Iveco Daily van review – Italian stallion is a serious workhorse

Iveco Daily 35S21 H3

What is it?

IVECO’s heavy-duty worker Daily in panel van form is a substantial cargo mover and has to be a serious contender for van operators carrying high volume loads. As a well as a panel van, the Daily is available as single- and crew-cab chassis and dropside, and minibus, in four lengths on three wheelbases and, in van form, three heights, with six GVW variants. It’s powered by a 3.0-litre intercooled turbo-diesel (.17 VGT) or twin-stage turbo (.21 TST) engine driving through a six-speed manual or six-speed automated gearbox, offered as an option with the .21TST engine.

The test vehicle was an H3 long wheelbase model powered by the twin-stage turbo engine with the six-speed manual gearbox. It also had the Daily Top optional package, which adds climate control, fogs lights, storage box under the dual passenger seat and a suspended driver’s seat. This is in addition to the Daily Plus package of Central locking, cruise control, heated and electrically adjustable door mirrors, over-screen storage and DIN slot. In this guise, the Iveco is an imposing beast. The van can accommodate 17.2cu m in a loadspace measuring 4560mm long by 1800mm wide and 2100mm high. And with a maximum payload of 1145kg you can certainly pack a hefty cargo, although I would have expected a higher figure in such a large van.

Climb in the cab and there’s an immediate feeling of quality. It’s spacious and well equipped with plenty of storage, including an A4-sized compartment, driver’s and passenger’s cupholders and bottle holders in the doors. The optional suspended driver’s seat is particularly comfortable and offers a full range of adjustments making it easy to settle into a good driving position. The dash-mounted gearshift is easy to reach and a pleasure to operate. The dash also incorporates an RDS radio/CD Player and provision for a tachometer. The instruments are clear and the LCD display shows journey trip computer for distance, journey time and fuel consumption, in addition to a clock.

The large door mirrors offer good visibility enhanced by a rear parking camera above the rear doors. I found the camera a little lacking in effectiveness compared with that of some rivals: it’s a help, but it’s not the clearest. But where the Iveco Daily really excels is out on the open road. With 470Nm of torque on tap, this engine just pulls and pulls – so much so that you need to be wary of your speed. If your business transport includes major road and motorway work, the Daily will lap it up. And the cruise control will make those long-distance drives a relaxed experience. Low noise levels in the cab will help, too. For a van of this size, it rides and handles surprisingly well, even unladen. The steering’s precise and the brakes scrub off speed efficiently. Loading and unloading should be problem free. The rear doors provide an opening width of 1250mm and height of 1990mm. They also fold back 180 degrees. The single side door access measures 1250mm wide by 1780mm high. The loadspace has a steel-ribbed floor with load lashing rings, and reinforced sides, also equipped with lower load lashing rings.  

What’s hot?

• Comfortable, quiet cab with good driving position. Suspended seat in the test vehicle was especially good.
• Smooth gear change, with well-positioned gearshift.
• Engine has bags of oomph – you’ll need to keep an eye on that speedo – even more than you normally would!
• Substantial cargo capacity.
• It’s a great-looking van, too.

 

What’s not?

• Rear camera view seems slightly eccentric.
• Payload’s big, but I expected more
• It’s quite pricey

 

Business Vans verdict

If you need a big van that’ll work effortlessly all day, and all the while keeping you relaxed behind the wheel, then you should check out the Iveco Daily. It’s a fast, comfortable and well built business van, but at £34,170 (as tested with optional packages), comes with quite a high price tag. Click here for more on the Iveco Daily.   What you need to know

On the road price as tested (ex-VAT)	£34,170
Load length (max)	4560mm
Load width (max)	1800mm
Load height	2100mm
Load capacity	17.2cu m
Payload	1145kg
GVW	3500kg
Towing capacity braked/unbraked	2800kg/750kg
Engine	3.0-litre, 4-cyl diesel
Power/Torque	205PS/470Nm
Economy (combined)	34.83mpg
CO2 emissions	213g/km