A tale of two Dallys
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During 2003 we tested two Daily vans with the latest 2.3-litre Unijet HPI engine, which is effectively the same as Fiat' JTD engine.This replaced the 84hp and 105hp versions of Iveco's 2.8-litre directinjection charge-cooled engine, the Italians continuing to offer the 2.8 for "heavy loads in urban am motorway.., and covering distance at high average speeds". We put the 94hp version of the HPI through its paces in May, having tried the 110hp version a couple of months earlier in a Fiat Ducat°.
The product range The lveco Daily vans are designated C (3.5-6. tonnes GVW), S (3.5 tonnes) and L (3.0-3.2 tonnes).The range offers four choices of load volume but only one chassis-cab option.
Transmission for the 2.3-litre HA' engine is the ZE five-speed synchromesh overdrive gearbox designed to handle up to 270Nm of torque.The direct-drive ZF six-speeder is only available with the older 2.8-litre engine.
In August we tested the first Daily to appear without the Ford part of the name. The Iveco Daily 35S12 HPI weighs in at 3.5 tonnes GVW and can call on 114hp (85kW) of power between 3,000 and 3,900rpm with 270Nm of torque between 1,800 and 3,000rpm.Transmission is a five-speed overdrive unit from ZF.
Performance and economy Running unladen round our Kent test route, the 35S12 recorded 34.8mpg.This was close to the 34.3mpg recorded by the same engine in the Fiat Ducato, although the 3.3-tonne Fiat's laden figure was better at 31.6mpg.
Running fully loaded the Daily completed our test route at a rapid 70.3km/h, although we're beginning to doubt the value of recording journey speeds, especially on the relatively short Kent light vehicle route where even minor variations in traffic flow can significantly affect the times.
Our test van's set of options. including a sturdy wooden loadbed floor liner, added some 120kg to the Iveco's published kerb weight, which helps explain why its payload potential was between 100kg and 200kg shy of the similarly-dimensioned competition. And this from what Iveco's figures show to he its most payload-efficient model up to 3.5 tonnes. •