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Beneath the streamlined exterior of Iveco Ford's TurboDaily 40.10W 4x4

27th June 1991, Page 31
27th June 1991
Page 31
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Page 31, 27th June 1991 — Beneath the streamlined exterior of Iveco Ford's TurboDaily 40.10W 4x4
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beats the heart of Iveco's 1.5-tonne army truck. In van or tipper form, it roughs it with the best of them.

• For most people, circumnavigating the M25 on a Friday afternoon is enough of a challenge for man and machine. But there will always be some whose livelihoods depend on going off the beaten track — and making it back on again afterwards.

To boldly go where no van has gone before demands specialised machinery, and that demand has been met by a breed of vehicle whose job is to make the improbable possible at a reasonable cost.

Typically, trucks of this sort exploit the need of the military to remain mobile in unfavourable conditions, and more particularly the ability of armies to pay for the privilege. This week's test vehicles are no exception.

The Iveco Ford TurboDaily 40.10W 4x4 shares its major driveline components with Iveco's 40.10WM 1,5-tonne tactical truck, but rather than clothing them in rectangular olive drab panels, it takes the streamlined exterior from the latest civvy TurboDailies.

The 40.10W, which was introduced to the UK last year, comes in three forms. We test two of them here: one integral van — a short-wheelbase high-roof model — and a long-wheelbase chassis-cab, fitted in this case with a Beacon tipping body. The other variant is a short-wheelbase chassis-cab.

All TurboDaily 4x4s are plated at 4,050kg GVW; depending on body and specification they offer net payloads of up to 1,500kg. This effectively puts the Iveco Ford into a category of its own: at the lighter end it provides more load capacity than a Land Rover and more off-road ability than converted panel vans like the Renault Trafic and Sevel 4x4s. On the other hand it offers a lighter, more compact alternative to the Reynolds Boughton-converted Renault 50 Series, the Unimog, and the new civilian Leyland Daf 4x4.

This is not to say that the 40.10W is about to trigger a rush of sales. After all, the market for such specialised vehicles above 3.5 tonnes is counted in hundreds a year rather than thousands. But Iveco Ford reports interest from the construction industry, the public utilities and the rescue services, and if nothing else the TurboDaily expands the range of options for buyers,

• BODYWORK

Left-hand-drive countries have the additional options of chassis-cowl, LWB crewcab and SWB minibus variants, but the UK model mix should satisfy most users, and Iveco Ford anticipates that the van version will be the most popular.

With its unconventional proportions the 4x4 TurboDaily van is certainly the one to catch the eye, for it must be one of the few vehicles whose height exceeds its wheelbase. That high roof boosts the body capacity to 8.5m' and provides plenty of headroom for standing in the load area.

With all that ground clearance the load floor is inevitably a long way from the ground, but steps to the rear and side doors make climbing aboard reasonably straight forward. The rear doors reach almost to the roof and open either to 90 or 180°. Access is good, but we weren't so impressed by the fiddly procedure required to release the doors to 180°, nor by the way the doors were held at 90° by putting a hook in the plastic bumper.

The high roof extension is made from fibre glass and includes a useful tray over the cab; the roof is only braced by two metal hoops, which might compromise torsion rigidity, though we noticed no ill effects on rough ground. Our chassis-cab model sported a sturdy steel tipping body from Beacon Tippers complete with the company's own electrohydraulic underfloor tipping gear.

The body had a full-height ladder gantry with a mesh screen and also carried the spare wheel. Detachable corner posts allow its use as a flatbed; the tailgate is hinged at top and bottom.

Beacon uses the same design for all of its similar bodies, whether destined for on-road or off-road usage, and while this example is not light at around 600kg, the additional weight brings with it the promise of extended service life, Its price, including tipping gear, is around £2,000.

Van and chassis-cab variants both have axle capacity of 1,800kg and 2,500kg for front and rear respectively, allowing a useful 250kg of loading tolerance. For work crews pulling hefty trailers there is also a useful towing capacity of 3.0 tonnes with a full load in the vehicle.

• DRIVELINE The 40.10W shares its engine and gearbox

with the 4x2 versions of the TurboDaily, like the 49.10 we tested last year (CM 14-20 June 1990).

The 2.5-litre direct-injection turbodiesel peaks at 76kW (104hp) at 3,800rpm, backed up by an impressive 237Nrn (1751b1t) of torque at 2,000rpm. The charge-cooled version introduced recently is thus far only available on the 4x2 .12 models.

This urge is put through Iveco's own 2824 five-speed box, which arranges the deep first gear on a dog-leg, with the other four speeds in an FI-pattern.

At this point all similarity with the two-wheel drive models ends, for the 4x4 is fitted with a two-speed Borg Warner transfer box which offers high range in two or four-wheel drive, or low range in fourwheel drive.

Using the floor-mounted lever behind the gearlever four-wheel drive can be selected on the move in high range, but the vehicle must be stationary before low range is engaged.

