Help choosing a Tranny please.

[Ron Bones]

Right, I've been looking for a couple of weeks on the autotrader, ebay etc and the choice, variants and options seem mind boggling to me so I would really like some help! I've got £4k to spend so there's a fair bit of choice but although the van is going to be a work van, light building work and property development, it is also replacing my car as my daily drive, and I'm very fussy about keeping my cars nice so I'm after a minter to be honest! I intend to use it for holidays aswel so I want it to munch up motorway miles with ease and the minimum cost. I will also be trailoring a drift car but not often so its not a top priority but I will need to be capable of towing and having the van fully laden with spare wheels and tyres!

I want a short wheel base and I fell in love with the pics of the ex RAC vans at M.V.A, I really like the tailgate and RWD could be fun in the wet but I've heard horror stories of MPG figures and that theyre useless for motorway cruising because of the towing oriented diff. Can anyone confirm these points or tell me if I've been told a load of rubbish, because I would love one of these vans, they look great! Is there anywhere I could buy a differently geared diff for one of these?

Other than that is there any other model with the lift up tailgate? I would much prefer that to the barn doors and I would really like a rear window but they seem to be like hens teeth, should I be looking for a specific model? Another horror story I've heard lots about is the dual mass flywheel. When were these improved upon (what age of van) and is there anyway if I get an earlier van that I can tell whether its on its way? Sorry for the 20 questions! Thanks in advance for any help.

[madmark_50484]

mmm seems like an ex rac van seems right up your street what sort of MPG do you expect to get obvs your not going to get as much with the higher ratio diff than the lower ratio diff
I think the DMF flywheel is still used but you can convert it to a solid flywheel if yours was to go.

On all counts If you do a search on these things you can get a better idea of things

[Ron Bones]

Thanks for the reply mate, Mileage wise I was sort of expecting 30-35mpg. Is that wishful thinking? I was told by a guy at a local garage I was talking to that the RAC RWD ones because of the diff would only do about 25 which put me off a little. I'm just having a snoop round th forum at the minute looking for info and advice, the real limiting factor to my purchase is that I really want a rear window/windows and theyre hardly seems to be any about! I used to drive a mk5 on a job I was doing and I hated not having the window at the back, I'd get used to it I'm sure but it really put me off. Are window panes for barn doors available to buy anywhere? Or have people tried converting to a tailgate? I guess it would just be difficult finding one in the first place!

[madmark]

the rac vans will do 70mph reasonable on the motorway , i think you would get a good 30mpg
around town maybe abit less!
there is 2 types of diff in the rac one is 5.14 and the other is 4.63 the 4.63 will run alot better on the motorway!
on the hole the rac van is exelent value for money and with tailgat as well

[madmark_50484]

The only thing is he said he wants to tow would the 4.63 axle be ok for that I'm primarily mk5's and I also don't tow so a bit out of waters here.

[Ron Bones]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I'm going to the dealer tommorow or wednesday I hope so I will ask them specifically to show me vans with the 4.63 diff. They do look like good buys, and theyre bright orange so its win win really! I could live with 30mpg anyway so thats good news, I'll have to a little easy on the lead foot mind to try and squeeze a little more out!

Also madmark_50484, I think due to the few times during a year I will be towing I should be ok. I will try to avoid towing wherever possible and have a friend with a beaver tail that I can bribe to do that job!

[MinorMatt]

well the RAC spec'd it and they tow with it without problem!