The absolutely sensible Kangoo Van - Genuine Sensible'ness
Discussion
Following the hugely sensible buying an RX8 as a practical occasional alternative to the Porsche when needing four seats I've had another fit of being incredibly sensible and purchased a van. A 2003 Kangoo van.
We could do with a small van for running around in at work as the Trafic/Master are all a bit big sometimes so a Kangoo seemed sensible and as all our vans are Renault and surprisingly reliable for French things it seemed a bit of a no-brainer when I was sent a link on Facebook to a Kangoo for sale.
Here it is:
Nice hey
It came with some fairly boyo alloys on it and a much nicer interior as it has bits from a Clio 172 in there:
In fact as well as the seats it also had some other 172 bits........ like the front subframe, dampers, uprights, drive shafts, wiring loom, radiator, gearbox....... oh and the engine:
It was a bit of a project when we got it, mechanically it was pretty good but needed a few bits sorting out properly. The exhaust was a bit of a mess so we made a new one that didn't rattle and caused less permanent hearing loss:
Engine mounts were well worn so the go to Vibratechnics ones were fitted:
We also raised the ride height from the scene van (roll centre below ground level) height it was at to something a bit more sensible for steering arm angle etc. As well as fitting some new 172 Cup front dampers and Williams rear dampers, rewiring a few bits, making a new steering column mount to put the wheel in a sensible position, fitting a new standard rad, some general tidying of pipe and wiring runs and treating it to a new set of tyres and a brake bleed.
Oh and we found it an appropriate number plate
Tomorrow we will try to get a skinny red top in there to make room for a suitable KFC bucket sized air filter and then it's off to Cadwell on Sunday to see how it goes on circuit - as we can't really use it at the moment as all the paperwork is with the DVLA to make the engine swap above board we may as well have some fun with it somewhere that doesn't matter
Performance wise it drives and handles a lot like a 172. With the spare wheel, air-con, power steering pump (it's on EPAS), heavy diesel lump, ABS and associated van bits gone it weighs around 100KG less than a 172. Drums on the back don't seem to make a great deal of difference and the balance under braking is very Clio like. It is also hilarious in every possible way, as one may imagine.
This being sensible thing is surprisingly good fun!
We could do with a small van for running around in at work as the Trafic/Master are all a bit big sometimes so a Kangoo seemed sensible and as all our vans are Renault and surprisingly reliable for French things it seemed a bit of a no-brainer when I was sent a link on Facebook to a Kangoo for sale.
Here it is:
Nice hey
It came with some fairly boyo alloys on it and a much nicer interior as it has bits from a Clio 172 in there:
In fact as well as the seats it also had some other 172 bits........ like the front subframe, dampers, uprights, drive shafts, wiring loom, radiator, gearbox....... oh and the engine:
It was a bit of a project when we got it, mechanically it was pretty good but needed a few bits sorting out properly. The exhaust was a bit of a mess so we made a new one that didn't rattle and caused less permanent hearing loss:
Engine mounts were well worn so the go to Vibratechnics ones were fitted:
We also raised the ride height from the scene van (roll centre below ground level) height it was at to something a bit more sensible for steering arm angle etc. As well as fitting some new 172 Cup front dampers and Williams rear dampers, rewiring a few bits, making a new steering column mount to put the wheel in a sensible position, fitting a new standard rad, some general tidying of pipe and wiring runs and treating it to a new set of tyres and a brake bleed.
Oh and we found it an appropriate number plate
Tomorrow we will try to get a skinny red top in there to make room for a suitable KFC bucket sized air filter and then it's off to Cadwell on Sunday to see how it goes on circuit - as we can't really use it at the moment as all the paperwork is with the DVLA to make the engine swap above board we may as well have some fun with it somewhere that doesn't matter
Performance wise it drives and handles a lot like a 172. With the spare wheel, air-con, power steering pump (it's on EPAS), heavy diesel lump, ABS and associated van bits gone it weighs around 100KG less than a 172. Drums on the back don't seem to make a great deal of difference and the balance under braking is very Clio like. It is also hilarious in every possible way, as one may imagine.
This being sensible thing is surprisingly good fun!
CornedBeef said:
Thats hilarious and very cool, love that you're taking it on track too. Shame Cadwells so far, I'd love to see it - the 996 had much track duty?
