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There is a small but steady demand for crew-cabbed pickups offering some offroad capability. Volkswagen aims to grab its share of that market with the Syncro.
• "It's like an Audi Quattro," says Mike Owen, Volkswagen's Transporter marketing expert. "The advanced specification represents the best of VW engineering; the Syncro system creates interest and fills a gap in the market, although we don't have to sell a vast number in the UK." Indeed the German parent company itself boasts that only 100 units of any given variant can be pro duced profitably at its Hanover plant.
Just who will buy the Austrian-built Syncro pickups in this country remains the unanswered question. Foresters, local authorities and public utilities all use crew-cabbed four-wheel-drive pickups, but this market is traditionally dominated by commercial vehicle body builders extending a standard pickup cab, and by four-wheel-drive conversion specialists providing the off-road capabilities. The results are bespoke vehicles, specially built to suit customers' needs, that pass all the requirements for GB sourcing.
VW offers the crew-cabbed Syncro as an off-the-peg solution to the problem of getting men and their equipment across ploughed fields to a worksite.
For £11,214 you get an attractive crew cab shell from VW's Hanover plant. There is room for five passengers and 500kg of equipment that can be stowed in the lower storage compartment or on the dropside load platform.
You also get the Syncro four-wheeldrive system which was developed by VW and Steyr-Daimler-Puch using the principle of the FF Developments viscous coupling and is built in Graz, Austria.
Options include the absence of a rear seat, offering an enclosed space that can be used to carry vulnerable equipment; a two-passenger front seat and the choice of a 57kW (78hp) petrol engine or 51kW (70hp) turbo-diesel engine.
• DRIVEUNE
The 1.6 litre IDI turbo-diesel engine provides the Syncro with almost the same performance as the 1.9 litre petrol engine, but with enhanced fuel consumption.
It has a KKK turbocharger with specially shaped housing and turbine blades designed to cut down the turbo lag and meets all US exhaust emission rements. The drive goes forward to the fourspeed gearbox with an additional 'G' crawler gear for off-road use. In normal use on metalled roads the pickup maintains two-wheel-drive through the rear differential and drive shafts, When the front wheels start to move at a different speed to the back wheels, the viscous coupling, mounted on its separate subframe, allows only a limited amount of slip between the two before transmitting torque to the axle with the most grip. In addition the Syncro has locking front and rear differentials, which means the vehicle can make progress with only one wheel gripping.
• BODYWORK
All Transporter models are based on the 2.46m wheelbase floor plan, and feature VWs high quality coachwork and underbody protection.
The Syncro system means the body is raised by 20mm to allow for more spring travel while 140kg is added in the form of driveline components and underbody stone-guard panels.
Loading the pickup is hard work as the platform is a full metre off the ground. The steel dropside body makes things a bit easier though, and the addition of wooden slats on the floor of the bed protects the paintwork.
The underfloor locker has doors on each side and offers secure storage space for heavy toolboxes, where the weight can be kept low in the chassis.
The payload of 805kg 500kg if five passengers are carried — is more than adequate for the sort of use to which the crew cab is likely to be put, and generous axle weights mean the load can be carried well back on the load-bed.
• PERFORMANCE
When we tested the naturally-aspirated 1.6 litre diesel engine in the Volkswagen Transporter three years ago, we found it to be frugal, but underpowered.
The installation of the turbocharger al most halves the acceleration times despite an extra 100kg on the loaded weight. Economy has not suffered much either. The naturally-aspirated unit we tested had an overall laden fuel consumption of 10.09 lit/100km (27.99mpg); the turbo version achieves 10.9 lit/1 0 Okm (25.9mpg).
The rear-mounted engine is quiet and has no discernable turbo-lag, although performance is very sluggish below 2,000rpm where the turbo has no effect.
Both the overall power and torque figures are well up to the standards set by the larger capacity, naturally-aspirated units with which we have compared it, and our impression is of a gutsy engine with more than adequate power.
A long gear lever with a precise and notchy gate combined with a suspect second gear syncromesh to make gear changing on the four-speed box a fine art. The lever is too far forward for tall drivers who will have to lean forward in the seat for each change.
The main saving grace of the unit is the layout of the gate, which places reverse and 'G' directly opposite each other. By pushing the gear lever to and fro the vehicle can be 'rocked' out of ruts created by the wheels in soft ground.
• ROAD HOLDING
With a four-wheel-dove system, and well damped all-round independent suspension the pickup might be expected to offer confident handling on slippery road surfaces. At low speeds around town this is indeed so; the vehicle can be driven with gusto in the knowledge that, where necessary, engine acceleration and braking is taking place through four wheels instead of two.
At high speeds, however, especially on the motorway, the high centre of gravity, dual purpose tyres, and semi-trailing arm rear suspension begin to count against the Sychro's inherent handling advantages. Sidewinds can push the VW around on the motorway, and a worrying amount of oversteer can be provoked by lifting off, or braking in mid-corner. By contrast the brakes and steering are excellent. We could not obtain braking figures on a wet MIRA track, but the pedal felt firm, and the vehicle pulled up in a straight line. The large steering wheel compensates for slightly heavy steering, although the cab-over style of the Transporter dictates a rearward link to the steering rack, which imparts a slight vagueness to the steering.
The Syncro's off-road performance is limited by its ground clearance, suspension travel and wheel sizes. Flat slippery conditions hold no fears for the pickup with both differentials locked, but small ditches, or undulations will leave it stranded like a beached whale, with all four wheels spinning uselessly. VW admits that this is not a true 'off road' vehicle, although a 16in (41cm) wheel option will be available from next year, which will certainly improve its cross country capability.
• INTERIOR
VW engineers defend the forward-control style of the Transporter range with claims of driver safety and comfort. This layout, however, makes access to the cab difficult and there are no handles or steps to prevent the driver from cleaning the side of the cab with his trousers when climbing in or out.
The fascia comes with some minor alterations from the VW passenger cars. The instruments are easily read, and the dashboard has a lockable storage compartment which also contains the fuses.
Sadly the heater belies its sophisticated controls and simply blasts the occupants with superheated air. Rubber mats and grey seat coverings are easy to clean and attractive, and should help the interior of the pickup stay in as good condition as the exterior.
• SUMMARY
The crewcab Syncro is a compromise; it does not have the off-road capability of a Land Rover 127 or the versatility of a custom-built chassis-cab with a four-wheeldrive conversion; but the ability to do most things adequately at a very competitive price may swing customers towards the German product.
The inclusion of the 16-inch wheel option, and the deletion of the VAT-attracting rear windows may help to meet VW's target of 100 UK sales in 1987.
0 by Andrew English