Volkswagen Crafter 2.5 TDI 109 MWB Van Car Review

Facts At A Glance VAN: Volkswagen Crafter 2.5 TDI 109 MWB Hi-Roof Range ENGINES: 5-cylinder 2.5-litre TDI diesel 109PS MAX PAYLOAD: 1,369kg LOAD VOLUME: 11m3 GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHTS: 3.5t

WHICH CRAFTER?

Our Rating: 6.7 / 10

Volkswagens don’t get much bigger than the Crafter and it’s as big on technology as it is in size. Steve Walker reports…

You only need to spend a few minutes leafing through the glossy brochure for Volkswagen’s Crafter in order to appreciate how far panel vans have progressed. Within those pages, the vehicle’s technological arsenal is showcased and there are options there that would have graced a luxury saloon spec-sheet just a few years back. Presenting the average van driver with this document is much like handing him the lunch menu from the Dorchester. First, his eyes light up as the wonderful possibilities reveal themselves and everything looks so good until his gaze drifts across to the right-hand column. A sharp palpitation in the wallet region follows and before you know it, he’s ordered a small glass of tap water and asked if they do egg and chips.

The Crafter options list offers buyers the potential to specify a panel van that’s positively crammed with technology and clever features but in the real world of cold, hard financial reality - as lived in by the vast majority of van customers - the options list is where most of these desirable titbits will stay. The Crafters that we see on the street will be of far more modest persuasion but does that mean that their drivers should feel short-changed? We checked out a standard specification Volkswagen Crafter 2.5 TDI 109 to find out.

OK, so our van wasn’t exactly a standard spec model: there was a plywood load floor cover in the back that would have set us back £275, if we were paying. What the van definitely didn’t have were the front and rear parking sensors with visual proximity displays in the wing mirrors, the parking brake with automatic hill hold control, the satellite navigation system with CD autochanger or the visibility pack with its rain-sensing wipers and automatic headlamps with washers. It also didn’t have cruise control, an electric sunroof, alloy wheels, ‘Climatic’ air-conditioning or leatherette upholstery and the reason why most working Crafters won’t feature many of these items either is that when you tot them all up, they add around £4,000 to the price. This is a comparatively small hit if you’re a wealthy private buyer after a top-end luxobarge but van buying businesses work to tighter budgets.

Our test vehicle was in poverty spec form because that’s exactly how most Crafters will roll off the production line from the word go. Nevertheless, it didn’t give the impression that we were missing out. Anyone familiar with Mercedes-Benz products will smell a rat as soon as they climb into the Crafter’s cab as the switchgear the stereo with its chrome ringed dials and even the font on the instrument dials provoke pangs of déjà vu. This is because the Crafter is part of a collaboration between VW and Mercedes that has also yielded the latest Sprinter panel van. The two vehicles are almost identical bar the badges and the interior design has a flavour that’s definitely more Mercedes than Volkswagen.

Even in standard form, you get a CD stereo and height, reach and rake adjustment on the driver’s seat. The build quality and design sets the standard in the panel van sector with the simple controls offering a classy look and a robust feel. Storage has been well thought out with pockets along the top of the dash to stop items sliding around, a clip on the centre console for paperwork, big door pockets and plenty of cup holders. The vast banks of blacked-out buttons hint at the gadgetry that’s been left on the options list but it isn’t unduly missed.

One area where the Crafter does differ from its Sprinter sister vehicle is in the engine bay. Volkswagen have plumbed their own TDI common-rail injection units into the Crafter and the 109PS version we tried was well up to the job. There are versions of the engine with 136PS and 164PS power outputs to call upon but just as most operators will leave the extensive options list alone, most will go for this more modest engine. The 109PS translates to 108bhp in old money and while this might sound like a piffling amount to shift a medium wheelbase, high roof Crafter about, the engine proved very flexible and punchy on our test. This is largely thanks to the hefty 280lb/ft torque output that’s being generated at 2,000rpm. It ens