UKC

Looking at one of these for a campervan conversion. I notice that the engines have all been downsized from 2L to 1.6L but they still manage to get 145bhp out of the most powerful one. I drove one of these yesterday and it certainly felt OK, but then of course it was empty. Quite fancy a VW as well... but not the price. So, does anyone have any experience of tham?
Thanks.

In reply to jon:

Could a smaller engine with the same bhp be less reliable/need more looking after?

In reply to Timmd:

Well yes I suppose so if it's having to work harder. My concern is more along the lines of is it going to be powerful enough for long motorway journeys and mountain roads when loaded up with half a tonne of campervan stuff and gear. 1.6L does seem on the small side.

In reply to jon:

Well we have a previous-generation Trafic, the weediest, 90hp version and, while it will never win any races, doesn't seem embarrassingly slow to me, even loaded up with 9 people and luggage. Steep motorway hills mean slowing down to 120 or maybe 110 at worst but the time actually lost is surely minimal. Yes, more oomph would be nice, but a big deal it isn't - for me anyway.

In reply to jon:

What I do when buying a new van is take it for a test drive to my workshop and load it up to the maximum weight less my weight then take it for a drive. My van is always close to max capacity so I need to know how it will drive.
Oil barrels are my test of choice, at 25kg each just keep going till you hit the desired test weight.
If you know anyone who owns a garage ask them for a loan.

In reply to jon:

I'm assuming these are diesel engines. A few years ago my wife had a Renault Clio with a 1.6 engine which gave great performance, drove well, lots of bhp, and mpg. Since these things are to some extent mutually exclusive then to achieve both something else has to change. Either the engines have to be much better manufactured from stronger materials or the engine has to become weaker as its pushed closer to its limits.

At around 70k miles the engine self destructed, we thought we were just unlucky and had a replacement (albeit 2nd hand) engine fitted. A year later the second engine also self destructed and we discovered that this was quite common in these cars.
Now I don't know if its the same 1.6 in a Renault Traffic but the same laws of physics apply. Small diesel engines with lots of power pulling a big heavy vehicle sounds like asking for trouble. Large engines giving lower performance (relative to their size) are operating under less strain.

In reply to jon:

Hi Jon. I have experience of the 2.0 dci, and that was a very good engine (but needs maintenance). The 1.6 is a twin turbo unit (I think) and is likely to be very economical and perform well. People on the car forums (I'm also on) really rate them, and so far have no immediate problems with reliability.
Don't forget if it doesn't have enough 'ommph' you can always remap it. Remapping will provide up to 30% extra power, with very little lost (if any) in fuel economy.
You'll find many people will try and dissuade you about the Renault due to the perceived electronic issues. As an auto electrician, the VW will suffer many many more if my experience is typical.

However, for my money, get an older 2.0 dci, map it to 150 bhp, and save yourself a few quid,and the associated risk. Just don't forget the cam belt, and frequent oil changes. They are good to drive as well.

In reply to bearman68:

Thanks for that, really useful. Still looking. Getting one with the features we want - long, single back door and the right power output - is proving difficult (or indeed expensive if we have to buy a new one... though thousands less than a VW, of course). I thought the older 2L ones changed from cam belts to chains before the downsizing?

In reply to jon:

The one I have in the yard defo used to have a cam belt. You might be right though, so of the models were fitted with a chain. The same engine in my partners car has a chain.
I think power output is your lowest concern, as this can always be increased with a £250 map. Easy and cheap to do.

In reply to bearman68:

The new one that I drove had an 'eco' button that the salesman said changed it from the 145bhp down to 120. Is that effectively remapping? The difference between buying a new 120 and a 145 is around €1000, so remapping does sound attractive, or are there other things involved to justify the cost?

In reply to jon:

You can change the doors to tailgate if you get an old one from a breakers.

In reply to marsbar:

Well yes, I did wonder about that but came to the conclusion that it probably wasn't as easy as that. The twin back doors have hinges that are set into the bodywork/back light cluster and the tailgate doesn't, so there'd be quite a few other things to change. I don't know if a standard version would be prepared to accept tailgate hinges either - you'd imagine it would be, but I'm not sure.

In reply to jon:

I didn't see you were looking at trafic 3 sorry, on the older version the space is there for the top hinges but needs drilling. Having said that we haven't done it yet, so I don't know how well it will go. I don't know about the newer one.

In reply to marsbar:

I was only looking at a new 3 because I couldn't find a second hand 2 or 3 with all the features I wanted. If I could find just the right second hand one I'd go for it whether it was 2 or 3. You'd think that living in the epicentre of the ubiquitous white Renault van it'd be easy. They really are omnipresent (notably in my rear view mirror) but I still can't seem to find one

In reply to jon:

Silly question probably but have you tried the Nissan prima star and vauxhall one?

Reckon the square cross section makes them better than the vw. Expect dislikes for this opinion from the vw lot.

In reply to jon:

Yes, that's a switchable map.

In reply to marsbar:

Not a silly question at all. I looked this morning on a well known site here. There were 167 Trafics, 22 Primastars and 26 Vivaros! I agree about the cross section.