New 2012 17.56.2 OB on its way home

[acmackie]

Well after months of waiting the van is now delivered and in use. We drove Syd to Wodonga on Sunday afternoon, then to Melbourne on Monday morning for 1pm handover in Bayswater. Got there 15min late but no problem. All went fine then picked up a few things from bunnings and Award RV before stopping the night at the Dandenong Big4. The park was nice but bit too close to traffic for my liking. Managed to leave some things in the laundry when we headed off to Lakes Entrance. Thankfully the staff were ok to post them to us (we sent them some prepaid 5kg bags). Arrived at "waters edge CP" just before dark and setup fine. Park was very quiet at this time of year, so I was a little surprised to be told I needed to be gone no later than 11am even though I asked for midday! Needless to say there were about 2 vans in the park at 11:30 when we left. Other than that no complaints. Tonight we're at Eden Tourist Park. Seems nice, again very quiet and being out of town a little the only noise is the waves breaking on the beach nearby. Loving it!

Fuel economy:
Without van Syd to Melb we did 950km and used 91L. So 9.6l/100km.
So far with van it looks like we'll do about 14l/100km. Had a few hills too. So no complaints from me

Will post some pics whe I figure out how to from the iphone

 

[MolongMick]

What a way to christen the van. Enjoy the trip, at least by the time you get home you will know what needs to be fixed.

 

[acmackie]

No issues with it so far thanks Mick. Just a few of the laminate joins not as neat as you'd do for yourself. Might even bring it out near you soon. Got family out your way that we plan to camp with before harvest starts.

 

[MolongMick]

There's plenty of room on place if you want to stay for a night or two, just set yourself up in the yard, got 3.5 Acres

 

[acmackie]

Thanks Mick, but the in laws have a little more space (1500ac) just 30mins up the road, but would be good to meet up sometime.

 

[MolongMick]

Yeah, that's more room than me.
Give us a call when your in the area.

 

[Bank of Dad]

You'll love the 17.56-2.

Good economy too mate.....congrats!

 

[acmackie]

Ok so filled up with fuel, my estimate was a bit out. Turns out I used about 16l/100km. Not as great as I'd like, but then I did push it pretty hard through the hills. Few other notes about the van:
Interior lights are not LED, I'm told the Expanda's probably get them next year.
All ordered extras seem to be in place and working
I've used most things now and had no issues
Bought Eazlift WDH but have not fitted it yet (have the tools at home) it's riding well without but I expect a noticeable improvement. Will report on that once fitted
The Sparrow rooftop heating does the job in the cold, but the bed ends could do with some more insulation, will have to come up with some mod for that, or copy someone else's!

 

[MolongMick]

Sounds like everything is going smoothly.

Enjoy the rest of the journey.

 

[acmackie]

Well finally home (actually got home Sunday but first chance to update). Trip went great and we are loving the van. Final results on the fuel consumption - 15.5L/100km with the van on, I'm sure on highway it will be much better again, but no complaints. Lets see if I can post some photos now.
All hooked up ready to go from the dealer

Setup in Lakes Entrance after our second night in the van

 

[Feldty]

Hi acmackie,

Looks great behind the Audi. They have an good tow capacity too don't they? You seem to be getting fairly similar fuel consumption as I do with my Nav.

Great to hear that all is going well.

Kev,

 

[acmackie]

Hi acmackie,

Looks great behind the Audi. They have an good tow capacity too don't they? You seem to be getting fairly similar fuel consumption as I do with my Nav.

Great to hear that all is going well.

Kev,

Thanks Kev
The tow capacity of the Q7 is listed on the towbar as 3500kg and 300kg ball weight, but the sticker in the book says only 2500kg. Not sure the reasoning, the official specs say it can tow 3500kg. The 3.0 V6 TDI certainly has no issues with the hills.

 

[Moto Moto]

Sounds like a great shake down trip. Good to see the car and van are going well for you

 

[chartrock]

Nice looking setup, mate and nice economy as well.