LDV Diesel Van info. needed (I know it's not a Maestro!)

[Jack]

Not sure if this is the right place for this thread but here goes anyway:

I have been very impressed with the reliability and economy of my Maestro diesel and will soon be needing a van. With this in mind I thought that the old LDV / Sherpa 200 diesel van might be a good bet as it is cheap and has the Perkins Prima engine fitted.

The question is, if used as an everyday vehicle, will I get decent economy? The gross vehicle weight is, I believe, 2195kgs. On that basis I would assume the empty weight is somewhere around 1100kgs? And based on that I would assume that ecomony would be similar to the Maestro.

However, I then thought that gearing might be lower so that heavy weights could be pulled and assume that to improve economy I would have to change the final drive ratio somehow, maybe even swapping the rear axle. If the gearbox ratios are low I don't know how I could do it.

Any info. or suggestions as to the sort of mpg I could expect from one of these vans and how to improve the gearing to improve the mpg gratefully rec'd! Please note, I will not be carrying any heavy loads but will tow a trailer with an all up weight of around 800kgs.

Thanks.

[skipweasel]

On that basis I would assume the empty weight is somewhere around 1100kgs? And based on that I would assume that ecomony would be similar to the Maestro.

The wind resistance will be far higher.

[Jack]

I mostly do journeys on local roads with top speed of 40 - 50 mph. Very little motorway use so I would think this is less of an issue.

[F690OTF(RIP)]

Having hired an LDV Convoy today, I can tell you a bit about them. I'm really not sure, without getting a tape measure out, whether it was a short or long wheelbase model they gave me, but it was 1375kgs unladen. I asked for a SWB Transit, but, being 21, they gave me the oldest vehicle they had, which happened to be an X Reg LDV.

I drove a little over 200 miles in it, some of which was in central London (!), and I have to say I wouldn't want to do more than that in a day - it's not very comfortable. Now obviously if it were my own van then I'd make more effort to experiment with seat positioning, etc., but I don't think I could do a lot about the fact that the seatbelt comes across my body below my shoulder.

It was a normally aspirated model I had, and the performance was fairly good most of the time, but we were only transporting one item of furniture in it, so it was hardly heavy-laden. The exception was at motorway speeds - the engine is distinctly stretched rev-wise at 70mph; it really needs a 6th gear. As for the economy, well it did the 200 miles on about 35 litres of diesel, so that's about 25mpg.

I won't ramble on much more, as I've just remembered you're talking about older ones than this. Am I right in thinking that these older ones had exactly the same engine as the diesel Maestros/Montegos? The one I had used a 2.5 litre engine. I had a quick look under the bonnet, but I don't know anything more about it than that.

Hope this is of help to someone, anyway.

[Rich]

We used LDV Convoys and Pilots at work as the company owned vehicles, and all the RN's vehicles were LDVs as well.

I have always found the Convoy a nice van, despite the one I drove regulary had an awful gearchange which was very stiff, but this was on a highly abused P reg van. They were pretty good though, and I would personally have one over over a Transit.

I believe they use Ford engines now? But I do know they are built in Birmingham, and LDV is still a British company! :cool:

Check out www.ldv.co.uk theres a fair bit of techinical info on the models on there.

Rich

[ChrisM]

At the taxi company I used to work for in the garage, they have a P reg LDV Convoy minibus conversion, which has been heavily abused. Still running after 8/900,000 miles though!!!!! I'm not sure about the fuel consumption, although I do know that in this particular one, you have to fuel up every 250miles to avoid running out, as the fuel gauge doesnt work!

They're not as good as some of the VW and Merc offerings, but are much better value, and, as Rich said, they're British.

[malcsmaesty]

LDV did use ford engines( and gearboxes, i think)the same as the transit,when i last went there.That was about 12 months ago.I think they still use the older type not the newer duratorq one,i could be wrong,its been along time.....and i have slept since then...... :rolleyes:

[axis]

The early ldv pilots used the perkins engine, later ones use the peugeot xud9a
The convoys use transit engines including the duratorq lump.
I run an ldv pilot and mpg is around 30-35mpg.
Top speed of a pilot is 70-75mph, 50 on an incline! Go for the convoy if you wish to tow a heavy trailer or if you use the motorway more than once a year!

[Liam]

There's a company that sells conversion kits to put a perkins prima engine in a series landrover and they reckon you get 30 - 35 mpg in the landrover which wouldn't be much different from the sherpa van.