Driving the van Part One

Anyway, on the way home, I realized there are more pressing matters about the van:

1) It has no power steering
Yeah. This van, or rather, this particular model, has no power steering. Reminds me of my Dad’s 1965 Volvo. If you had seen me in 1995, you would be asking about my biceps too. Driving it is a nightmare. Although it has great turning capabilities, the absence of power steering sort of takes the fun out of everything. So, you can see me pushing and pulling the steering like a bus driver. Oh yeah, the steering is huge.

2) Suspension
Have you ever sat on the edge of a diving board and suddenly your friend starts to jump up and down? That is the feeling I got when I go over humps. Any hump higher than three inches is just asking for it. And when you come down, so are everything else on the dashboard. I must always remember to make sure the front wheels (at 39psi) are always full of air or it will be very hard to control the van.

3) It’s a thirsty bugger
My usual RM30 doesn’t even get me half a tank. And on that day, it was slightly higher because the previous owner put in about RM20. And guess how far it got me? Yep, about 220 Kilometres. But if I was to test it with just pure RM30, I thnk the mileage is worse than my Satria. I am guessing about 180Km or thereabouts.

[Update: 10092007] I got stuck in the Highway from Shah Alam to Kepong and guess what? The van drank Rm15 worth of petrol already. Haih. Die lor. OK, so it hates jams.

4) Where is the Engine?
OK, so I did not read the manual. I know its somewhere under the seat because I can hear it farting outside and shaking below me. I just want to be prepared in case it explodes or something. At least there is a fire extinguisher inside. And not only that, it seemed to be underpowered. It has enough toque to get me there but not enough to overtake a lorry even at 80Kmh. So, I’ll be driving very slowly all the time, which brings me to….

5) Cassette player
What the fuck am I going to do with just a cassette player in there? Luckily, I have the portable FM MP3 player. I could go nuts listening to Hitz.fm or those weirdos called Serena See and Petrol or something. And not only that, you’d have to literally bend to the far end just to reach the sensitive controls. It is sensitive because if you twist it just a smidgen, it would be too bloody loud. And let me tell you this, its not that easy when you’re driving the van.

6) Seatbelts
There are no seatbelts other than for the driver and the passenger in front. So, I guess that is what the length of rope on floor is for…….

7) Being horny
And do not try to use the horn. I think its located just in front of your legs because everytime I used it, its as if another car was horning right back at me. During the first test, I got a shock. I mean, on a normal car where the horn is located right in front and separated by a firewall, the sound is much muted.

So, here I am stuck with the van for I don’t know how long but it will be a blessing for me come end of this year when we move back to Bangsar.

So here it is, a Nissan Vanette. Something I wanted to try
years ago and finally, I got the chance. But I am not going
to push it with tractors and motorbikes yet.

As you can see, there is not much space for my legs
(until I realised there was a stuck water bottle)

And apart from my trusty toolbox (right), there were a lot
of "junk" which my Boss OK'ed for me to get rid of

OK, so these are my own personal junk, except for that
engine oil. The small tupperware are my projects that I
can work on when I am free on the road or just resting

So, today is the second day. And I still could not accept the fact that I stepped on the steering column instead of the brakes. After examining the van closely, I noticed that the previous owner did not appreciate it. It has not been washed, nor the floors cleaned. Moreover, there were paint on the seats and also, a lot of junk at the back.

Driving the van is a bit weird. When it comes to driving a car, you will realize that the engine is in front of you and so, the distribution of weight is different. Not only that, you’re literally sitting on top of the tyres. And when you turn, you notice that you “turn” with the van as well. Which sometimes, is a bit scary when going into corners or tight places. And because the van is high and has a lot of blind spots, I tend to rely more on mirrors and less on the reverse sensors. I think I should buy a set of those round fish-eye mirrors as the wheel reversed into our clothes hanging thingamajic.

Oh, and one more thing. When it comes to underground basement parking or where there are “tunnels”, you tend to feel a little but claustrophobic as if you’re going to scrape the roof. You will notice that because the radio antenna keeps hitting it. But one good thing is that you can retract the antenna by just pulling your right hand to the back and pushing it down.



[UPDATE: 08092007]
After cleaning it last night, it still has that grey watermark streaks which is very hard to get rid of. I could get it removed professionally (but that comes out from my own pocket) but I do not know where to go to.