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Now in its 20th year, the European
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Arctic Van Test puts the best that Europe has to offer through their paces in conditions that would have penguins demanding hardship payments. This is the test that sorts the men from the boys...
On paper, the mission looked simple: fly to Helsinki in Finland,meet fellow European journalists, collect a fleet of vans and drive them across the country to assess their ability. But for those of you who didn't pay attention in geography lessons there's one key element that puts an edge to proceedings: Finnish weather.
Bordering with Russia, and with 25% of the country lying inside the Artic Circle, winter temperatures regularly drop below -20°C.And our journey would take us to the north of the country, where things were less balmy. In other words, the ideal environment in which to test features such as cold weather starting, heating efficiency and cab comfort, as well as braking, grip and steering on snow covered roads. Five of the six main test vehicles were launched during the past year, which was the perfect way to celebrate the event's 20th anniversary. Lined up for the three-day arctic expedition were Ford's award winning Transit, a Mercedes Sprinter, a Volkswagen Crafter, the Sevel duo—Fiat Ducato and Peugeot Boxer—and a Vauxhall Movano (badged on the Continent as an Opel).To ensure a level playing field they were all standard 4x2s.
Cut to 6.30am on a brisk Tuesday morning (that's 4.30am GMT to you) and we're stood in a car park in Helsinki with the vans lined up and ready to go.The deal was that on command we turned the electrics on, noting how long it took for the glowplug light to go out, then made a note of how many times the engine turned over before firing up. In these conditions it was no surprise that no one managed it first time. During the journey we swapped vehicles and compared notes; CM started the 756km journey from Helsinki to Syotekeskus (see map) in the Transit. Its onboard computer was helpfully registering a healthy -25CC, as if we didn't recognise brass monkey weather when we felt it.
After a leisurely 100km we arrived at Vantaa for the first vehicle swap and a firm reminder that, now matter how warm the cabin felt with the heater on overdrive, outside it was seriously cold.
After three more vehicle changes and lunch the convoy moved onto snowbound single-lane roads. But no need to panic,even though we were forced to keep the speed up to stay with the pack.As one helpful colleague pointed out, once the temperature falls below -10'C the snow becomes sticky. Most reassuring.
As dusk fell and we continued to head north the roads became even more desolate with still harsher conditions, You'd think a van would be out of its depth here but the convoy kept rolling. II-action and grip became the prime issue; the heating systems were running balls out.
After a warm night's sleep we awoke to an ambient temperature of -39°C.The phrase 'chilled to the bone' must have originated in these parts because the temperature did just that. despite layers of CM's finest thermals.The startup test was successful,except for VW's Crafter which needed a little outside assistance. We then headed for an airfield for a serious assessment of handling, ride, braking and traction abilities; again, the journey was dominated by the winter conditions with engines taking about 20minutes to come out of their initial shock.
It's fair to say that the conditions we encountered during this outing wouldn't tend to crop up on Croydon high street. but if this annual test raises issues and keeps the manufacturers on their toes then it's mission accomplished. Mind you, it's nice to be able to feel our toes again. •