Vehicle

Thought I'd gather together a few comments on our likes and dislikes about the van - so those of you planning a similar trip can make an informed decision on what vehicle to take.

Engine - could do with a bit more power and a bit less fuel consumption. An engine swap, perhaps for a 1.9 tdi, could be a good move Fuel consumption has averaged a little over 24mpg which isn't too costly at 55p/l. The electronics on the engine were a concern but so far, apart from the connection on the water temperature sender, have proved reliable.

Engine oil - We have used Redline 20w/50 and it is very good. Oil pressure is up on the Mobil 15w/40 and drops off less with temperature. Oil consumption is about half a pint between changes at 10000km intervals (mostly due to the leak at the low presure sender).

Gearbox - reported to be a weak link in the T3 and needing a rebuild at around 150k miles but seems fine at present. Hopefully the Redline MT90 gear oil is doing it's job.  Gear ratios are a little stretched with the larger than standard wheels but that is keeping the engine revs down at motorway speeds.  We did have some noticable tinny noises from the prop shaft below 1800rpm before I removed the front diff to sort out the viscous coupling a few month's ago, but these have mostly vanished.

4 wheel drive - probably worth having but the way it works didn't help when we got stuck in the sand.  The engine needs to be above idle to get the front wheels to drive but the back wheels were already so deep in the sand that spinning them at the required speed would have buried the engine aswell. Diff locks may have helped at that point, as would a decoupler and solid shaft (in place of the viscous coupling), but I quite like the idea of the viscous coupling working seamlessly with no driver intervention.

Wheels/Tyres - a good move to go to 15" rims increasing ground clearance and BFGoodrich All Terrain tyres are excellent, showing very littlle wear at this stage (maybe 2mm all round). Just don't put tubes in them.  Wheel carriers on the back are good but do put weight a long way back.

Suspension - smoothes out the bumps very well and was tested severely in Kazachstan.  Perhaps fitting the stiffer front springs from a pickup that are in my garage at home would have improved ground clearance a bit more, along with extra spacers above the rear springs.

Interior - layout is good especially the pop up roof.  Cupboard arrangement puts weight to the rear so we carry spares and tools in boxes behind the passenger seat. A more efficient fridge would be better in the heat, it runs on 12v when the engine is running but needs the gas lighting when not.  We opted not to burn gas to keep it cool as we would then need to source replacement gas bottles far more frequently. The space inside the van is OK for two and can be arranged to fit three if necessary.  But the overall criteria of fitting inside a shipping container prevents a larger vehicle.
Seats are comfortable for long distance driving and armrests help with this.

Spares - we have brought alot of spares with us as some countries we are passing through didn't have the T3 sold by VAG. Europe was OK, as surprisingly was the area of southern Russia we passed through.  Kazachstan had no T3s until we reached the south east corner.  I think these were all secondhand imports from Europe.  So far we haven't seen a single T3 in China. Our spares and tool list is quite large so I won't post it here but will add it to a dedicated T3 Syncro list in the next few weeks.

Overall we like then van, and assuming no disaster befalls us, intend to ship it back to England and keep it for the forseeable future.

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error please contact Systems Security on (44) 0845 072 0072 or email ukit.helpdesk@uniq.com.
Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the author�s employer (the Company"). Unauthorised publication, use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this e-mail and its associated attachment(s) is strictly prohibited.

The Registered Office of the Uniq group is: Uniq plc, No. 1 Chalfont Park, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire SL9 0UN, UK Registered No. 03912506
Registered in England and Wales.

The Registered Office of the sole UK trading company is: Uniq Prepared Foods Limited, No. 1 Chalfont Park, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire SL9 0UN, UK Registered No. 00721411
Registered in England and Wales.