New Wheels

Well… this has changed the van far more than I expected.

After plenty of looking, measuring, comparing and the inevitable “will they actually look right once they’re on?” moment, Vanilla is now sitting on 17-inch Leighton LV4s in Champagne Gold, wrapped in 235/65 R17 General Grabber AT3s.

And I absolutely love the result. 🧡

The old 20-inch setup gave Vanilla a very road-focused look, but this is completely different. The smaller wheel and much bigger tyre sidewall have given her a far more purposeful stance. She looks less like a Transporter wearing nice alloys and much more like a little expedition camper that’s ready to disappear up a Norwegian mountain road.

The Champagne Gold was definitely the right choice too. Against the Indium Grey paint it’s subtle rather than shouty, but there’s enough contrast to make the wheels stand out. Then the little orange details around Vanilla, including those orange valve caps, pull the whole thing together.

The General Grabber AT3s look fantastic. Proper chunky tread, big shoulders and enough rubber around the wheel to finally make the arches look properly filled. From the side profile especially, I think the proportions are miles better. The tyre is now part of the look rather than simply something wrapped around an alloy.

There’s also something quite satisfying about fitting a wheel and tyre combination that actually suits what Vanilla has become.

She isn’t just a van I drive around polishing.

She’s crossed Europe. She’s camped off-grid. She’s carried bikes, drones, awnings, Jackery power stations and probably enough electrical equipment to make a small branch of Currys nervous. 😂

The upgrades over the last couple of years have gradually pushed her towards being a proper little adventure machine, and these wheels feel like the missing piece underneath it all.

You can really see how much tyre there is now, how nicely the wheels sit in the arches and how the bronze-gold tone works with the grey bodywork.

Then you get close to the front tyre and it’s a different story entirely.

GRABBER AT3.

Great big blocks of tread staring back at you.

They look ready for wet campsites, gravel tracks, muddy fields and the sort of Scandinavian roads that have been occupying a suspicious amount of space in my head lately. 🇳🇴😎

I’m also really pleased I resisted the temptation to just fit another set of big alloys. The 17s give Vanilla something the 20s never quite had: chunkiness.

More tyre. More camper. More expedition. Less show van.

And that’s exactly where I wanted her to go.

There are still little jobs to finish, including those neon orange brake calipers, which should look superb hiding behind the Champagne Gold spokes. But even before that happens, I think this might be one of my favourite visual changes I’ve made to Vanilla.

Solar on the roof. ☀️ Adventure tyres underneath. 🛞 Orange details everywhere. 🧡 Norway waiting in the distance. 🇳🇴

Vanilla 2026 is starting to look exactly how I always imagined her.

17” LEIGHTON LV4 • CHAMPAGNE GOLD • GENERAL GRABBER AT3 • 235/65 R17

Not ruined.