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(Alai ROADTEST: VOLKSWAGEN LT35

10th July 1997, Page 32
10th July 1997
Page 32
Page 33
Page 32, 10th July 1997 — (Alai ROADTEST: VOLKSWAGEN LT35
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VW has decided to leave ABS and traction control to the option list (at a cost of .C751) which almost accounts for the £930 price differential between the LT and the equivalent Sprinter, which has ABS fitted as standard.

Other options include a driver's airbag for £279; air conditioning (£976); central locking (066); electric windows (£216); immobiliser (L133); and a rev counter (1.27).

• PRODUCTIVITY The whole point of a direct-injection diesel is to improve the engine's efficiency and hence fuel economy, but it's usually at the expense of smoothness and quietness compared with an indirect-injection diesel. This reasoning has been justified with the LT, which returned a creditable 28.1mpg around our Kent test route when fully laden. This puts it pretty much at the top of the class, beaten only by the Sprinter 3121) (which of course has the 122hp engine).

Unladen the VW returned an even more impressive figure of 35.7mpg—way above any of the vehicles in our comparison chart.

For any given gross vehicle weight a van's payload is generally in inverse proportion to its load volume: the greater the volume, the less the payload. In the LT's case you can load up to 1,485kg provided it fits into the 10.4m3 of load volume. This seems reasonable as the Citroen Relay offers a combination of 1(15m3 and 1,575kg payload. The I.T's payload deficit may well reflect the typical German trait of good build quality.

Other combinations in the LT range include a maximum payload of 1,4(0lig with 13.4m3 of volume; 1,515kg with 10.4m:3; 1,540kg with 9.1m3; and 1,645kg with 7.0mof volume. Our load area came with £354 worth of PVC floor cover which looked pretty bullet proof and should add to the van's resale value. Oddly enough tie-down points are not standard and were absent in our LT. A full set will cost you £73 for the medium-wheelbase model or £88 for the long-wheelbase model. On the other hand, VW gets full marks for including a full bulkhead as standard which is a real boon for noise levels (ours also came with a £42 optional window).

Access to the load area is a mixture of the good and the bad. The rear doors come in the former category as they open to 90°, 180° or 270° and have crafty magnets to keep them in place when fully open. However, the side door would be more useful if it opened to the full height of the van—it also bounces off its catch far too easily. This is bound to be irksome for the strong-armed van driver.

Rear-wheel drive inevitably has an adverse effect on the height of the load floor and at 665mm the LT's is the highest in the class, bar the massive Iveco. A step is available, which helps a bit but costs £88.

• ON THE ROAD We did come across a bit of a problem with the LT to say the least. After we'd finished the track work one of testers took it out to give us his valued opinion. Everything was going well; the ride was comfortable and stability was good on a blustery M25. Then, sensing something wasn't quite right, he pulled into the hard shoulder—moments before the van skidded to a halt. Closer inspection revealed that the rear axle had seized up.

VW's technical bod tells us the inner pinion bearing failed but they haven't seen this happen with any of their other LT's on the press fleet or from their van centres around the UK. We can only assume that this was a one-off incident. Let's hope so.

This aside our LT, fitted with the 101hp TDI unit, offered adequate straight line-performance, but it's no scorcher: it didn't quite manage our M20 hill climb at 70mph but only dropped to 65mph and completed it in a time of 2min 50sec.

The standing-start acceleration figures are somewhat better, leaving the LT only about three seconds slower than the super-fast Sprinter 3121), and well up to par for its class.

Power steering comes as standard and is about as good as we've found in a vehicle of this size.

We weren't able to test the brakes fully, but subjectively they felt fine, apart from the pedal travel, which is excessive. This won't be a problem for drivers used to air brakes and large trucks but somebody moving up from a car will certainly find it alien. Interestingly enough, the same criticism has been levelled at the Sprinter.

The gear change is very precise and light; the synchromesh is obviously doing its job as you can just make out the slight whirring noise between the shifts.

• CAB COMFORT While not quite up to the best standards in the class the LT's cabin is certainly a comfortable, spacious workplace. The driving position is fairly truck-like, which may or may not be to your taste, but the seats have a superb range of adjustments and remain comfortable after a full day's driving.

The only glitch with the driving position is the accelerator pedal. Due to the intrusion of the wheel arch it's set quite high and pivots in two places: first in the conventional place, then on the footplate itself. This is fairly easy to get used to but initially you tend to push the seat further back than you'd normally have it.

The dashboard is neat with good build quality and the dials are easy to read. It's a shame that the rev counter is not supplied as standard as it was missed on our test van. The dual passenger seat is a generous size but for a three-man cab space is somewhat limited by that phallus of a gear lever. Who said German engineers have no sense of humour?

Judging by what's on offer the engineers have obviously put some thought into the storage capabilities, however, because no other van offers as much. There's the usual glovebox and door pockets and the seat supports leave useful space for tools and clothes. There are even spaces in the bottom of each door which are handy for keeping valuables away from prying eyes.

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