Whenever we think of vans, huge power figures are the last thing that comes to mind, vans are designed to be practical load carriers, not flame-spitting monsters.
But thinking in more detail, performance vans make a lot of sense, they are designed to be robust and take a lot of punishment they are also a lot roomier than normal tuner vehicles. Take any commercial van, for example, it has acres of space begging for a bigger more powerful engine to be fitted.
Next time you pull up alongside a van at the lights, just remember not every van is the same. Some produce sick amounts of power.
10 Ford Transit Supervan 3 - The World's Fastest Delivery Van
There can be no question about it, the fastest vehicle in the world ever is a white Transit van. No matter what you drive there is always one in the rearview mirror. A more realistic explanation being there are just so many on the roads, Ford claiming 8 million have been built since 1965, it should come as no surprise there are a few "fast" ones out there.
As its name suggests there have been three Transit-based Supervans, the last version completed in 1995 with its mid-mounted Cosworth 3.5-liter HB Formula 1 engine churning out a mere 650hp. Successive refurbishment programs gradually tamed the wildest Transit, its F1 engine making way for a smaller less intimidating Cosworth V6.
9 Volkswagen Micro-Bus - Porsche Power
Former 60s hippy favorite, Volkswagen's bus has a huge following, early models are highly sought after by collectors for restoration projects, this one, however, is a little bit different. Rebuilt around a hybrid 1962 T1/T3 chassis combination riding on modern Bilstein height-adjustable struts may seem like overkill for an old camper van but firing up the engine explains the requirement.
In place of the normal raspy air-cooled exhaust note the roar of a twin-turbocharged flat-six engine from a 993 generation Porsche 911, with 570hp at its disposal this bus can really shift.
8 RenaultSport Espace F1 - Who Says Renault Cannot Build A Fast Car
Long before the dominance of Mercedes, British based Williams Formula 1 were serious players on the grid, claiming titles with their engine partner Renault. The resulting Espace F1 was a celebration of their success. This really was a modified road-going Espace minivan, carbon-fiber replacing the production car's fiberglass bodywork for added strength.
The Espace's F1 power unit coming from the FW14 racing car takes pride of place in the rear of the car, a naturally aspired 820hp 3.5-liter V10 engine and racing transmission made this the fastest minivan, topping out at 194mph.
7 Type 147 Fridlon - The World's Fastest Mail Van
Volkswagen's type 147 or Fridolin to most enthusiasts were produced between 1964-74 with most of the 8139 cars going on to serve with the German post office. Perfectly suited for its intended purpose, the Fridolin was based extensively on the Karman Ghia platform, also using the roadster's air-cooled 1.2-liter engines producing 34hp.
Volkswagen attracts a lot of attention from tuners but rarely does the Type 147 undergo such a dramatic transformation. Swapping out the original air-cooled engine in favor of a W12 6-liter engine lifted from VW's Touareg producing 450hp. The engine is hidden under the rear floor, the only space it would fit.
6 Ford Transit - Unofficial Nürburgring Record Holder
Ford's Transit is an icon, the original design based on car engines and chassis made it one of the fastest vehicles on the road in the 1960s easily outpacing regular sedans. Obviously, it was never intended to be a performance vehicle but that hasn't stopped successive models from receiving a bit more power.
Taking on the fearsome Nürburgring in a modified transit to attain the lap record in a van is not a simple challenge, this transit requiring a full re-build and custom engine installation. Ford's EcoBoost engine forming the basis of the attempt received special attention from Radical Performance Engines raising peak power to 692hp, setting an unofficial record of 9 minutes 28 seconds.
5 Toyota Hi-Ace GT-R - JDM Van
On paper at least every domestic car produced in Japan is limited to 276hp, an agreement among carmakers to avoid a horsepower war, luckily this doesn't apply to aftermarket tuners otherwise this Hi-Ace GT-R wouldn't exist.
To be honest, no gearhead finds minivans exciting, they are built for transporting families from A-to-B with minimum fuss, but what if there was room for a more potent engine under the hood. One creative power junkie swapped out his Hi-Ace's 2-liter engine and replaced it with the engine from Nissan's GT-R, now previously boring commuter runs taking a lot less time with 600hp under his right foot.
4 GMC Savana 2500 - Indiana "Muscle" Van
GMC's Savana makes an odd choice for a performance van, normally driven by those on family Staycations or used as a tourist shuttle. Modified by a company calling themselves Indiana Muscle Car gives the game away, this is no ordinary Savana this one has a bit more power under its hood.
Backing up its maker's claims of being the world's most powerful van, this Savana packs a twin-turbocharged 6.9-liter V8 engine pumping out an incredible 1063hp.
3 Bisimoto Odyssey - Minivans Have Never Been So Fun
We can safely say that Honda's marketing team hadn't experienced Bisimoto Engineering's version of the "fun family minivan", the standard Odyssey left desperately lacking in the fun stakes. Running the standard car's 3.5-liter V6 with forged pistons and a turbocharger turns the humble minivan into a 600hp fire-breathing monster, but this is only the start of things to come.
Switching to E85 fuel and upping the boost unleashes the full 1029hp, using clever software to adjust boost levels depending on the gear ratio and speed should help keep things in order.
2 Volkswagen Caddy R360 - Custom VW Van GTi
We are not entirely sure this Caddy R360 still counts as a van, most of its rear load space playing host to the custom air-ride suspension set-up limiting its load-lugging ability. Custom-built for its owner, this Caddy R360 started life as a standard diesel-powered commercial vehicle, most of which has been modified or replaced completely.
Volkswagen doesn't build GTi vans, if it did then it would probably be very similar to the R360 conversion. Featuring a VW Golf Mk5 GTi engine wearing a custom intake manifold, air intake, and titanium exhaust helping to produce 360hp.
1 Mercedes-AMG R63 - Rare Minivan
Never heard of the AMG R63 minivan? Well, that shouldn't come as a surprise AMG only produced 200 of these 503hp minivans before pulling the plug due to poor sales. Under normal circumstances, a minivan with 503hp should be plenty powerful enough, but there is always one owner that "needs" more.
One such owner with $63,000 in spare change added a stage 2 Weistec Engineering supercharger kit to the 6.2-liter engine, adding another 200hp in the process.