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Devon's box of delights
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)LKSWAGEN'S IT range vans, with their pleasing ix shape, are an obvious sis for a passenger vehicle. Sidmouth motor caravan nversion company, Devon, s recently introduced a range buses based on these hides.
The range consists of a psv s and a crew bus, 15-seater indard and de luxe minibus. CM has just tested the i-seater de luxe minibus over r Midlands test route. Alugh not to psv specifications, test results showed that the is entirely suitable for this plication.
rell-finished
Based on the LT28 panel van wered by the VW Audi o-litre (121 cu in) overhead m engine, the 15-seater de (e package includes a patternheavy duty inlaid lino floor, a )p-well in aluminium, interior ,dy panels and window sur_Inds and door panels in • covered seats. I considered that the overall fect was of a very well-finished id professional conversion. But it fell down in two ipects: the front seats were indard VW van seats and the vers did not match the rest of e vehicle and the roof lining in e front was of a different ittern from that in the passenir compartment. I understand, iwever, that matching front at covers are available as an )tional extra. Interior fluorescent coach lights are fitted which are operated by two switches with separate dimmer controls located to the left of the main instrument panel in front of the driver. Draught-free This bus, in common with the rest of the recently announced Devon Conversions range, is fitted with Volkswagen's well-engineered sliding side compartment door. The door provided a wide entrance with a single step up into the passenger compartment. The door has a patterned aluminium kick panel and an aluminium threshold strip. An aluminium kick panel is also fitted to the bottom of the interior of the body panels. While the side door provides a most convenient entrance ant is rattleand draught-free, ther is a knack in closing it and I gc the impression that, if it di' break, it would be very costly t repair. The door can be lockei by key from the outside as we as by a control on the inside One key, in fact, serves for th, ignition and all the doors. Four extra windows are fittei 3 part of the conversion to the ar passenger compartment. ittle space The windows are in alumiium frames and all except the earside sliding door window re fitted with top sliding penings. Our test vehicle was 'so fitted with well-made and -nart pull-down sunblinds to Iree of the rear side windows. The particular conversion I Jsted provided little space for Jggage. The driving position, I found, was comfortable and so were the front compartment seats. with their adjustable back rests. Visibility was excellent, although I found the two door-mounted mirrors a little low and missed not having an interior mirror. Instruments and control switches were all in a panel in front of the driver. Fresh air and heater demister controls are also included. Two-speed windscreen wi pers were fitted with washers all operated by a stalk on the steering column. The wipers covered nearly the whole windscreen when in operation. Excellent ride Steering was light and responsive — the LT28 competes well with a London taxicab in manoeuvrability. The foot pedal layout I found just right. The park brake was beside the driving seat operated by the driver's right hand. The ride provided by the bu was excellent. With the vehic empty and fully laden if suspension took even the bun piest roads in its stride. The ful laden vehicle easily coped wit the rigours of the ride ar handling circuit at the MIRA te track in Nuneaton, but I notice that it appeared to be well cloys at the back. Interior noise was minim for a vehicle with the engine the passenger compartmer lowever I found that the engine over became hot very quickly nd this could cause the interior o become unpleasantly hot in warm weather, The engine cover I also found xtremely awkward to remove nd replace. A hinged panel was irovided to facilitate daily hecks and the dipstick and oil Her were most convenient to le panel. Gear changing was easy, 'though on occasions an iver-enthusiastic driver could ause the gear lever to touch the ngine cover when changing to second or fourth. )Ieasant drive Driving the vehicle was a )Ieasure — it accelerated quicky and smoothly. On the notorway section of our Midands test route the VW cruised :omfortably at 70 mph and I felt !ale and relaxed at that speed. )n the A road sections I found ourth gear gave a quiet ride and hird privided rapid acceleration D make the bus a nippy and Iriveable vehicle. Hill-climbing was impressive. -he vehicle climbed Fish Hill !asily and it was not necessary o engage a gear lower than hird. Performance was similarly -npressive on the hill leading to :hristmas Common on the old 1/440 trunk road. The VW was 'so able to stop and start on the ine-in-four test hill at the MIRA ast track. Braking on the minibus was lso impressive. It stopped 3pidly when laden and empty, lthough on occasions at MIRA, pulled slightly to the left uring full pressure braking. Fuel consumption was reaonable. During the motorway ection of the test, the bus aturned a very creditable 13.3 t /100km (21.3mpg) at the iigh average speed of 04.4km/ h (64,9mph). Early promise But this early promise was not sustained in the remaining part of our test between the end of the M45 and Minster Lovell where consumption increased to 14.9 lit/100 km (19 mph) at an average 51 km/h (31.7 mph) and the final section of our route between Minster Lovell and Hemel Hempstead where it returned 14.6 lit/ 100km (19.4mpg) at an average 52.5 km/ph (32.6 mph). Fuel consumption over the entire route averaged 14.3 lit/100km (19.8mpg) at an average 67.1 km /h (41.7 mph). Overall, I found the Volkswagen LT28 an excellent basis for a passenger vehicle. Its ride and handling and performance is more comfortable than that of many cars and it is more pleasant to drive than some. Finish to both the basic van and the Devon conversion is good. The doors shut with a satisfying clunk. Many good ideas are included such as towing points fitted on front and rear. Priced at £6,205, plus W the 15-seater de luxe is comr titive with others of this ty and the 12-seater psY versi( at £6,795, plus VAT, provic an interesting possible alterni ye to operators. The VW LT28 is designed operate on two-star petrol a needs a full service only eve 10,000 miles. Oil, howevi has to be changed every 5,0C A Perkins diesel engined versi of the psv is available for extra £664.Tags