Swamper vs Sport

[TheWandering]

Hi again
I’m wondering which way to go on my new T6 4 motion.
Most of the time will be on smooth roads but I have a genuine need for some steep, slippery, wet and slightly off road use.
Go Swamper (noisy ride?), dropped suspension (need air for those occasions off road), or standard ride height and compromise with all weather tyres, body kit but not too low…
I like all the above looks - can’t decide.
Thanks for any advice on prod and cons of each.

 

[DaveD]

Hi again
I’m wondering which way to go on my new T6 4 motion.
Most of the time will be on smooth roads but I have a genuine need for some steep, slippery, wet and slightly off road use.
Go Swamper (noisy ride?), dropped suspension (need air for those occasions off road), or standard ride height and compromise with all weather tyres, body kit but not too low…
I like all the above looks - can’t decide.
Thanks for any advice on prod and cons of each.

I don't think the swamper style has to result in excessive tyre noise, several posts on this forum suggest that some AT tyres can be reasonably quiet;

General grabber any better than Goodrich? Pretty disappointed with bf Goodrich

From Blackcircles for BF General Grabber AT3: all 72dB, low ratings in rain and fuel economy. Whatever your preference or beliefs these are the ratings. Decent comparison of some all season tyres with a summer tyre and general grabber AT3 here...

www.t6forum.com

 

[Insert Coin]

Mine is low and on 20’s, I’d seriously be tempted to go for a swamper next time as pot holes, speed bumps and tree roots are prevalent where I live.

Once out on dual carriageways and motorways the lowered vans drive ok, but round town mine can be annoying.

 

[Salty Spuds]

Build the van to do the job you need it to do, the looks will come naturally.

 

[Iandg]

Hi mine is on 20in wheels and eibach coilovers (from vw) dropped 45mm. Backing up whhat others saying - ride is ok on smooth A roads but get into town and you really notice every pothole and speedbump. I go off road a bit too, its like a bucking bronco! Im about to put a call in to crs to see if it can be improved overwise I'm going to look at going the swamper route. Id take a smoother ride over everything else...

 

[Salty Spuds]

This is purely my personal opinion.. why sacrifice handling & comfort for looks? Rather than putting All Terrain tyres on, why not put some good All Season/cross climates on? How often, if ever do you need the all terrain capabilities of something like Grabbers? I don’t get the whole Sport vs Swamper thing, why must a van have to fall into either stereotype? At the end of the day, vans are workhorses, they are to do a job, be it a work van or camper. Build the van to do the job.
I’ll get me coat…..

 

[t0mb0]

This is purely my personal opinion.. why sacrifice handling & comfort for looks? Rather than putting All Terrain tyres on, why not put some good All Season/cross climates on? How often, if ever do you need the all terrain capabilities of something like Grabbers? I don’t get the whole Sport vs Swamper thing, why must a van have to fall into either stereotype? At the end of the day, vans are workhorses, they are to do a job, be it a work van or camper. Build the van to do the job.
I’ll get me coat…..

Totally agree, I find the whole decision between two entirely opposite choices based on fashion rather than function incomprehensible. Plus, as you say, modern all season tyres are really bloody good and cover everything most people are likely to do.

 

[Iandg]

I definitely agree, build the van for the right job, but it is nice to have something ypu like the look of too. One thing i will not make the mistake of (again!) is putting style over function. 20in wheels and low suspension is a compromise too far for my numb backside!

 

[tonybb66]

Going to get my 2019 T28 camper conversion lowered and change the wheels very soon, its tilting back and over to one side (conversion was a big financial hit so had to wait ) and was always thinking about the usual 19/20's route but then saw THQ lowered swamper (urban swamper?), fancy the new Navis wheels as shown by THQ, then someone recommended Pirelli Scorp AT+ tyres instead of Grabbers, now someone recs All season/Cross Climates. I'll be mainly camping/festival going in it from now with occasional urban use as its been used as a work van, NOT ANYMORE, getting a small work van so decisions decisions

 

[Marty G]

Hi again
I’m wondering which way to go on my new T6 4 motion.
Most of the time will be on smooth roads but I have a genuine need for some steep, slippery, wet and slightly off road use.
Go Swamper (noisy ride?), dropped suspension (need air for those occasions off road), or standard ride height and compromise with all weather tyres, body kit but not too low…
I like all the above looks - can’t decide.
Thanks for any advice on prod and cons of each.

