Sangyong pick up truck

[Big J]

5 minutes ago, IronMike said:

V10! ??

 

Superb choice mate, enjoy!

Funny thing is that in the 80 miles I did in it today, I averaged 26.5mpg, and at the speed I was doing (motorway, plus some slightly heavy right footed A and B roads) I wouldn't have got much more than that in the Sprinter. I'm convinced it'll actually be better on fuel towing than the 313CDI Sprinter.

[Baldbloke]

Right, we're sorted for vehicles [emoji3] 
 
The Berlingo van stays as it's awesome and it's my main work vehicle.
 
The C4 Grand Picasso is being swapped for a same age, same mileage Seat Leon X-perience. It's a medium sized 4x4 estate on stilts. It's narrow for the lanes and has an auto box for my wife who doesn't like gears. Kathryn can also get onto my sites with it should she need to drop off parts or oils (happens pretty regularly).
 
And I picked up a nice low mileage, one owner V10 Touareg today. It pulls like a train and actually looking forward to hitching a trailer up to it. I can't imagine any hill will phase it.
 
So, hopefully, that concludes the (up to this point) neverending question of which tow vehicle to get. 

I shall report back on how we get on with the Touareg. First impressions (after driving it 80 miles today) is that it is incredibly comfortable and brisk. The cabin is so much better than in a pickup, and space for someone my height much better.

Strangely enough I test drove two smaller V6 engined ones three days ago. One was an 05, the other on a 61 plate. Both went well with the mere 3 litre engine but the newer one had very odd and remote feeling steering. The older one had a dodgy rear wheel bearing or it’s back axle was on the way out, and because I wanted something that didn’t need a fix walked away.

[Big J]

1 minute ago, Baldbloke said:

Strangely enough I test drove two smaller V6 engined ones three days ago. One was an 05, the other on a 61 plate. Both went well with the mere 3 litre engine but the newer one had very odd and remote feeling steering. The older one had a dodgy rear wheel bearing or it’s back axle was on the way out, and because I wanted something that didn’t need a fix walked away.

They are not cheap to fix when they go wrong, so a wise call I think. 

 

On paper, the V6 is sort of pointless when compared to the V10. You're only gaining 2-3mpg, but losing 90bhp. If you're towing, I'd bet the V10 is better on fuel.

[Stubby]

5 minutes ago, Big J said:

They are not cheap to fix when they go wrong, so a wise call I think. 

 

On paper, the V6 is sort of pointless when compared to the V10. You're only gaining 2-3mpg, but losing 90bhp. If you're towing, I'd bet the V10 is better on fuel.

Jonathan , is the V10 engine available in the Amarock pickup ?

[huskykev]

Jonathan , is the V10 engine available in the Amarock pickup ?

Nope, started off with a 2 litre and upped to a 3 litre v6 in the last few years...

[Big J]

1 hour ago, Stubby said:

Jonathan , is the V10 engine available in the Amarock pickup ?

The V10 is a bit of a relic, sadly. No longer in production. The Amarok is one of the few pickups to have a decent engine (just over 250bhp, with overboost to about 275) but a sad fact is that the most powerful pickup sold in the UK is about 25bhp less powerful than the least powerful F150 (the baby of the range) sold in the US. I guess it's because 90% of the pickups here are sold as tax dodges, so power for load lugging isn't regarded as being important.

[LeeGray]

10 hours ago, Big J said:

The V10 is a bit of a relic, sadly. No longer in production. The Amarok is one of the few pickups to have a decent engine (just over 250bhp, with overboost to about 275) but a sad fact is that the most powerful pickup sold in the UK is about 25bhp less powerful than the least powerful F150 (the baby of the range) sold in the US. I guess it's because 90% of the pickups here are sold as tax dodges, so power for load lugging isn't regarded as being important.

Think it’s more to do with the tiny loads we carry and the tiny distances we travel, and the fact that we like our cars to last 60,000 miles whereas most buyers outside of Europe expect a lot more.

look at the load capacity of transits and the like, no one in there right mind is running that as a tax dodge and they still have tiny engines and load capacity.

Good luck with the vw, if you keep it right I’m sure it’ll be the cheapest total cost tow tug you’ll have 

[LeeGray]

On 25/11/2019 at 11:31, Woodworks said:

Oh but the price! I think they you are looking at $100,000 for them. Mind you they have real trucks not just computer renderings.

 

 

I’ve had my name down for a bollinger electric truck for about 30 months, they’d said they’ll be 50,000 dollars in all the build up pr. They finally launched the full price details when they opened deposits to reservation holders last month. 125,000 dollars plus tax and import duty! My name quickly disappeared off the list.

[Big J]

1 hour ago, LeeGray said:

Think it’s more to do with the tiny loads we carry and the tiny distances we travel, and the fact that we like our cars to last 60,000 miles whereas most buyers outside of Europe expect a lot more.

look at the load capacity of transits and the like, no one in there right mind is running that as a tax dodge and they still have tiny engines and load capacity.

Good luck with the vw, if you keep it right I’m sure it’ll be the cheapest total cost tow tug you’ll have 

I don't think too many people get Transits for tax reasons, but so many people run crew cab pickups for that purpose. But I agree with your point about small load, short distances and short life of vehicles.

 

I know I'm a fussy git when it comes to vehicles, but I've driven a lot of different cars and work vehicles over the years. Some are my own, but also whenever I go abroad, I make a point of hiring something that I've not had before. I've hired cars from crappy little Opels to a Mercedes S class and GLS. I just love driving. The reason I say that is that I don't think that the rate of improvement with pickups has kept pace with vans or cars. The little Berlingo van I have is as pleasant and comfortable to drive as any small modern car. It has great tech on it and was cheap too. The new pickups that I've driven (Navara, Ranger and Ssangyong) were all really disappointing, with cramped cabins, uncomfortable rides and sluggish powerplants. We would do well to take a leaf out of the American's book and offer a few pickups here that are both functional for work and comfortable too.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Big J

[huskykev]

https://www.mercedes-benz.com.au/passengercars/mercedes-benz-cars/models/g-class/g-class-professional/explore/downloads/_jcr_content/swipeableteaserbox/par/swipeableteaser/interactions.attachments.0.g-class-professional-brochure.pdf
This is the dream, 68 grand plus shipping and import tax though??‍♂️??‍♂️