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ot many van concepts live to see a quarter of

8th May 2003, Page 26
8th May 2003
Page 26
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Page 26, 8th May 2003 — ot many van concepts live to see a quarter of
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a century unless they really are delivering the goods and, to be fair, today's Iveco Daily City Truck is a completely different beast from the one launched in 1978. The range was updated in 1989, then again seven years later in 1996, before the current version was launched in 1999.

In the past Iveco has tended to keep the Daily for heavyweight panel van markets but its successful dip into the mid-range below 3.5 tonnes has spurred the manufacturer to offer specific engines suited to particular markets. When the Italians launched the two Unijet HPI 2.3-litre engines for the Daily last year these sectors were clearly marked up— urban environment, and urban work combined with distance.

PRODUCT PROFILE

The new Unijet HPIs, effectively the same engines as Fiat's JTD range, replace the directinjection charge-cooled 84hp and to5hp engines, with the Italians continuing to offer the 2.8-litre engine for "heavy loads in urban and motorway, and heavy loads covering distance at high average speeds".

The 94hp 2.3-litre engine tested here may well ring a bell, as we recently tested the more powerful iiohp version fitted to the Fiat Ducato (CM 6-12 March). It is very much a case of same legs but different face, as the Fiat chassis is also shared with the PSA partnership of Citroen and Peugeot. What should sway buyers, given this, is price and personal choice. As well as hiking up the power and torque, service intervals have been increased by a quarter to 4o,000km for oil and filter changes—not bad at all. 1veco has worked hard to improve the chassis and driveline, as well as revamping the interior to give the driver a "soft-feel" experience with reduced noise levels.

According to Iveco, the Daily range now extends to 3,000 variants, but it is basically broken down into three categories—C, S and L. At the heavier end of the Daily scale, the C tag covers 3.5-6,5 tonnes GVW. There are panel van, chassis cab and crew cab versions on offer with six wheelbases, all with dual rear wheels. For middleweight options the operato. needs to reference the S range of vehicle1 which consists purely of 3.5-tonners. Pane vans come with a choice of two wheelbaset and load space up to 17.2m3. Chassis cabt come in three wheelbases and crew cabs ir two.

This brings us nicely along to the L range which deals specifically with the lightweigh end of the market at 3.0 and 3.2 tonnes GVW It is almost a panel-van-only range, with foui different load volumes, but there is one chassis cab option available.

In terms of engine options, the established 2.8-litre diesel is offered for heavyweight and middleweight vans, rated at 125hp for work in urban areas or out of town with the 146hp HPT version reserved for the heavyweights only: and for lighter application there is a choice between the two new 2.3-litre t6-valve turbo-diesels. The i4hp unit is designed to be agile in traffic, good for long journeys, and a bit nippy. The 94hp—the one on test here—is designed for local work, including deliveries, and maintenance vehicles. Its job is to work in an urban environment with a flat torque band that requires as few gear changes at low speeds as possible.

Transmission for the 2.3-litre HPI engine is the ZF five-speed synchromesh overdrive gearbox designed for 27oNm peak torque, the direct-drive ZF six-speeder only being available on the 2.8-litre.

PRODUCTIVITY

Finding comparisons outside of the 2.8 and 3.5-tonne sectors can prove tricky for CM but we will do our best to give the closest we have available. At 3.2 tonnes GVW, the Daily 29Lro returned 31.4mpg around the Kent route on a day when the March sun combined with light pre-Easter holiday traffic and a slight northeasterly wind to provide near ideal driving conditions.

The more powerful Fiat Ducato, which is slightly heavier at 3.3 tonnes GVW, returned pretty much the same figure-31.6mpg. It's worth taking into account that the Ducato was taller, longer and heavier but with an engine more specifically rated to incorporate urban and longer journeys. For tookg more kerbweight, the Ducato has an extra mokg payload advantage over the Daily 29Lio with its 1,220kg payload potential.

Average speed for the two engines was

D identical at 8.ikm/h but the Fiat's stronger engine proved far quicker on both hill climbs. The Daily's M20 hill climb saw the speed drop to 55mph, but the torque kicked in and still lugged the van up and over without dropping a cog. The M20 does provide a bit of a wind tunnel going up the hill unless the wind is south-easterly. Overall though, while the Daily's time was slightly lost on the motorway, it was made up around town.

