western Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Hopefully, I am fairly qualified to answer this having owned many Land Rovers, including a V8 Defender 130 (www.defender130.com), 101's, a Transit County and, now, TWO 4x4 Sprinter vans. If you want a pretty-much-go-anywhere vehicle with lots of storage spaces, there is little to beat the 4x4 Sprinters. I have both my vans converted to minibuses. You have to be careful which version you buy, as there are several permutations. There is a very rare version that has a lo/hi box, but only available with the rear difflock. Most of them appear to be Medium Wheel Base (3.5m) and permanent 4x4 with both centre and rear difflocks and many of them are ex-Utilities. I have a 1998 312D MWB and a 2002 316CDi LWB (the LWB is rare in 4x4). Mine are both currently fitted with BFG MT's and are very capable off-road (with the exception of the restrictions the 4m wheelbase of the LWB gives). Back in 2006, we took the 312D around a built off-road course that Club Land Rover Ireland built and it faired better than all of the shiny Land Rovers there, failing to get stuck once. Most photos I have of that event has a marshal in the background laughing!! (see http://www.sprinter4x4.com/clri.html) My 316CDi started out life as a 311CDi (2.2 litre 4 cylinder 109PS) and, to be honest, I found it underpowered. I had the engine replaced and, with ECU reprogram, is now 190PS. The 312CDi, whilst being the earlier model, has more torque than the 311CDi and feels quite a lot more powerful, despite similar BHP figures) The Ford Transit County is junk in comparison. Just be prepared for Mercedes parts prices though :-( When I changed the 4-cyl engine to the longer 5-cyl unit, the shorter gearbox to transfer box driveshaft cost over 700 euros!! Most service items are available on Ebay. Good luck. <H1 id=mainTitle> </H1> Malcolm. Co. Meath, Ireland http://www.sprinter4x4.com/clri.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92.9 Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Thanks for the latest replies. I think the Sprinter photographs pretty much sum up their capability! I wonder how the VW Syncro drivetrain (when fitted to a T4 van) compares off-road with that of the Sprinter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bumpydog Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Maybe I should have also stated that I have owned two VW T25 Syncro vans in the past and they were surprisingly capable, although too underpowered for the heavy stuff. The viscous coupling diffs work well, providing all the vacuum system is kept maintained. I would say that the T4 2.5TDi would be far more suitable as far as power goes. My vans had both front and rear difflocks, but I believe that the T4 Syncro vans mostly have just a rear difflock (feel free to correct me here!). I considered a T4 Syncro van before but felt that the lack of ground clearance to be the biggest issue. I also wouldn't feel that the T4 would cope with towing our 2 ton trailers across muddy fields the same way our Sprinters do. Next year, I am hoping to order a new Sprinter 318CDi 4x4, with front/rear difflocks, hi/lo transfer box and either auto or sprintshift transmission. Malcolm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92.9 Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 It seems a shame that Land Rover don't include locking differentials as standard if all these damned vans have them! That's just not right! I've been looking at T4-based campers recently. Maybe a retro-fit of a Syncro drivetrain to one of those would be easier than converting a Syncro van to a camper. That 318CDi 4x4 sounds nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Tonkin Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 It seems a shame that Land Rover don't include locking differentials as standard if all these damned vans have them! That's just not right! I've been looking at T4-based campers recently. Maybe a retro-fit of a Syncro drivetrain to one of those would be easier than converting a Syncro van to a camper. That 318CDi 4x4 sounds nice! It depends on your skillset but I would prefer to fit the drivechain to an existing camper as you suggest. My old Syncro van is now registered as a camper with the DVLA it seems. The t4 doesn't have the ground clearance the sprinter has but usually Syncros kitted out for off road (proper) will just use a load of under body protection and slide across everything. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu9-rztv--4&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu9-rztv--4&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu9-rztv--4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 It seems a shame that Land Rover don't include locking differentials as standard if all these damned vans have them! That's just not right! That'd be because Land Rover don't fit anything to the drivetrain that could live with locking diffs in the first place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92.9 Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 I wouldn't be going too far off road if I had one, but it would be good to have the extra capability for fields, tracks and snowy conditions. FridgeFreezer, I would expect any standard equipment locking differentials in a Land Rover to include everything required for use without any embarrassing breakages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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