LAST weekend was spent in the New Forest under canvas. Well, whatever the lightweight material that they construct tents out of nowadays.
This has turned into a bit of an annual trip to mark the end of summer: the whole family goes down and we meet two more families. It’s good fun: a big brazier filled with logs to bbq food and keep some warmth around as the nights draw in, good conversation, a few beers…
Turns out that both Steve and Gary – my fellow camping chums – who are both involved in running small businesses, have found the recession tough-going. Like all of us. A problem shared, a few battle stories, and it’s always good to hear that you are not alone in facing some of the issues presented by the downturn.
But business talk aside we enjoyed three days of, well, varying weather. Friday night was freezing; Saturday was sunny and I managed a swim in the sea; Sunday we had a great cycle ride organised by Steve – although the progressively hostile drizzle, aided and abetted by an increasingly devilish head wind, took the edge off proceedings; and Monday was a day of packing up and returning home to dry things out!
Packing camping gear and four bikes in the back was a Hyundai iLoad crew van (three seats at the front; three at the back accessed on either side by big sliding doors). A van. Well yes. And no.
I prefer to think of the Hyundai iLoad crew van as an MPV utility. It’s brilliant. Think about this: six seats; economical diesel engine; huge cube at the back to carry things… It does it all in a no-nonsense way. And is great fun. You can’t help chuckling that you’re going around in a van, that’s doing everything an MPV can do. And a little bit more.
The crew van is one of three models that you can get all based on the same model: the i800 is an eight-seater MPV; the iLoad is a roomy panel van with a 1 tonne payload; and the iLoad crew van adds the additional seats to the iLoad.
I first came across the crew van when I met Jeff Peyton-Bruhl, Hyundai’s national corporate operations & remarketing manager. Jeff is working with Hyundai dealers to service small businesses better. We went out for lunch: in this! His crew van. There was no question: perfect for camping.
The key thing is that it didn’t sound so dreadfully noisy – as you might expect from a van. The opposite, in fact. The engine provides loads of low-down easy-driving torque that makes driving such a big MPV-utility surprisingly easy. Despite its size. And there’s plenty of comfort features: air con, central locking, even alloy wheels. Surprising. In every way.
Loading up the Hyundai iLoad
