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Check any price index book and you'll see the Daily
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has a long history dating back to 1978. Unti11983, there was both an Iveco Daily and a Fiat Daily. Now in its fourth generation, the Daily has been one of the industry's classic makeover projects.
As the candles come out for the 30-year celebrations, it's noticeable how the lifespan of the previous generations narrowed from 12 to 10 years, and then to six, before the current offering pitched up in 2006.
Iveco has set itself an ambitious target of achieving 15% of the UK market, and such is the maturity of this market that anything too long in the tooth drops like a stone.
Iveco has worked hard to keep the Daily in our minds, and its improvement from the second generation to the third was duly noted.
From the start, the focus was as much on the 3.5-tonne as the 4.0-tonne sector. Over the course of time, Daily has come down in weight to 2.8t, and other manufacturers have matched Iveco's offerings further up the weight categories.
Daily's leap into the fourth generation, seen here in the guise of KE56 AKO, has also been heralded by commentators, but its in a tough sector with some tough competitors.
No manufacturer has emerged from the shadow of Ford and its Transit, but it's open season with the Germans, the French, and the Russian-financed British-built I_DV. Plus, looming large on the horizon, is a growing selection of Asianbuilt product. Manufacturing expertise and build quality are expected, so these days, price, backup, aftermarket and residual values dictate most buying decisions.
KE56 AKO is a 35812 panel van with the secondgeneration 2.3-litre, four-cylinder common-rail engine and a five-speed manual transmission, on the lighter-duty `S' chassis.
The Daily was registered on 1 December 2006 and has clocked 14,650 miles. From new, it has a three-year/100,000mile warranty, so the next owner will have at least a year to play with.
Iveco is asking £11,750 (ex-VAT) for KE56 AKO, which falls in between CAP'S retail and clean equivalent prices. At 20,000km, as close to 14,650 miles as we'll get, retail is £12,095, whereas clean is £10,100.
Productivity
Heading into the test, we assessed KE56 AKO's specification and wondered whether the five-speed manual overdrive transmission could deliver on A-roads and motorways. As it turned out, the A-roads were where it excelled, delivering 32.2mpg.
On the motorway, fuel economy dropped to 29.3mpg. which combined to deliver an overall result of 31.1mpg. Average speed was 73.6km/h with a payload of 1,345kg. Conditions for the test, which was completed in one day, were excellent with no dominating headwinds to complain of.
On the road
When we rolled over the finishing line, our first thought was how easy the driving experience had been.
The steering was light and responsive. and there were no obvious indications of oversteer — which can make a smaller-wheelbase van feel like a go-kart and rather unstable when cornering.
The experience isn't enough to tempt us back into van driving, but considering its standard design — with no electric windows or mirrors — the stress levels, mainl!,, created by errant car drivers,were acceptable.
Negotiating the motorway at 70mph was probably the toughest part. The speed is a bit of halfway house between the slower, heavy commercial traffic and flat-out speed merchants in cars.
We found ourselves regularly boxed in, running into culde-sacs created by faster traffic and the trucks, or trying to get out of the way of various BMWs unwilling to use their brakes when we were passing in the third lane.
For test purposes. we try to keep to the national speed limit, but it is safety first and foremost, so we found ourselves continually checking our speed to allow for traffic conditions and several drivers unwilling to move out of the comfort of the middle lane.
Despite this, given KE56 AKO's age and relatively low mileage, we didn't expect to find any creases in the suit. The van held 70mph — when traffic allowed — comfortably and with the overdrive gearbox keeping the revs down, we didn't feel we needed a sixth gear for cruising.
On the A-roads, the overdrive box excelled, handling the changes in terrain well in top. Between 50mph and 60mph, its gearing sits perfectly at the bottom end of the rev counter. The engine is happy to dig in before requiring a change when the going gets tough.
On the short, sharp Dinmore Hill climb, fourth gear coped as our speed dropped to 42mph before recovering as we neared the summit.
At certain times, a gap between third and fourth occurred. As we negotiated the longer Dolfor Hill climb out of Newtown, the drop to third was more to do with the tight corners than steep terrain.
It would have been possible to come out of the hairpin bends in fourth, but getting back up to speed would have felt like we were pulling ourselves out of treacle, 'Third acts as a quick conduit to regaining momentum and pushing on.
The angle of the cab is fairly aerodynamic, like a door wedge from the bumper to the top of the roof, but it does have one Achilles heel: the nearside mirror. Its vertical position from the front of the A-frame means the top half is obstructed. You can use the broad, convex blind spot mirror for forward manoeuvring, hut if you are doing something tight and reversing into the blind side then it can present a problem.
Cab comfort
Not only is the cab fitted with an alarm system, but considering its two years' use it is also clean. The blue seats have kept their colour, and the dash is blemish free, but its design does seem to prematurely age the vehicle.
The design borders on the car-like, without the car-like technology to back it up. Vans are a means to an end, and, as a result, most operators treat them as such.
Those operators who choose to sell their vans on after two or three years, and don't run them into the ground, try to give them some added appeal. Not the case here.
The non-adjustable steering wheel is fine if you are tall and like the seat up and back to cater for long legs, otherwise it might hinder your driving style and enjoyment. •