Propshafts take the drive from the transfer box to front and rear axles, and although there is no inter-axle diff-lock, each axle has its own diff-lock.

A further lever between the seats activates the rear diff-lock: the front lock can then be brought into play electrically using a red button on the dashboard. Neither diff-lock can be engaged when the vehicle is moving.

Completing the driveline are manually lockable freewheel front hubs, which can be disengaged when the vehicle is being used in two-wheel drive for any length of time II PERFORMANCE On the road the TurboDaily 4x4s have respectable performance even when fully laden, and if their driveability has been compromised by gearing chosen to suit low speed or off-road operation, few users will find much to complain about.

At the motorway limit the engine is spin ning at a fairly busy 4,000rpm, but it is a willing unit that is happy to sustain high high revs for long periods with acceptable refinement. In fact, despite the nominally low torque peak of 2,000rpm, it is best to keep the revs higher because power drops off very rapidly below that point, and if the driver gets caught in too high a gear response can be embarrassingly slow.

Both van and tipper handle with reasonable assurance on tarmac, helped at low speed by useful power assistance, but when the going gets quicker it's a brave and foolish driver who presses on regardless. The steering lacks precision at speed, the mud and snow tyres begin to struggle for grip, and the high centres of gravity (particularly on the van) begin to make themselves felt.

Fuel consumption will depend to a large extent on the proportion of off-road work so our fuel consumption figures, obtained on the motorway and A-roads of our Kent fuel consumption route, should be treated as the best an operator might expect.

As with the performance, there is little to choose between the two variants in fuel economy, with the van recording 13.9 lit/100km (20.3mpg) and the tipper 13.0 lit/100km (21.8mpg) at average speeds of around 65km/h (40mph); both are good results, which confirm our opinion of the Sofim DI turbodiesel as one of the most efficient of the small diesels_

• OFF-ROAD

Ultimately, vehicles like these must earn their keep off road, so we spent plenty of time getting to know the TurboDailies in conditions where normal trucks would fear to tread.

Other less single-minded vehicles tend to fall down on ground clearance, but the minimum space of 220trun beneath the axles and transfer box is adequate to allow progress even on deeply rutted tracks.

A beefy bashplate under the front bumper protects the powertrain from serious blows, and also serves as a warning of unseen obstacles.

The suspension, which feels distinctly stiff-legged on the road, comes into its own in the rough stuff. Although it never gives a particularly smooth ride (especially on the short-wheelbase van), its ability to soak up punishment while providing generous articulation is impressive.

Traction is rarely an issue once in fourwheel drive, but even with one corner of the vehicle in the air and the opposite corner in deep mud employing the diff-locks provides an immediate solution.

With 40% (1-in-2.5) gradeability in first gear high range is sufficient in most conditions, but since the dog-leg is virtually impossible to select on the move selecting low range in advance of hilly country is a wise precaution.

In general, changing gear or using the transfer box and diff-locks is a straightforward process, but we did find that the transfer box had a tendency to slip out of low range into neutral over bumpy ground, which is at best inconvenient, and at worst downright dangerous.

• INTERIOR

Apart from being higher off the ground, the 40.10W's interior is the same as that of the 4x2 TurboDailies, and thus rates as one of the better light truck cabs. The use of cloth on the seats and door panels is arguably inappropriate in this type of vehicle, but it does improve seating comfort and serves to counterbalance all that grey plastic. At least the floor uses rubber matting and promises to be reasonably simple to hose out.

There is enough room in the cab for three people to tolerate fairly long trips, once you get used to rubbing shoulders with your neighbour, and the height-adjustable perch makes life easier for the driver.

We were surprised to find that electrically adjustable and heated mirrors are standard on the 4x4s, and when working this is a positive boon; but we wonder how many operators will tolerate the cost of replacing or repairing them after the inevitable dust-up with a tree?

A similar comment might apply to the headlamp washers, although we were more concerned by the fact that the windscreen wiper pattern left a dirty spot in the middle of the screen.

• SUMMARY

The specification of the 4x4 TurboDaily promises high mobility, and the vehicle certainly delivers it.

Nigh on £30,000 is a lot to pay for an off-road truck with a 1.5-tonne payload, and it could be that certain competitors do provide more metal for the money, but the 40.10W does offer an impressive package for a buyer prepared to pay for a specialised vehicle of this size.

The driveline is well-proven, and combines good performance with decent economy.

On-road handling is quite acceptable, while off-road the Iveco Ford is agile and sure-footed.

We would like to see something done to ensure that the transfer box hangs on to a gear just when you need one most, and we would also question the need for electronic gadgets on a rough and tumble vehicle; we also wonder how the stability of the highroof van would be affected by a load whose centre of gravity is much higher than our test weights.

On balance, however, the 40.10W is a worthy addition to the off-road breed and deserves to find acceptance among a small but demanding group of customers.

0 by Peter Watt

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