Vauxhall Vivaro Doublecab Van Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance VAN: Vauxhall Vivaro Doublecab van Range
Prices: £15,209 - £17,949 ENGINES: 1.9CDTi 81bhp / 1.9CDTi 99bhp / 2.5CDTi 133bhp CARGO VOLUME: 3.3m3 – 4.2m3
Dimensions: [LWB] Length/Width/Heightmm 5182/1904/1960mm

ARE TWO CABS BETTER THAN ONE?

Our Rating: 7.6 / 10

A Heady Mix Of Passenger And Cargo Capacity, Vauxhall’s Vivaro Doublecab Van Is A True Multi-Purpose Vehicle. Steve Walker Reports…

Vans aren’t usually too good at carrying passengers. Most offer just the two seats up front and those that stretch their capacity to three abreast tend to leave the middleman feeling like the meat in a particularly sweaty sandwich. No, unless your co-workers are built like Ronnie Corbett, most vans are best used as two-seaters, the exception being genuine double cab models. These add a second row of seats in the rear, leaving the space behind that free for cargo. Vauxhall’s Vivaro Doublecab is just such a vehicle, a panel van with the facility, it’s claimed, to seat six.

Actually, six might be on the optimistic side. The front row of seats in the Vivaro Doublecab suffers from the same problem that you encounter in so many 3-seat commercial vehicles. Namely, that the middle berth will prove uncomfortably snug for the average burley builder on anything longer than a quick trip across town. The ‘dual-passenger bench’ that’s positioned alongside the driver in the Vivaro is really too narrow for dual passengers and the way the dashboard protrudes downward in the centre to accommodate the gearlever restricts legroom in the middle seat. All that said, the Vivaro definitely can seat five in comfort - the rear bench being more than adequate for three with passenger car quality three-point seatbelts as standard.

Even with the extra seating, load space is impressive. The area out back measures in at 3.3m3 in the short wheelbase model and 4.2m3 in long wheelbase form. If you need to get a handle on that, remember that the Vauxhall Combo van offers space equalling between 2.8m3 and 3.2m3 while the Astravan can only come up with 1.6m3.

So who would buy the Vauxhall Vivaro? If we’re looking for the obvious answer, it’s businesses who need to transport a team of five, six at a push, along with all their equipment. What’s less immediately apparent is that a Vivaro Doublecab could actually also serve as practical family transportation. A van for work during the week, the vehicle has the potential to accommodate the whole family Plus bikes, pushchairs, micro-scooters and whatever else the kids want to take with them on a weekend day out. You won’t even need a bout of chin-stroking to work out how you’ll fit all the paraphernalia in as you would with an estate or an MPV. Unless your kids really do want to take the kitchen sink, and a lot more besides, it should all stack neatly in the Vivaro’s cavernous rear. Even problems surrounding the sixth seat are negated if the Vivaro is put to family use. A 6ft labourer who packs away one too many Sausage ‘n

What the Doublecab does is bring more versatility to the Vivaro package. There must be thousands of tradesmen and businesses out there running panel vans that are never used to their full capacity. The idea of sacrificing some of that space for an extra row of seating is one that must appeal to some of them. With the standard SWB Vauxhall Vivaro panel van, there’s 5.3m3 on offer and a load length of 2,415mm. Compare that to the LWB Doublecab, you only lose 10cm in load length and 1.1m3 in cubic capacity. Payloads for both the SWB and LWB Doublecab Vivaros are in excess of one tonne.

Access to the rear seats in the Viraro Doublecab is through the twin sliding side doors while the load space can be got at through the rear doors. There are windows running the full length of the side doors, comfortable seats and generous amounts of legroom, so sitting in the back is an experience equivalent to riding in an MPV or minibus. The load area remains unglazed for security and there’s the option of a full-length roof rack and ladder for anyone worried about the loss of capacity but other than that, the set-up remains much as you’d find in a standard Vivaro panel van.

Vauxhall have made two diesel engine options available to power the Vivaro Doublecab and both are advanced CDTi common-rail units. Refinement and economy are as good as you’ll find in other class-leading medium panel vans like the Volkswagen Transporter and the Mercedes Vito but where the two Germans respectively offer 174bhp and 150bhp Range-topping powerplants, the Vivaro buyer must make do with 133bhp from the 2.5-litre CDTi engine. Still, this is still a decent output and the 310Nm of torque that courses through the wheels at 2,000rpm makes for a brisk pick-up and plenty of in-gear flexibility. The 1.9-litre engine is less muscular but, offered in 81bhp or 99bhp form, it’s still a respectable performer. Torque figures of 190Nm at 2,000rpm and 240Nm at 2,000rpm across the two versions means they don’t get undu