Road Test
If you're largely stumped by the aging Volkswagen EuroVan, consider this: So is Volkswagen.
The seven-passenger "T4" first reached U.S. shores in 1992-the fourth new platform within VW's half-century of van assembly. Initially fitted with an anemic 109-hp five-banger and priced as if it were about to be auctioned off at Christie's, the EuroVan was to U.S. buyers what Eddie the Eagle was to Olympic ski jumping. So dismally did the EuroVan sell that VW simply gave the thing the big Teutonic sky hook-a four-year timeout to formulate a fix. (Persons desperate for the Camper version of the VW van could, during this time, acquire one through Winnebago.) The fix turned out to be VW's sporty VR6 engine, first installed in the Camper in '97 and then in the seven-seat minivan in '99. Except in this guise it was perversely detuned to produce only 140 horses.
Oh, boy. If VW's goal was rarity, success was achieved. By 2000, sales had stalled at 1331 units. As rare as chicken molars.
For 2001, VW has therefore hatched yet another fix, although this one actually makes sense: a lot more power for a lot less money-the sort of formula your average 50ish flower child can grasp in a flashback.
First, the power. Thanks to a new variable-resonance intake manifold, variable intake- and exhaust-valve timing, and a doubling of valves, the VR6 now produces 201 horsepower at 6200 rpm and can pull the EuroVan to 60 mph in 11.0 seconds-coincidentally the average 0-to-60 clocking during our last minivan comparo. That's 0.8 second quicker than the GLS we tested in 1999. Equally useful, the VR6 is tuned to achieve peak torque as early as 2500 rpm, so step-off is no longer a maneuver measured by a sundial. It would help, of course, if this van weren't such a perennial porker-it's 754 pounds heavier than the last Chevy Venture LS we tested. Fortunately, VW's four-speed automatic is diligent about importuning urgent revs, although there's an annoying half-second wide-open-throttle gasp that interrupts one-two upshifts. The sporty gearing is otherwise a godsend, because the crotchety floor-mounted shifter, which pokes skyward like an attack periscope, resists most of the driver's manual second-guessing.
Too bad the revitalized engine has a drinking problem. It slurps premium unleaded at an EPA-rated clip of 15 mpg in town. Truth is, this VR6 will enjoy a far more satisfying milieu in the first half of 2002, when it appears in the Golf GTI and Jetta Sport.
VW's second fix was to hack $5100 off the sticker. The entry-level GLS now sells for $26,815, and the ritzier MV-the model that includes a table, removable middle seats, curtains, and a folding rear bed-is priced at $28,315. For both, standard caboodle is generous: a six-speaker stereo, cruise, power locks, fog lights, 16-inch alloy wheels, ABS, traction control, and VW's electronic stability control. Other than a sunroof, the only option worth contemplating is the Weekender package atop the MV, as depicted here. We say "atop" because the $3235 surcharge earns you Westfalia's familiar pop-up roof-in case you fancy four-person camping inside a minivan, a concept conducive to homicide. Also included in the Weekender package are a refrigerator, bug screens for the side windows and the entire rear hatch, a fluorescent light above the table, and a second battery to power late evenings at the campsite.
If the EuroVan is the Swiss Army knife of people movers-more practical than fashionable-it's because of its colossal, best-in-class interior. Jonah would have felt right at home in here. Ten inches taller than a Toyota Sienna, the MV Weekender can ingest 187 cubic feet of household miscellany-41 cubes beyond what a commodious Honda Odyssey can swallow. Moreover, the EuroVan's rearmost seat resembles some sort of municipal park bench-flat and 60 inches wide, sufficient for three adults with poison ivy on their thighs. And the nearly five-foot-tall rear hatch is so large you'll want to leap clear as you swing it open or incur a Buster Douglas sucker punch. Alas, no left-side sliding door is offered. When the EuroVan was conceived, such conveniences were mere pipe dreams.
