Hampshire arrival

Well after thinking long and hard the Legend was finally exchanged for a 2009 Marquis Hampshire on a Transit Chassis on Friday.  The ideal would have been the Legend body on a newer Transit chassis but that's just a dream.  Eventually it was the desire for more power from the engine on the long runs to Scotland, a two day journey each way.  The lure of cab aircon and cruise control was another desire and attempts to buy the parts to retro fit to the old van had not proved fruitful (I wanted Ford parts rather than aftermarket).  The new vehicle came from Motorhome Depot, the brokers.  This time the Derbyshire/South Yorkshire franchise, although at the moment due to the covid restrictions they are operating from their homes rather than their storage facilities so I went to a place nearer Mansfield.  The two guys running the business were extremely helpful and went out of their way to answer all my questions including making phone calls to the garage who serviced the Transit last year to check on details, something I hadn't actually asked them to do but it was nice to have clarification.

As with any vehicle approaching it's mid-life there are a few little things to fix like a floppy fuel filler flap but so far I've found nothing major.  Interestingly the ebay supplier for the replacement flap had 166 sold previously so I'm not the first!  I know some on this forum have mixed views about the use of brokerage services but as has been commented before it all depends on the persons involved.  In this case Tom and Tom, yes confusing, are people I would deal with again.  When I asked for details of the cooker so that I could buy a new lid surprisingly there were no replies on the forum but one of the Toms went and took a photo of the makers plate to send to me so I had the new lid the day before collecting the van.

Incidentally the vehicle had been 'fogged' as well as the usual wiping down of driving controls etc. as required in case anyone was wondering what is done to cope with Covid 19, and we remained socially distanced throughout the whole process.

Tony Comber

Tony, good to hear of your experience....MHD have some amazing newish, top line vans for sale, owners changing their minds, financial position altering or whatever...
if you get a good van, there are some great deals there.
who gives any non converters warranty, if any?
good luck with the new van.

Hi Tony
Hope you have lots of great trips to Scotland and beyond. I haven't seen many Hampshire models on the road,good ole workhorse the Trannie.
Boaby

We bought our Hampshire from Motor Home depot Mansfield last year, it was their van not a brokers vaan,

we were very pleased with the service, better than any dealer I have been to, highly recommended. nothing too much trouble, had as long as we liked in the van , bought us coffee out and in the waiting room another coffee and cakes, bosses birthday.the heating in the van was switched on, it was a cold day, it was roasting, showed us everything how it worked, any thing we wanted doing it was done, even supplied a propane gas bottle with gas.plus a 12 month warranty.

We are very happy and pleased with our Hampshire, a fantastic van, ticks all the boxes, and the electric beds, well what can I say, sheer luxury. it is in excellent condition.

So Tony enjoy your luxury van.
Best regards,
Margaret

Another rear lounge Ford to the forum. Our Rienza is the earlier version of the Hampshire. The layout suites us well as a large double or singles. We use ours all year and find it very cosy in the winter.
I would have liked the Mk7 Transit base with its extras like air con and cruise control but it was out of our budget. No matter the Mk6 is nice to drive and so far has been cheap to run.

By the way if your headlight lenses have gone / are going all hazy you can either polish them with some mild abrasive polish or buy a new pair for £107 off ebay which I think is excellent value. I have ordered a pair for my Mk7 2009 Tranny. I have also sprayed Waxoyl all over underneath it as well. It had only done 29000 miles when I got it recently so the underneath only had a couple of small spots of rust just starting so it won't get any further.
I find the engine doesn't have much torque compared to the new Fiat Ducatos. I have to rev it to 1500 before letting the clutch out, and have stalled it a few times. It does have a cam chain, so you don't have any cam belt costs.

