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vant-garde the old Trafic may have been when we first
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tested it in 1981, but 20 years on it, and its Vauxhall Arena clone, had definitely gone a decade too far before their demise. It will no doubt irk Vauxhall that we have to mention Renault, but it's no secret that the Iwo vans are pretty well identical. The differences amount to trim design, instruments and audio equipment. Outside, it's down to wheels, grille panels, front bumpers and, of course, badges. That said, the two marques manage to convey quite different identities, from the front, at least.
OK, Vauxhall, that's it—we promise not to mention Renault again in this test...
PRODUCT PROFILE
Today's Vivaro range comprises permutations of two 1.9-litre diesel engines and two payload ratings on a short-wheelbase chassis. Eventually there will be a longer wheelbase and a higher roof, together with a r33hp, 2.5-litre engine. Vauxhall promises to offer a 12ohp petrol engine, but to whom, we can't imagine.
Both current engines are common-rail turbo-diesels with 'first-generation' Bosch injection. Unlike earlier turbo-diesel ranges, the extra power doesn't come from chargecooling, as both ratings benefit from this. Instead, Vauxhall relies on changes to the tuning of the otherwise identical engines to give ratings of 81 and 99hp (both at 3,500rpm) in the 80 and 100 models respectively. More importantly, the higher rating produces over 26% more torque (24oNm compared with r9oNm) and at r.800rpm, 2oorpm lower down the rev range.
The £600 premium for the beefier engine also buys you a six-speed gearbox, and the facility for an optional engine-driven PTO. The two GVW ratings are 2,700 and 2,90 okg, with all but 7kg of the extra 200kg on the high payload version being useable capacity.
PRODUCTIVITY
We've come to expect excellent fuel returns from the current crop of common-rail engines and, unladen, the Vivaro didn't disappoint, with 41.8mpg running through mixed conditions round our Kent route. But tile
laden run, punctuated by numerous traff delays, took the figure down to 31.6mpg. Wit less disrupted conditions and more tha 3,500 miles on the clock, we confident expect this to be improved upon.
The Vivaro's six-speed gearbox must 1: unique in that half of its ratios are overdrive] with sixth working out at 0.64:1. Combine with a 4.19:1 final drive, the bottom line is long-legged 29mph per L000rpm in toi The 8ohp's five-speeder gets the same and final-drive ratios without sixth, giving more frantic 24mph per r,000rpm, Stayir in top for the laden M20 hill climb saw tlVivaro drop 4mph briefly on the steeper part, but with the loss of just five seconds fl the three-mile climb.
Vivaro's 942kg net payload should be act quate for most needs, but if you need mom £200 buys you that 200kg upgrade, whic includes 205-section tyres instead of th standard 1955. The short and low versio offers 5.0m3 of volume measured on th VDA scale; if you need more you'll have wait a few months for the longer wheeLbar and higher roof. A nearside loading do( comes as standard, with the option of one o the right coming soon. The side door ape lure is a full metre wide, which is as much the body length permits.
Unusually, the left rear door opens first, wit stays at 90°, which are easily released for 18c There will be a 270° option on the long whee base version, but on the existing model would conflict with the side door. A one piec top-hinged glazed tailgate is also available.
There is no load floor covering as standar (a phenolic resin-coated ply costs /320 exth but there are six strong tie-down rings. A ste inside the side door aids access, but if you'm over 4ft Gin tall you'd better mind your heai The standard driver protection offering is full-height steel mesh grille, with a more sem sible full bulkhead available with or withoi glass for just £75. The glazed item in our va features a fairly shallow window, which mear that much of the view through the rear doors obscured, with a further large chunk lo: thanks to the central head restraint.
An often overlooked running cost is insu ance, and Vauxhall has got the Vivaro a vet favourable 4E T2 grouping. Shielded loci, and an immobiliser should also help ensui that your cheap insurance stays that wa Servicing at 18,00o miles or two years and three-year/100,000-mile warranty all help keep ownership costs to a minimum.
ON THE ROAD
One of the Vivaro's virtues is apparent th moment you turn the key—its common-ra engine is astonishingly quiet from a cold star which should please the neighbours. Onc under way, it produces very lively perfo mance, but like many relatively high powere vans, the Vivaro feels happiest at full weigl with some work to do. Even with its max mum payload on board, its standing start fii ures wouldn't disgrace a decent car-derive van. Naturally, we didn't test its top speed o UK roads, but we can vouch for the fact that wouldn't embarrass you on an unrestricte German autobahn.
0 Moving around the six-speed box is easy, thanks to a light and precise dash-mounted gear change. Reverse is located next to first, but a lift-up collar prevents an accidental shift. The ride and handling are excellent, with little difference evident whether laden or unladen. Testing the roadholding towards its limit at the proving ground eventually revealed the gradual onset of a little (safe) understeer, but its grip levels are high and its behaviour is predictable.