The price for the basic 29L10 tested here is Li5,170 (ex-VAT) before the optional extras take it up to £17,060 (ex-VAT). That basic price is two grand less than the Ducato we tested but you should take into account the Fiat's spec, which is bigger in every way.

I f you do take the option of the Iveco 29Lio panel van with a 3.om wheelbase and 94hp engine on a three-year deal then the current Cap Commercial Vehicle Monitor figures for residuals price it at 3,55o (ex-VAT).

ON THE ROAD

Those two blips on the hill climbs aside, the urban section and the motorway experience proved very rewarding. The Daily runs along smoothly at 40mph in top gear at the bottom of the torque band, highlighted in green on the dash between 1,800 and 2,800rpm. If you need a little more oomph through town centers you can just drop to direct-drive fourth, which lands in the middle of the torque band. This allows the driver to work effortlessly through the rev range without slowing down or compromising performance.

The flat torque is designed to be so flexible that drivers can "virtually forget to change gear", according to the Italians. Well, we slightly disagree with that—but what it does offer the driver is an engine that is very well suited to the urban environment as opposed to a little engine trying hard to be a big engine. In and around the town, this L000rpm torque band offers plenty of variety for stopstart traffic combined with 30 and 40mph flow.

On the motorway, the 2.9Lro kept pace with fellow traffic at 70mph very well on the level

and on smaller inclines and proved no slouch—we even had to rein the horses back at one point as the van speeded up very gently and quietly.

One of its main strengths for urban work is the manoeuvrability. U-turns especially (done safely of course) are very easy and overall the Daily got closer to turning on a sixpence than anything else we have tested for a long time.

The emergency braking also proved effortless—we found we could pretty much stop on that sixpence too, with the ABS, ABD and EBS braking package certainly earning its keep for the extra £560 on the price tag.

CAB COMFORT

Iveco has revamped the interior to give a "softfeel" dark grey covering on the fascia with a light grey hue for the seating, floor and doors. The seat material has a blue square effect. Grey certainly seems to be manufacturerfriendly, as it's the choice of most commercial vehicle makers these days.

Sitting behind the steering wheel is pretty comfortable for the driver. The seat itself is flexible and raises high enough for longerlegged drivers to get their knees at right angle to the floor. The steering wheel is on the large side and tends to dominate the view onto the dash, but Iveco has built the dash with the allimportant dials in the centre so they're still clearly visible through the top half of the wheel.

The two stalks off the steering column house the lights, window wipers and fog lights, leaving the left of the dash to cater for the hazard lights, the heating system and radio.

The centre dash console is designed as a flat face perpendicular to the floor, rather than sloping backwards towards the windscreen, which feels like it eats up a little of the ergonomic space in the cab. Space in this three-seater cab is also lacking for anyone that has to sit in the middle, where there isn't much leg room. At least the gear stick is positioned between the driver's seat and the passenger seats, so the middle worker along for the ride isn't threatened by the dash-mounted alternative favoured by the Daily's competitors, which would restrict leg room even more.

The door pockets are very spacious and there is a flip-top glove compartment complete with drinks holder. There are no cup holders around the driver's side of the cab and the cigarette lighter is next to the left knee, which can be a little awkward to use—unless you have quit smoking. There is space under the two passenger seats for any bags although it is designed for tools and equipment, hence the polystyrene tray, as well as a small—probably unintentional—gap to the left of the driver's seat next to the handbrake.

SUMMARY

The lowest-rated engine offered by Iveco should only be chosen if you operate in and around a town or city centre, so that it can operate efficiently without getting out of its depth, as it did once or twice on our test route.

Having said that, the Daily's fuel figure stood up well, comparing favourably with its riohp cousin—the Fiat Ducato. The newly revamped cab is still not as advanced as some of its competitors, but is a big step in the right direction. In any case, urban van drivers spend as much time out of the cab as they do in it, so they won't be that worried.

If you are going to opt for this engine, make sure it's what you need. If you feel that somewhere down the line it might be doing different work involving longer journeys out of town then your drivers might be better pleased by the ii4hp version. But keep it in its environment and it's ideally suited.

• by Kevin Swallow

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