Pilote P746C 2019

It seems beyond extraordinary that Fiat are still fitting lever type handbrakes rather than an electronic button.  It's yet another reason for us to choose the new Sprinter as our base vehicle.  It has a proper auto box and no old fashioned handbrake to wrench my ageing shoulder.

Hi BB, the Legal Notice is highlighted on the last page of the 52-page 2019 Pilote catalogue; as below:

LEGAL NOTICE:
Official seating classification and Mass in Running Order are calculated as accurately as possible in compliance with European legislation. These take into account
basic and standard equipment with a tolerance of +/- 5%. Mass In Running Order figures include freshwater tanks with a capacity of 20 litres and diesel tanks
90% full, one gas bottle 90% full, but do not include the weight of the driver or other occupants.

Disappointing rather than extraordinary as these base vehicles are really just a white van.  Of course if you want to blinker yourself and go Merc route that is your prerogative but as probably 90% of MH makers choose Fiat there must be a reason and of course the extra savings can be used for some little extras

The reason is cost but you get what you pay for. 

We would prefer a good quality transmission to extras.  Extras add weight.  Yes, Fiat offer an auto of sorts but is in in fact an electronically controlled manual gearbox.  Rolls Royce and Bentley gave up manual transmission in the early 1950's.  I can't understand why the rest of the industry has held on to outdated technology.  Electrification will bring the clutch to an end.

I actaully prefer the semi auto boxes  it is useful on occasions to be able to flick it into manual mode and flick through the gears rather than let the computer decide. My motorhome and toad both have semi auto boxes.

peedee

PD, I’ve yet to meet an auto you can’t do that with. American boxes might behave differently but you can certainly select manual mode with TC, DC, CVT…

I have owned vehicles with fully auto boxes but do not recall the manual functions behaving exactly like the semi auto ones. My wife's Volvo is fully auto, I rarely drive it but will check it out later.

peedee

Ayf, thanks for that.....I did say 'would normally include' the weight of the driver but this is worrying...

a few years ago, included MIRO items were well known in the industry and then later it became acceptable for converters to include (exclude...) what they liked, as long as it was listed somewhere....

this gave carte Blanche to the industry who promptly decided that (for most vans) this would include NO water (rather than the 90% previously....and vans miraculously got (say) an extra 90kg payload....

if we are now saying that the nominal 75kg of the driver is excluded then (even with 20kg included) we now have an extra 'apparent' 145kg of payload which is not usable in the real world...

the worrying thing for me is that salesman won't be highlighting these shortcomings (not that they are forthcoming now) and many a buyer might now be sold an unusable van....

i like pilote vans but that is sneaky and not what the industry should be doing...

poor show.

the new Ducato is being converted now for 2020 season vans and, amongst other things, includes a new 9-speed torque converter gearbox.

i don't know what the handbrake will be like, the exterior of the van itself is very, very much an evolution not a revolution....

incidently, the fly-off handbrake in the Merc was always central between the front seats (may have moved on new model?....) but was totally impractical for swivelling seats without it...

the Ducato handbrake is a bit of a stretch for some (extenders available) but is better placed, out of the way...