Battle of the bread bins

Family luggers are not meant to be sexy. 

Instead, they cater for the life that comes after being sexy. 

We rate them for power, space and pace.

THEY may have started out in life as small delivery vans, but today’s crew cabs offer a family all the mod cons and safety features they could want. And talk about frugal?

The Caddy Maxi, (it the big one in front, duh) is our pick
of the breadbin bunch. Smaller than all of them, it saves
the most money without losing any performance.

Take the best-priced of the bunch, the VW Caddy Maxi Cab. We drove it between Gauteng and Mpumalanga and got 5,6 litres per 100 km, at one stage nudging just over 20 km to the litre on the long, level N4. The Maxi boasts the same active safety system as the Touran, but at R61 k less and of course, it is cheaper than its competitors in the breadbin class.

The H1 by Hyundai offers more space, and at coastal level, the smoothly over-stroked petrol (126 kW/227 Nm) can cope with its 1,1 ton payload. If you drive at altitude, pick the diesel, if you can find one. They are very popular, offering the most power in Newton metres, as well as getting the highest work rate in Watts per cube.

The Teepee is not often spotted outside a Peugeot showroom, but is well worth a family’s inspection, because Peugeot basically wrote the book on vans in Europe, and its Teepee Leisure comes with all this DNA.

The Vito Crew cab is billed as a pack mule, but this being a Merc, it has all the trim a family could want. Added to this is a very good active-stability programme, which stopped my attempts to roll the Vito.The Vito’s 2 143 cc diesel also gives its grunt from only 1 400 rpm and is cheaper than Chrysler’s Grand Voyager in South Africa. Merc’s Charterway packages promise to tailored finance, leasing or insurance according to any buyer’s needs.

Chrysler sells the most expensive family lugger, but its Voyager started this genre some 30 years ago, and the Grand Voyager is like a room on the move, with a removable table as standard.

Those looking for more room on the move may want to wait for the Torneo, which Ford launches in a few months. It is a goody.

The price

The suggested retail prices as listed by the manufacturers on their websites should be used as a guide, as experience shows these to be very negotiable at dealer level.

VW Caddy Maxi R319 300

Hyundai H1 2,5 VGTi R344 900

Peugeot Expert Teepee Leisure R347 500

Mercedes-Benz Vito 113 CDI Crewcab R416 685

Chrysler Grand Voyager 2,5 CRD R429 990

0-100 km/h acceleration (claimed)

VW Caddy Maxi 12,8 seconds

Chrysler Grand Voyager 2,5 CRD 13 seconds

Mercedes-Benz Vito 113 CDI Crewcab 13,4 seconds

Peugeot Expert Teepee Leisure 14,7 seconds

Hyundai H1 2,5 VGTi 14,9 seconds

Power stakes

VW Caddy Maxi 250 Nm

Peugeot Expert Teepee Leisure 300 Nm

Mercedes-Benz Vito 113 CDI Crewcab 310 Nm

Chrysler Grand Voyager 2,5 CRD 360 Nm

Hyundai H1 2,5 VGTi 392 Nm

Power at lowest revolution

Mercedes-Benz Vito 113 CDI Crew 310 Nm @ 1 400 rpm

Chrysler Grand Voyager 2,5 CRD 360 Nm @ 1 600 rpm

VW Caddy Maxi 250 Nm @ 1 750 rpm

Hyundai H1 2,5 VGTi 392 Nm @ 2 000 rpm

Peugeot Expert Teepee Leisure 300 Nm @ 2 000 rpm