At higher speeds, in third or fourth gear, there’s decent in-gear acceleration, but fifth and sixth cogs are best left for highway duties only. The shift action itself is quite slinky, and likewise the clutch has a user-friendly amount of weight to it.
There’s no shifting required in the top-spec 119BlueTEC, with the 2.2-litre four-cylinder engine paired exclusively to a seven-speed automatic gearbox with paddleshifters.
It, along with the 116BlueTEC and 114BlueTEC models that bridge the gulf to the 111CDI, are rear-wheel drive, and there’s certainly a lot more pep in the 119 model with its 140kW of power and 440Nm of torque.
There’s a hint of lag down low, but the engine’s response is brisk from about 1500rpm, and in greasy conditions you’ll see the traction control signal light up on the dash, such is the torque on offer.
The seven-speed automatic was hard to fault, with smooth, decisive shifts under both light and heavy throttle application.
Both vans were unladen for our test loop, which is somewhat disappointing as it would have been great to see what the 111CDI feels like with a load on board (it’s the one with the highest payload of the entire Vito range, at 1285 kilograms).
That said, both vans coped very well without any ballast in the rear, with a quality ride over some of Sydney’s worst arterial roads. The steering of the Vito impressed, too â€" it is adequately responsive at high speed and light and easy to use when parking or performing u-turns.
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