Also I assume this means the fleet now consists of the 996, RX8 and the van
The Porsche does a lot of chase car and circuit learning stuff so yes it's done its fair share of time on circuit over the years Also I assume this means the fleet now consists of the 996, RX8 and the van
It's a surprisingly good track car and can hold its own against some much newer stuff. Fleet is now 996, RX8, Kangoo, Trafic, Master, ex Pikes Peak Nova-Race F600, Piper PA-28, Jedi Mk6 and hopefully a Ralt RT3 shortly......... although I should probably stop buying stuff
So the van is officially awesome!
At 5PM on Friday last week we decided that as we had an entry for the Javelin sprint series at Cadwell that weekend and no vehicle to run in it we'd take the van and sprint that.
Some Friday afternoon prep involved firmly affixing the engine to the chassis, enabling the selection of 4th gear and fitting a new set of tyres. Oh and the slight intake modifications mentioned previously:
Filling out a setup sheet for the van I noticed many boxes were somewhat redundant on our standard template:
But never the less we arrived at Cadwell full of expectation to be absolutely dead last and have a bloody good laugh doing it. I have to say the Javelin guys and all those competing were a great laugh and despite the weather we had some excellent banter with the other competitors - this little series really is a shining light in club motorsport where many championships these days are becoming more and more insular and far too serious for what is essentially hobby motorsport that is meant to be fun.
Conditions were terrible with at least two rivers running over the circuit and "under the trees" worse than I've ever known it. The van did its best and it didn't even fall off although the body roll was something else!
More amazingly than anything else we weren't last! Actually quite a long way from it ending up 66th out of 80 runners and up on a variety of things including an Evo, a Caterham and an Elise!
Great fun way to spend a Sunday and I highly recommend the Sprint Series to anyone wanting some not too serious motorsport fun!
At 5PM on Friday last week we decided that as we had an entry for the Javelin sprint series at Cadwell that weekend and no vehicle to run in it we'd take the van and sprint that.
Some Friday afternoon prep involved firmly affixing the engine to the chassis, enabling the selection of 4th gear and fitting a new set of tyres. Oh and the slight intake modifications mentioned previously:
Filling out a setup sheet for the van I noticed many boxes were somewhat redundant on our standard template:
But never the less we arrived at Cadwell full of expectation to be absolutely dead last and have a bloody good laugh doing it. I have to say the Javelin guys and all those competing were a great laugh and despite the weather we had some excellent banter with the other competitors - this little series really is a shining light in club motorsport where many championships these days are becoming more and more insular and far too serious for what is essentially hobby motorsport that is meant to be fun.
Conditions were terrible with at least two rivers running over the circuit and "under the trees" worse than I've ever known it. The van did its best and it didn't even fall off although the body roll was something else!
More amazingly than anything else we weren't last! Actually quite a long way from it ending up 66th out of 80 runners and up on a variety of things including an Evo, a Caterham and an Elise!
Great fun way to spend a Sunday and I highly recommend the Sprint Series to anyone wanting some not too serious motorsport fun!
davebem said:
Thats an excellent result! Glad to hear the Sprint series is not taken too seriously..I understand an Alfa 147 won it last year, It would be something I would like to have a go in, are you timed on the track or in the sprints whilst nobody else is on track?
Timed whilst no one else is on track. It is run very similar to a hill climb where a set course is laid out on the circuit so in the case of Cadwell we were running around 7/8th of the circuit as the course. Krikkit said:
The Kangoo is based on the Clio, so the engine mounts etc are all the same. I'd imagine the struts and hubs etc will also just bolt straight up.
Whether the wiring would be as easy is a question, but from the dash etc I'd imagine it's the same modular electronics from the Clio, so once the loom was swapped most of it will fire straight up.
Brilliant project, great idea now 172/182s are so cheap to pick up as scrappers etc.
Yep! The trick with the loom is to recut the kangoo bulkhead to take the Clio bulkhead plug and use the Clio loom all the way back to the tail lights. This way it's just a case of modding the light connectors at each end Whether the wiring would be as easy is a question, but from the dash etc I'd imagine it's the same modular electronics from the Clio, so once the loom was swapped most of it will fire straight up.
Brilliant project, great idea now 172/182s are so cheap to pick up as scrappers etc.
Everything else is bolt on, including the Clio clocks into the Kangoo dash!
We bought this van mostly complete but did pretty much bone it over the course of a week to finish it off properly and tidy some bits up as well as make a few additions
seiben said:
Wait a sec. This is yours?! Are you the chap I spoke to in the carpark at Bedford the day after Cadwell? Was I really that close to the hallowed PPBB collection without even realising? 
That was one of the guys who works for us that you met. Despite sprinting it at Cadwell we acquired it as a run around/little van for work...... just 70bhp isn't really us so a 172 Kangoo made a lot of sense Pop in next time, I'll show you around
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