ROADTEST TOYOTA HIACE
Page 54
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that the rear wheels can lift under hard concerning. The front anti-roll bar manfully attempts to limit this characteristic, giving plenty of understeer in the process, but the Toyota will wave its legs in the air nonetheless.
The van has also retained most of the damping foibles of older models. Unladen this is not a problem, but with a full load in the back the Hiace will float most uncomfortably on poor surfaces. More progressive damping would solve this problem, and might even help the short travel suspension deficiencies.
On the plus side the new van does have a major advantage over its older brethren. At last the horrible recirculating-ball steering has been replaced with a proper rack and pinion. The steering is a little too light, but there is less vagueness than older models had, and perhaps light steering is a positive characteristic in the urban environment the Toyota is undoubtedly headed for.
In fact the new van has a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde nature. On motorways or fast A-roads it behaves like any other Japanese van: floating on the long waves and jarring over the small bumps. The engine tries hard, but it never has quite enough to give at high speeds.
Get the van in a town, however, and things start to look up. The engine will whisk the vehicle along, providing plenty of urge for fast getaways. The steering enables the driver to quickly pull out of queues of traffic, and the narrow track takes advantage of the smallest of gaps. The brakes are excellent, whatever the condition. Well-assisted front discs, and rear drums provide fade-free confident stopping, even in the wet.
• INTERIOR
No real change here, in spite of the abundant, verbose literature. What you do get is a three-seat cabin with a gearlever interfering with the third passengers legs. The seats, handbrake, and the seat belt mountings are fixed to the engine cover. The two passenger seats are part of a removable lid for the engine, giving reasonable access to the cylinder head, but sadly not the fuel or oil filters.
While the daily checks should be easy enough, the process of lifting the passenger seats to get at the engine entails considerable disruption in the cab, as passengers and all the kit on these seats has to be moved first.
The rest of the interior is up to the usual excellent standards of Japanese vans. There is a brilliant heater, with a four-speed fan and a choice of recirculated or outside air. The instruments are a little sparse, but easy to read.
Visibility out of the cab is pretty good, although there are a few blind spots on the driver's shoulder. The convex mirrors would have covered this had they not been flapping around like elephant's ears at speed. However, the mirrors did give us an almost perfect view of the disintegration of the petrol filler lock as we travelled along the motorway. A small screw flew out first, then the lock barrel quickly followed along with the levers. Did anyone say quality control?
• SUMMARY
Toyota doesn't sell too many vans in this country, partly because of the quota system. Although over 2.3 million have been produced since the company introduced them in 1967, yearly UK sales have never risen much above 2,700. The • van appeals primarily to owneroperators, and has a good reputation.
But as far as fleet business is concerned, the Hiace is unlikely to become a major player. There are two few options available, and it does not have the width. The new vehicles have not changed anything in this respect, so the question remains, is the new van an improvement?
As far as the engine/economy equation is concerned, we would say yes. The handling is about the same, the brakes are better, and the interior is still setting standards.
LI by Andrew English