Volkswagen Transporter (T4)
| Volkswagen Transporter (T4) | |
|---|---|
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|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer |
Volkswagen (1990-1995) Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (1995-2003) |
| Also called | Volkswagen Eurovan (North America) Volkswagen Caravelle |
| Production | 1990–2003 |
| Assembly |
Hannover, Germany Poznań, Poland Jakarta, Indonesia (Garuda Mataram Motor) Taoyuan, Taiwan Shah Alam, Malaysia |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Light commercial vehicle (M) |
| Body style | 4-door van 5-door van 6-door van 2-door pickup platform 3-door pickup platform 4-door pickup platform 4-door campervan |
| Layout | Transverse front engine, front-wheel drive or four-wheel-drive |
| Platform | Volkswagen Group T4 platform |
| Powertrain | |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual 4-speed automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2,920 mm (115.0 in) (swb) 3,320 mm (130.7 in) (lwb) |
| Length | 4,707 mm (185.3 in) (swb) 5,107 mm (201.1 in) (lwb) |
| Width | 1,840 mm (72.4 in) |
| Height | 1,940 mm (76.4 in) (normal roof) 2,430 mm (95.7 in) (high roof) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Volkswagen Type 2 (T3) |
| Successor | Volkswagen Transporter (T5) |
The Volkswagen Transporter (T4), marketed in North America as the Volkswagen Eurovan, is a van produced by the German manufacturer Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles between 1990 and 2003, succeeding the Volkswagen Type 2 (T3) and superseded by the Volkswagen Transporter (T5).
Introduced in 1990, the T4 was the first Volkswagen van to have a front-mounted, water-cooled engine. Prompted by the success of similar moves with their passenger cars, Volkswagen had toyed in the late 1970s with the idea of replacing their air-cooled, rear-engined T2 vans with a front-engined, water-cooled design. The reasons for deciding in 1980 to instead introduce a new rear-engined T3 are unclear. Thus, the introduction of a front-engined layout was delayed until the arrival of the T4. After a run of nearly 14 years, T4 production ceased in 2003, making it second only to the T1 for length of production in its home market.
Part of the success of the T4 was its versatility. It was available in many forms and sizes as standard and formed the basis of many specialist vehicles, from buses to campervans to ambulances.
Two standard wheelbases were available; "short" (2920mm) and "long" (3320mm).
Panel vans were available with two different roof heights; standard (1940mm) and high-top (2430mm). High-tops were only manufactured on the LWB chassis, although campervan conversions often have pop-top or (usually fibreglass) high-tops added to both SWB and LWB chassis.
Vans have either a single, roof-hinged "tailgate" or two "barn" doors at the rear and either a single (passenger side) or twin (both sides) sliding doors.
There was one major facelift to the T4, in 1996, when a re-shaped, longer front end was introduced. This was needed to fit the six-cylinder VR6 engine into the T4's engine bay. Initially, only Caravelles and Multivans were available with the longer nose, since these were the only models available with the VR6 engine.
The commercial variants continued to be produced with the shorter nose until 1999. However, campers and other specialist vehicles produced between 1994 and 1999 may have either the short or the long nose, depending on which model was used as the base vehicle. In keeping with the Type 2's naming convention, the short and long-nose versions are also informally known as T4a and T4b, respectively.
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Wikipedia