Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile
These 'trucklets' are the backbone of Europe, and I'm pretty sure they have these things call the Alps.
I'd happily drive mine anywhere, plenty of space (probably more than the standard US pickup as a big engine up from eats into foot space), three abreast can be tight for the passengers, but there's even a fold down arm rest for the driver. Ride is as good as my Prius, so I'd rather drive the Trafic long distance than anything else I've got. Probably why you see them up and down the Autobahns at 100mph all day long. Sits on 60mph at 2000rpm with complete silence from the engine (just wind and road noise).
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Sometimes it seems like Americans are trapped in a bubble. Well, they are in fact trapped into one, set in place by the NHTSA and EPA as a protectionist measure. But anyway, even though some American full-size trucks, SUVs and vans are actually quite cool, many times an European or Asian van is going to outperform them in almost every aspect.
Anyway, I didn't really mean to hijack the thread, so now let's get back on focus.
Hadn't it been for European displacement-based taxation schemes, wouldin't it be so much better to pick a bigger and lower-revving engine, matched to some taller gearing to get the job done instead of the 1.9TDI? I know it might sound quite crazy at first, but something like a Cummins ISF3.8 swap into a Touareg or other similar-sized Euro SUV would be cool...