Renault Kangoo, itz the Opel Combo(Germany made, Jap engine).

The specs itself defeated the Kangoo hands down. The interior is a little larger than the Kangoo. Haven't test drive it but there's 1 thing tat catches me, althought itz only 1700cc(diesel), itz Turbo Charged, like the Caddy(1900cc diesel turbo charged). This means potential to me.

As for the comsumption, you guys wont believe me if I tell ya, for 100km(combined), it use 5.8L, while Kangoo uses 6.8L. But thats only on paper.

A brand new one(Combo) sells for $35K++, anyone got a brand new pricing for Kangoo?? Or a VW Caddy? Or a Berlingo?

Haven't check up on Kangoo, Caddy and Berlingo yet, I think I'll go to the Toapayo Renault showroom to checkup on the Kangoo tomorrow.

Checked the websites but can't find the Caddy, could anyone post the specs(powerplant, diminision)(stock) here?? It'll will be very helpful to me. Thanks. Going to see a decorated cargo compartment of a Caddy of my friend's friend maybe next week.

And if one is looking for a 2nd van, is there anything I need to look out for? Dents? Rust? Defects? Mileage?

budbelly SG

Buying 2nd hand is risky.... depending on the age...warranty may expired liao..... Razz

Boo777 SG

Thinking of buying first hand...

bo liao SG

u never know how the previous owner "loot" the vehicle,mayb the ex owner is tat type never go till 7000 rpm "bo bang sua" tat type den.........lolx

if everything he change NEW for u ok lar....if jus go clean clean den mayb polish up abit to cover up for the past bad habits he hv when driving, den "jia lat" lea...