A few quick questions

[Reinhold]

Hi guys this is my first post....great site!
I'm probably going to be buying Delica in the near future and I would like to ask a few questions, hopefully you can help.
- How is the turbo diesel for power? I'm not expecting a lot but how is it for passing at highway speeds?
- What kind of fuel mileage are you getting?
- How much room (length) do you have in the back if you remove the seats? Lots of room to use it for sleeping?
- Parts...easy to obtain?
- Using a canoe rack with the Crystalite roof...any problems?

Thanks in advance. I'll have to spend some time on this site doing some further research.

[delica 304]

Welcome to the forum Reinhold and welcome to the wonderful world of Delicas!!

The turbo D is nice. However delicas, being areodynamically...unfortunate, aren't the fastest motors on the road, so there is a lot of passing going on, you're just not going to be the one doing it! Driving in supreme comfort more than makes up for the slower speed!

Fuel economy is not bad, I am currently getting about 500Km on a tank of fuel (75L tank)

The rear of the van is one of the highlights! Mine (the Landmaster) is a GLX (base model) with a second row bench seat and when both rows are laid down flat, you have room for a queen size matress! (the Exeed and Super Exceed have captain's chairs in the second row-they fold flat too! The Chamonix has a bench.)

As for carrying a canoe, I rekon is all you need is a roof rack that clears the higher roof of the crystal lite/ highroof.

Finally, parts aren't too difficult to find, this is a growing community and we tend to help out each other for sourcing parts. If you can't find a part, just ask here, somebody usually has a line of where to find what you need.

I hope this helps and hastens you towards buying the best vehicle you've ever owned!

Cheers!

[Jester]

- How is the turbo diesel for power? I'm not expecting a lot but how is it for passing at highway speeds?

It has relatively sluggish performance, however you don't need to worry about highway passing, as you won't be doing any lol

- What kind of fuel mileage are you getting?

city 11.5 to 12.5L/100km hw 8 to 9L/100km

- How much room (length) do you have in the back if you remove the seats? Lots of room to use it for sleeping?

if you're of average hight or below, it is possible to sleep comfortably with just the rear bench removed. However, search the forum, as there is lots of info in various sleeping configurations.

- Parts...easy to obtain?

Most common parts are easy to get through people like Mardy etc. Less common parts are also obtainable, but usually used.
I've heard that MMC dealers just across the border stock most part#'s for Delis, but haven't looked int it myself.

- Using a canoe rack with the Crystalite roof...any problems?

if you bash into the corner windows, they will break. Other then that, only hight is an issue. For instance, my Deli the way it is NOW just squeezes under 7' hight restriction on the ferry.
If you add a roofrack, canoe, bigger tires or lift, your van will be over hight thus costing more to put on the boat.
Also, you have to be very careful about underground garages and parkades with crystalroof Delis.

[Reinhold]

Thanks for your help.
What a big difference in fuel mileage though. On the average, when doing some searches, the fuel mileage is around 20mpg or even a bit less. If I could get in the 30's (8-9L/100km) on the highway it would be fantastic but from what I'm seeing that is not the norm.
I think it also has to do with how people are measuring their mileage. I think the only reliable way is to record the km's driven and fuel quantity that you put in at each refueling. I use a sliding scale device that I picked up at the service station to calculate. The Delica's fuel efficiency is the only thing that is holding me back from buying.

[MJB]

My average kms with mix driving has been 11/100 kms. Mileage was also a concern with us but, look what you get for a vehicle and what are you other options are domestic market vans get the same mileage on gas engines, which gives you no option for alternative fuel. I guess you could go with a toyota estima or the liteace to give you better fuel. The parts i am sure are not as easy to get as the Delica parts, and you would get the superfantastic knowledge that so many of the regular contributors have on this site.