Hi gassygassy,
With a low mileage, good condition Transit, I would consider visiting Vantuner.  On your model it is a straightforward matter to increase the power and torque by remapping.  It does cost £400 but can be transformative.  People who have had it done are almost unanimous in saying the van is quieter and smoother and if driven with self restraint a little more economical.
Graham

Remapping is an odd thing. I have had two Fiat engined campers remapped, one was good, the other didn't seem to make much difference. For my Nuevo I went to a good looking web site and got a Power Factory CR1 'rat in a snake' remapping box, ordered for the Peugeot Boxer. It didn't fit the wiring so when I called them and explained it had a Ford engine they sent me the correct wiring loom for the Ford based Nuevo. I couldn't tell any difference in performance so I removed the device.
Now I have a Transit I am wondering if I can fit the unit to it, I haven't tried yet but I would be surprised if the plugs and sockets which fit a 2017 Ford engine will fit a 2009 Ford engine. Mind you, they are both 2.2l so it is probably worth opening the bonnet to take a look, and I could also call the company to see if the CR1 unit can be used on the 2009 engine.
https://powerfactory.pl/en.html
They are Polish and I have a high regard for Polish capabilities in engine mapping and computer programming.

The 2009 van will be a euro4 and the 2017 a euro5 so they are not compatible the injection systems are quite different.  Martyn Vantuner adapts the tuning to your specific engine.

I had thought of the re mapping or a chip for our Rienza just to give it a bit more pulling power on long hills. From what I can gather the Mk6 Transit engine isnt compatable to these alterations it was only the Mk7 onwards that could be altered. 
I dont think I would notice the difference unless it was a radical change and the the fuel consumption is bound to suffer so I will plod along as before. We get there eventually.

Martyn Vantuner can improve both types.  The consumption need not be worse - that’s the right foot.

When I bought a new Fiat Ducato based motorhome in 2016 I got the 130HP version, because that was what was in stock and on 'special offer', but for an extra £850 on the list price you could get the 150 HP version. In our church there was a clever chap who ran a successful garage with several weeks waiting list, even though they employed 6 or 7 staff. I said to him what's the difference between the 130HP and the 150, presumably the 150HP version has bigger big ends, a stronger clutch and so on. Why does it cost £850 extra? He laughed and said no, all those engines are identical, the only difference is in the engine mapping. I can do it for you for £100. (plus VAT) so I gave it to him and he downloaded the 150HP software. It went noticeably better. That motorhome was badly built by Rapido, with a disgraceful lack of production quality management so after an expensive solicitors letter I got rid of it and got another Fiat Ducato based 130HP camper. I gave it to my garage friend to upgrade the HP. He gave it back with the £120 bill and said 'I made it 180 HP, it costs the same'. Both those vehicles had a marked improvement on the standard 130HP and bizarrely the average MPG on each of them went from 30 to 33, as well as the increased performance.
I don't know that I would spend £400 on it though, I might rather have a bike rack for instance. I would venture £200 though. I'd love to know if the injectors are the same as on a new engine. The recent Euro 6 engines that didn't need Ad Blu Fiat engines inject no less than 13 separate injections for each stroke, according to Mr Fiat on the Fiat stand at the NEC. That is amazing, the injectors must have an incredibly short time lapse between getting the volts and actually opening and closing.
It's not the 'plodding along we'll get there eventually' I would like to improve, but the torque at 1000 RPM. Ideally is idling at 800 rpm, then as soon as you accelerate you want some power, not having to wait till it builds up to 1500 before you can release the clutch. I first started disliking Fords when I was buying cars at auctions in 1971. I noticed that they all had this characteristic of needing to be revved up before you could let the clutch out. They were irritating to drive compared to Vauxhalls and Austin / Morris cars.

I might get a quote from Vantuner out interest but I can se it costing more than its worth. As I said it would only be for a little more grunt on the long hills. Compared to the Duetto and my Landrovers this Transit is nice to drive on long runs. I will catch up with trucks on the down hill

Once it is going I have no problems with the performance - though I must admit I haven't taken it up the Alps yet. The 10 year old Transit is soooooo quiet and smooth compared to the Peugeot / Ducato. It will do 70 no problem, and the trucks don't get away from me! It's just the fact that if I need to start off up a slope, eg exiting a T junction on to a main road, I have to rev the engine and spin the front wheels in order not to stall the engine. It's embarassing.