Got the Swamper wheels and they ain’t noisy at all

 

[WinFreak]

Hi again
I’m wondering which way to go on my new T6 4 motion.
Most of the time will be on smooth roads but I have a genuine need for some steep, slippery, wet and slightly off road use.
Go Swamper (noisy ride?), dropped suspension (need air for those occasions off road), or standard ride height and compromise with all weather tyres, body kit but not too low…
I like all the above looks - can’t decide.
Thanks for any advice on prod and cons of each.

I think you have to be careful installing air to raise the van up to do off road stuff, when it’s up high the suspension is full of air and therefore rock hard which isn’t what you want when off roading

 

[Skyliner33]

I think you have to be careful installing air to raise the van up to do off road stuff, when it’s up high the suspension is full of air and therefore rock hard which isn’t what you want when off roading

I'm not sure this is true. The weight of the van does not change and therefore the air pressure needed to support that weight will be the same.

 

[WinFreak]

That’s what I assumed too but I’ve seen a few YouTube vids where they mentioned it.

TransporterHQ was one of them and i figured he knows his stuff!

 

[bobbybasic]

Mine is low and on 20’s, I’d seriously be tempted to go for a swamper next time as pot holes, speed bumps and tree roots are prevalent where I live.

Once out on dual carriageways and motorways the lowered vans drive ok, but round town mine can be annoying.

#realtalk

 

[JonriceT6]

I agree, I love the swamper look but I have no need for it, I won’t be going off road and don’t have 4motion! I do have lowered 20” wheels which I love the look of but the ride is very harsh on bumpy road,
I was going to get some coilovers from @CRS Performance but will this make much difference to the ride if still on 20s? Or would I need air ride? Or Domingo back to the normal 17/18” wheels and hope for a better ride , but not enjoy the look.

 

[CRS Performance]

I agree, I love the swamper look but I have no need for it, I won’t be going off road and don’t have 4motion! I do have lowered 20” wheels which I love the look of but the ride is very harsh on bumpy road,
I was going to get some coilovers from @CRS Performance but will this make much difference to the ride if still on 20s? Or would I need air ride? Or Domingo back to the normal 17/18” wheels and hope for a better ride , but not enjoy the look.

Whether you go Coil over or sport kit the ride is massively improved , please dont worry about that even with 20 inch wheels its great .
However ! What makes you think AIR will be better , it has to be the most misunderstood kit you can fit ?
Firstly with air the ride quality still comes from a shock and to keep the cost of Air kits down the manufacturers use cheap or standard shocks ,. cant make the ride better obviously . If you replace a solid wire spring with an air bag and put enough pressure needed to hold the weight of the van at the same height the spring does it will mean they will be as hard as each other ??? ,
Also with a coil over kit you can drive the van lowered and it looks great and drives great , But with air the lower you set the ride height the worse the ride gets as the airbag gets softer and suspension bottoms out .

 

[JonriceT6]

Whether you go Coil over or sport kit the ride is massively improved , please dont worry about that even with 20 inch wheels its great .
However ! What makes you think AIR will be better , it has to be the most misunderstood kit you can fit ?
Firstly with air the ride quality still comes from a shock and to keep the cost of Air kits down the manufacturers use cheap or standard shocks ,. cant make the ride better obviously . If you replace a solid wire spring with an air bag and put enough pressure needed to hold the weight of the van at the same height the spring does it will mean they will be as hard as each other ??? ,
Also with a coil over kit you can drive the van lowered and it looks great and drives great , But with air the lower you set the ride height the worse the ride gets as the airbag gets softer and suspension bottoms out .

Great, might have a look at coilovers. Not sure what the difference is with sport kit?
I only mentioned air ride as I had it on a previous 4x4 and it was immense. Haha

 

[CRS Performance]

Great, might have a look at coilovers. Not sure what the difference is with sport kit?
I only mentioned air ride as I had it on a previous 4x4 and it was immense. Haha

There is of course Many vehicles factory fitted with Air and it works fine. We used to add Air to the rear of 1 toner pick ups to improve load carrying capacity. And not affect unloaded comfort. It’s the air systems for transporters that seem woefully lacking.

 

[Johnno]

I love my van on 20‘s lowered but racing enduro bikes getting to the locations gets a bit annoying as I’m doing 2mph over the single track rocky roads.

 

[MarkHob]

I've gone hybrid; mix of sportvan/swamper body kit with swamper wheels at standard height. Two of my mates have sportvans with 20 inch and although I like the look I couldn't get on with the ride so prefer the idea of taller sidewalls. Also like to be different.