The test figures achieved by the all-disc brakes are impressive by any standards, and all the more so when you consider that they were achieved on a damp track. While the oo ABS works as it should, there were a few occasions when we felt it could usefully incorporate traction assist, as the ample torque could provoke wheelspin relatively easily. On the test slopes, the parking brake only just held on the i-in-3 as we reached the limit of the lever's travel. The attempted restart on the same slope failed, thanks to the laws of physics as applied to front-wheel-drive vans, but the was no problem.
The build quality of the test van, one of the first batch of right-hand-drive examples, was first class without a single unwanted squeak or rattle, even at full weight. This says much for the new production facility at Luton.
CAB COMFORT
Frequent access for multi-drop deliveries is reasonably good, although the floor height is such that the intermediate step tends to be bypassed. The interior is trimmed with grey and blue cloth for the seats with a flock-type headlining and good quality grey plastic for the rest. All seats have three-point belts, the outers with height adjustable top mounts. Our example came with the optional passenger airbag. The driving seat is adjustable for reach, height and recline but a tall driver sitting high enough for his legs to be comfortable would probably find his head too high for optimum visibility.
Headroom is excellent thanks to the roof bulge, and visibility is otherwise good.
The steering wheel is adjustable for reach but not angle, so tall drivers are likely to suffer again, finding their view of the top of the instruments obscured by the wheel rim. A few years ago head-up displays were all the rage on concept cars. Specify the glazed bulkhead on the Vivaro and you get H UD thrown in, as a repeated reflection of the view forward is displayed on the windscreen, both in bright sunshine and darkness. A simple interior light is provided, but there is no dedicated map-reading light.
The instrument panel has classically functional white-on-black markings (rev counter on the left and speedo on the right) with fuel and water temperature gauges and a dozen warning lights in between. The speedo incorporates an electronic odometer, which doubles as the engine oil level check at startup.
The air-con package, which has a feed to the glove box to stop your Mars bars melting, includes a heat-reflective windscreen. Next to the rotary controls for heating and air-con (which dispenses through four large fresh-air vents evenly spread across the dash) are switches for heated rear window and central locking, and a cigar lighter. Most of the minor switchgear is located on column stalks, with lighting functions on the left and washers and wipers (front and rear) on the right. For no obvious reason the hazard warning light switch is shaped liked the rotor of a Wankel engine. The controls for electric windows and mirrors are on top of the driver's door panel.
To the left of the central dash is a "curry hook", from which it is apparently possible to suspend a bag containing an oriental meal for consumption at home. Personally, we feel a document clip might be more useful.
There are more than a dozen storage areas of various types, including decent sized door pockets, a fullwidth lower shelf, glove box, and an upper shelf covered by a large carbon fibre-look moulding which, unlike the bulkhead, does a good job of eliminating reflections. There's no Movano-style basket under the passenger seats, though. A lidded ashtray is transferal between bins at both dash extremities, whi are also useful for holding a mobile phone.
As Vauxhall has taken the trouble to indu satellite navigation, it's worth describing The L75 o Siemens NCDR2 ors "infota ment" system includes sat-nay, a single-d CD player and an excellent RDS radio, sharing the same monochrome display a with remote controls on the steering whe
Compared with systems costing twice much, this one is only short of a colour ml ing map display and is certainly adequate I most needs. Route finding options inclu using or avoiding motorways or choosing t quickest or nearest route, with instnictio delivered by a pleasant female voice.
In the event that you get lost, pressing the button shows your current location by re name or number, place name and latitude/lc gitude. The radio part of the system is us friendly: it can scan and list all available static and save so presets. As well as navigation a radio information, the display also incluc time of day and ambient temperature.
SUMMARY
As you will have noticed, the Vivaro story I plenty of chapters still to be revealed. Th( have already been a few minor delays alo the way, but we should really be grateful ti products have not been released until rea rather than letting customers pay for the pi ilege of doing the final development.
The day a van maker makes the perfect v is the day we have to start looking for n, jobs. Suffice to say the Vauxhall Vivaro has sent us scuttling off to the Labour Exchan but you do have to look hard to find anythi to criticise. The only significant problem is seating position for taller drivers, and t reflections in the windscreen would becox irritating if you spent 40 hours a week at t wheel, but that really is about it.
In terms of dynamics, refinement and p ductivity, the Vivaro is about as good as it gc The designers took a gamble with the am tious styling, but like any good design, i already starting to look as though it belonl They could have been more conservative a not made a van that looks like it belongs to 21st century, but that would have looked old no time flat. Let's just hope this one's I intended to have a 20-year life cycle.
• by Coin Barnett