Crafting a big VW van just for you

Published Jul 29, 2016

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By: IOL Motoring Staff

Wrzesnia, Poland - Volkswagen's all-new Crafter van, revealed in Europe today, is entering a difficult market. Not only are EU emissions regulations becoming ever more stringent, but their real-world application is being tightened up in the wake of Dieselgate (and whose fault is that, we ask).

So, Volkswagen Commercial is making a selling point of the fact that the new crafter's EA 288 'Nutz' two-litre TDI turbodiesel has been developed specifically for this model; it's available in four levels of tune, delivering 75kW, 90kW and 102 kW respectively, plus a twin-turbo version rated for 130kW.

Customers in Europe will also have a choice of manual or automatic transmission to front, rear or all-wheel drive, three wheelbase lengths and three body heights.

Volkswagen engineers actually went out on the road with drivers from important customer groups, including couriers, construction workers and long-haul drivers, to find out what these users actually need in a van, what works for them and what doesn't.

For example: Which driver aids really help when manoeuvring a big van in inner-city traffic? How can the van's ergonomics help reduce long-haul crashes caused by tiredness? What makes a heavily-laden van less likely to get stuck on a muddy building?

New tech

The most important innovation that came out of this hands-on research was a new electromechanical power steering set-up, rather than conventional hydraulics, making possible the addition of active driver aids such as a stability program with trailer stabilisation, side-wind compensation and even trailer manoeuvring assistance, for the first time in a VW van.

Volkswagen SA tells us the new Crafter will be released on South Africa in the first half of 2018, and that it will release details of the local range during 2017. Judging from the current range, we'd expect them to include 90kW and 130kW drive-trains with manual 'boxes and rear-wheel drive, in medium, long and extra-long wheelbase versions with standard roof height.

Motoring.co.za

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