THE Maxus V80 is a light commercial van made by SAIC Maxus Automotive Co Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, China’s largest carmaker.
Weststar Maxus Sdn Bhd, the official distributor of Maxus vehicles in Malaysia, launched the V80 in August last year, offering four variants - V80 panal van, V80 semi-panel van, V80 12-seater window van and V80 15-seater window van.
We sampled the V80 15-seater window van, which is built for business operators involved in moving people, goods or products.
The Weststar Maxus V80 15-seater window van is powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder twin camshaft 16 valve turbo-charged diesel engine, paired with a five-speed manual transmission. It produces 136hp at 3,800rpm and 330Nm of torque at 1,800rpm.
The V80 can be customised into various applications, such as a VIP van, mobile office, school bus, panel van, prison carrier van, rescue van, forensic vehicle, specialised communications vehicle, ambulance and many more.
Measuring at 5,700mm, it is 2,383mm wide, 2,345mm high and weighs 2,200kg. It has 80 litres of fuel tank capacity and a boot space that can fit in three 24- to 28-inch luggage with all seats up.
The V80 15-seater window van that we drove is equipped with single sliding door, 16-inch wheels, powered front windows, air-conditioning, rear air-vents, radio player, eight-way adjustable driver’s seat, fold down arm rest for the driver and front passenger, front deep door pockets, powered side mirror with turn signal, and front and rear fog lights.
Safety aspects include anti-lock braking system, electronic brake force distribution, brake assist system, dual front airbags, reverse parking sensors, remote central locking and 15 full-sized seats equipped with three-point seatbelts
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The V80 15-seater window van is priced at RM130,488.80, excluding registration, insurance and taxes. It is covered by a five-year or 150,000km, whichever comes first, free service, which includes labour parts and lubricant, as well as a three-year or 100,000km warranty.
The Drive
The V80 is a van that is built for work. Most of the material used in the van are solid - to deal with heavy duty usage.
It has a powerful engine that can ferry a full load of occupants with luggage, and is still able to exceed the legal speed limit on the highway.
The V80 manoeuvres like a light-duty truck because it is a large-size van. But it has a 14.8m turning circle, which is very good to make a U-turn.
However, due to its size, the driver must allocate sufficient space on the side to make sure the end of the van is able to complete the turn without scratching or knocking into another vehicle, or even driving over the divider. After a few hours of driving the V80, the driver can easily adjust to it.
The V80 has plenty of space. Any adult below 173cm is able to stand up and move around the van without hitting his or her head. Even with 15 seats up, the boot still has space to fit in a couple of large luggage or two to three large-size strollers.
There is ample head room, leg room, and shoulder room in the V80. The full-size seats are comfortable for the rear occupants, and the front driver and passenger seats are well cushioned and supported to reduce fatigue during long-hour drives.
The absorbers overcome most road conditions with ease, even going over large pot holes hardly fazed the van.
As for the cabin noise, the V80 is able to keep the cabin quiet, filtering out wind and tyre noise even at a high speed. However, the engine noise can be clearly heard from the driver’s seat.
The van’s radio player plays basic sound quality tunes and the buttons are clear and easy to reach while driving.
With 80 litres of fuel, we managed to drive the V80 for over 650km and returned the van with about 15 litres of fuel left in the tank. This is based on refuelling because there isn’t any fuel consumption reading system on board.
The instrument cluster is the basic kind that tells the speed, revs, distance travelled, temperature, fuel level, time and the odometer, alongside the key warning lights.
There are a couple of features that Maxus could improve in the V80, it should come with a reverse camera, or even better a 360 camera because the view from the driver’s mirrors are limited, and the driver is only able to see a portion of the rear when reversing.
We find the five-speed manual transmission’s clutch is slightly too hard for everyday driving, especially when one is stuck behind the traffic. A driver will need to put more effort to manoeuvre the van due to the heavy weighted steering.
Lastly, we feel the V80 12-seater and 15-seater window vans should come with better entertainment systems.