ROADTEST TURBO DAILY 45 10
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other high-revving DI diesel engines must be judged against it.
We feel that if the engineers at Ford and Perkins had been able to produce such fine results from their respective DI diesel engines, the Ford Transit would have twice its current market share, with the Freight Rover Sherpa 200-series a close second, and Austin Rover would not be planning the closure of the Cowley South factory that produces the DI dieselengined Maestro van.
In the bulky HiCube Turbo Daily the Sofim's performance is understandably blunted, but it is still surprising just how quickly the van can be driven along Aroads. Acceleration out of corners is good and, unlike a lot of its competitors, overtaking is a practical proposition.
Mid-range acceleration is excellent, and the unit sings its way up to and beyond the 3,800rpm rev limit. The only other engine in its class to reach this standard, albeit with a worse fuel consumption, is Volkswagen's 75kW (102hp) 2.4-litre turbocharged IDI diesel that powers the LT range. When this unit is installed in the LT vans, however, the single rear wheels of some models tend to make starting off unladen rather like the opening credits of the great American road movie.
The Daily's twin rear wheels and the better balanced power curve of the Sofim diesel mean that the power is used to drive the Italian van, rather than spin the rear wheels, a la Volkswagen.
• FUEL CONSUMPTION
With its fuel consumption of 12.9 litres/ 1001cm (21.9mpg) round our Welsh route, the Turbo Daily certainly has better economy than its three closest competitors which we have tested. Best of these was the Renault S46-90, which gave 12.96 litres/1001= (21.8mpg). Worst of the four was the Mercedes 407D panel van (CM 9-15 June), which could only manage 14.6 litres/100Iun (19.3mpg).
Taking the Iveco Ford range as a whole, the vehicles that bracket the Turbo Daily are the Transit 190 diesel and the Turbo Zeta panel van. There are no surprises with the fuel consumptions of either vehicle: the 3.5-tonne GVW Transit gave 11.4 litres/100Icm (24.8mpg) round our Kent light van route, and the 6.7tonne GVW Turbo Zeta gave 15.1 litres/ 1001cm (18.7mpg) round the Welsh route.
• HANDLING
Iveco's use of independent front suspension on the Turbo Daily, with torsion bar springing and telescopic dampers, means that the handling characteristics have a sound base. The weak link, as with all commercial vehicles in this weight category, is the live-axle rear suspension.
The Daily's laden ride is a little firm, but comfortable: the front suspension takes smaller potholes in its stride, without the bump-steer effects of many of its contemporaries. Cornering is fairly safe, and the vehicle reverts to a sort of wallowing understeer as the front tyres intermittently scrub off speed. If the suspension had better damping when fully laden our criticisms would be redundant, but we suspect that the system is set up to offer a compromise between laden and unladen handling. Perhaps more progressive damping would be the answer.
In an attempt to tie down the rear axle further than the locating U-bolts, Iveco Ford has fitted an anti-roll bar, which does keep the van upright when cornering, and reduces the tramp one would normally associate with a powerful engine and a live rear axle.
Although the front brakes locked up a little early in our brake tests, the van stopped in a straight line without any steering judder. The high pedal pressures needed belie the brakes' vacuum assistance, however, and we had to climb out of the standard lsringhausen seat to get the required pressure for the brake tests.
• INTERIOR
All the dashboard instruments bear the stamp of Veg,lia Borletti, although in this case the use of the famous Italian instruments is rather meagre, being confined to a temperature and fuel gauge, a rev counter, and a Kienzle tachograph that also bears the legend Veglia and Iveco. In fact the tachograph proved to be over 14% inaccurate, despite its distinguished parentage, although the manufacturer assures us that the tachographs are all checked before being sold.
The rest of the instrumentation comprises idiot lights at the top of the dash. There are some old-fashioned rocker switches to the right of the fascia; the rest of the controls are on steering column stalks.
Calling the slider switches to the right of the driver "heater controls" is a bit of a misnomer, as whatever position they are in, little heat is directed at the driver. Direct-injection diesel engines are often so efficient that there is little spare heat in the cooling system to provide for effective cab heating, but Italian vehicle ventilation is notoriously bad as well.
As if to make up for the poor heater, Iveco has included quarter-light ventilators on the passenger windows. They have been re-appearing on a number of new vehicles recently; their demise was blamed on cost of production, propensity to rust, and convenience as an entry point for thieves. Only the English seem to have missed these little windows, and our complaints have been met with pointed comments from European manufacturers about the "unnatural" English fascination with fresh air in our houses, hotels and vehicles. It is nice to see their retention on the Daily, as they provide muchneeded ventilation, with little wind noise.
No matter how we positioned the comfortable Isringhausen seat, one set of controls would always remain slightly out of reach. Driving with the feet comfortably against the pedals left the arms flailing around octopus-like to get a purchase on the steering wheel.
This driving position is perfect for resting the arm, macho style, on the window sill, and manfully flicking cigarette ash into the eyes of passing cyclists, but is not much good for actually steering the van. With the arms slightly bent for a comfortable grip on the steering wheel, the driver's legs are folded up like Angle-Poise lamps in and around the pedals.
Fortunately the gearchange and steering are light and easy to use, but this does little to relieve the poor control positions and the resultant interruption to the do Ice vita. We would also like to see a delay position on the windscreen wipers, especially for English "summer" weather.
• SUMMARY
There are not many vehicles offered in panel-van form at this end of the market, where tachographs have to be used but HGV licences are not needed.
Of the vehicles we have tested (and have presented in our comparison charts) the Iveco Ford is the most economical and had the fastest journey time. It also has the largest load volume, but costs more than any of the others by over £1,000.
The Mercedes 407D and the Volkswagen both have a larger payload than the Turbo Daily.
It is difficult to offer exact comparisons of the tested vehicles as they are available with a wide variety of roof and wheelbase options, but it is clear that the Turbo Daily's diesel engine gives it a major lead over any of its competitors.
Quiet, economical and powerful, the Sofim diesel gives an ordinary van great attraction for buyers planning to run with full loads at motorway speeds. The engine's weight detracts from the Daily's payload somewhat, but it more than makes up for this when it is compared with archaic power units.
LI by Andrew English