LDV V80

With a busy week of shows for our sister publication Farm & Plant we took delivery of a new LDV V80 SWB van to put it to the test. You might be familiar with seeing the brand on the roads in your local area recently after An Post ordered 250 for their fleet earlier this year. At the time An Post choose the LDV’s due to their superior fuel efficiency, practicality and value for money so I was keen to see for myself does the van indeed tick each of these boxes. A team of two from Farm & Plant were taking the LDV V80 to the Balmoral Show in Co Antrim. The rst of two 350 kilometer round trips was for set up on the Tuesday night. The LDV V80 SWB has a payload of just over 1.2 tons with 6.9 cubic meters of space. We certainly made use of every inch of this space as we packed the V80 full to the roof with magazines, goodie bags, merchandise and signage. Loading was made very easy due to a sliding side door and twin rear doors. Once loaded it was time to set off on our way.

The LDV V80 comes as standard with a 136hp VM Motori Eco-D 2.5L turbo diesel engine producing 330Nm of torque which is very capable even with a full load. The 6 speed manual gear box is smooth through the gear changes so I certainly had no complaints here. Inside the cab is a pleasant place to be with room for 2 passengers and driver. The driver seating position is pretty normal for vans in this range with excellent height and sizable mirrors for rear visibility. Inside the rst thing you will notice is the centre binnacle, which some might nd strange, but after a short period spent on the road it grew

on me. Each LDV comes with Cruise Control as standard. It’s a simple on/off system, which is ideal on motorways. On what was probably one of the hottest weeks of the year so far with temperatures in Dublin at 17 degrees and 19 degrees in Belfast I was glad that Air Conditioning is also a standard feature on the van. Also standard on the LDV is Bluetooth allowing the hands-free use of mobile and music devices. If Bluetooth connectivity isn’t an option for you, then there is the option of a jack port to connect your music player to the sound system.

Our trip consisted of mainly motorway miles and even with a full load handling was good and precise. Overall, the LDV was good to drive, however after 3 days trading at the Balmoral Show and a long drive back home I would have liked a more adjustable driver seat. The LDV certainly represents value for money priced at just €21,100 Inc. VAT. Practically it’s a very capable van that is easy to load and more than capable on the road with a full load. With ef cient fuel consumption of just of 8.9L per 100km the three boxes were certainly ticked and I would be happy to recommend an LDV V80. For more information including a test drive, be sure to contact your local dealer.