Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 06:34:17 -0700
Reply-To: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Our Eurovan camper experience
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I recently posted a summary of our 2 month trip to the British Isles. We rented a T4 Eurovan
Syncro Westy TDI. I'm a long time Vanagon-Westy owner (in sucession an 81,86,89,91) and this was
the first time I'd camped in a Eurovan (T4).
As we, on this list, know, the major difference in the configuration is the "cab-over" design of
the vanagon vs. the minivan (engine up front, front seats behind the front wheels) configuration
of the Eurovan. With the Eurovan seats behind the front wheel, there is about 17 inches LESS
'dance-floor' room. That made the 'living-quarters' seem crowded vis-à-vis the Vanagon. There
also seems to be less room between the 2 front seats. We never did get used to the relatively
cramped quarters.
There is also an additional step in setting up the bed: One must slide the rear seat forward,
then flip it down. Reverse that for putting away the bed.
The Eurovan Westy came fitted with an AC/DC only, top loading fridge. We didn't get more than
about 1.5 days on the aux battery, so either a new battery, or a solar charger would be required.
To be fair, I also ran my laptop for an hour or 2 each night (through an inverter).
We found that we REALLY liked the 40 liter top loading fridge. It was a compressor style (most
likely Danfoss), so it kept the fridge items nice and cold. But the best thing we found about the
top loading fridge was how much it stored. With 4 solid walls, one could really pack stuff in
unlike the traditional front loading fridge.
So all-in-all, we did NOT like the camping aspect of the Eurovan (save the top-loading fridge).
Re the van, qua van, it was a 5 cylinder, 5 speed, 2.5L Diesel TDI, that was great, over 10,400
kms, we averaged 7.7L/100 Kms or about 30.5 mpg. We drove on back roads and rarely went faster
than 80 kph. Even on the super highways, I kept it to 110 kph. That van is a delight to drive,
lots of smooth power, wonderful handling. One can feel the turbo kick in.
I've been eyeing Eurovans for a long time, but that has ended. I'll put a lot of money into my
vanagon to keep it on the road, rather than 'upgrade' to a Eurovan.
Your experience may differ. Malcolm & Patricia (Halifax NS)
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