Stunning, Iveco’s New Daily

Transmissions

There is no change to the available transmissions. These are the six-speed synchromesh manual unit and the automated Agile (ZF) system. Hold on to your hats though because coming up fast behind is a fully automatic ZF transmission. We’re likely to see that available around the middle of 2015.

Suspensions

Big changes here for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes GVW. These use a new Quad Leaf suspension. This is a double quadrilateral arrangement with transverse leaf springs that increases the maximum load by 100kg to 1,900kg. On chassis cab versions the ground clearance is improved to 175mm and the overall load capacity is increased by 40kg. Beyond 3.5 tonnes GVW the front suspension has also been modified to use a double quadrilateral arrangement with a torsion bar. These changes are all aimed at improving the driving condition, bringing it very close to those achieved for passenger cars.

On twin rear wheeled Dailys, the excellent Quad-Tor independent front suspension is retained. Maximum axle load has been increased to 2,500 kg on the seven tonnes GVW model.

The rear suspension on the lighter GVW models has been improved as well, mainly to reduce weight, but in the heavier GVW models there is no change and frankly none was needed. The option of rear air suspension remains.

Braking

Braking remains unchanged with the discs all round. To the already impressive list of safety systems on the Daily, including ESP, they have now added a lane deviation warning system (LDWS).

Drive

The New Daily retains rear wheel drive and that won’t change. When asked whether they were considering the possibility of doing a front wheel drive version the reply was short – No. As far as Iveco is concerned that territory belongs to their sister company Fiat (with the Ducato) and they have no intention of challenging it.

Aesthetics

We’ve dealt with the New Daily from a mechanical and structural point of view, but what about aesthetics. The way a vehicle looks is important, especially in our market, and here I think Iveco’s designers have excelled. The New Daily looks markedly different from its predecessors. The styling is much more aggressive but not in a bad way. It gives the vehicle a real presence and it translates particularly well when used in the minibus/coach configuration. In that form it does not look like a converted van.

In particular the composition of the glazed surfaces and the fixed black pillars, which continue seamlessly into the side windows, and the band created by the headlamps and grille is very effective. The headlamps have been raised compared to the current Daily and they are inset further to give greater protection.

The aesthetics extend into the new cab treatment. The old Daily already had car like comfort now it has luxury car style comfort. The new dash has been designed so that all functions can be operated without the driver having to stretch. There are no less than three cup holders in the cab and 15 storage areas including five that are closed. There is an impressive range of extra equipment available on the New Daily particularly in the areas of entertainment, communication and telematics. All can be activated through the centrally positioned touch screen.

The driver’s seat H point is lowered by 15mm compared to the current Daily. The steering wheel is 20mm diameter smaller, the windscreen is 40% larger and there is a four degree improvement in visibility.

Minibus

Iveco has always offered a range of specialist factory produced minibuses – it is an important market for them particularly in Spain in Italy. In the past much of the conversion work was carried out by specialist converters but that has changed with the New Daily. Now all the basic conversion of the vehicle to produce the minibus is carried out in-house on special production lines. This includes the fitting of glazing, doors, access steps, air conditioning, etc. The only work done off-site is the final trim such as fitting of seats, decorative trim and special equipment like tail lifts.

Iveco produce the minibuses in three distinct ranges. The Daily City is a range of small buses for use in urban and suburban environments. These commonly have two doors and a rear wheelchair accessible facility. Buses like this are very popular in markets like Italy and Spain but it is not a layout that has ever proved popular in the UK. For those markets there is also the Daily Pop which is a dedicated school bus which can carry up to 45 students!

Next comes the Daily Line, which is a general workhorse. It is available with either one or two entrance/exits in a range of sizes. The top of the range is the single door version with a GVW of 6.1 tonnes which can provide seating for 22.

Top of the range is the Daily Tourys which is a luxury minicoach with comfort seating, racks, plug type entrance door, LED lighting and a range of trim levels. The vehicles also incorporate a good sized rear boot.

The vehicles are available with either the 146 or 170bhp 3.0 litre engines to EuroVI and either six-speed manual or six-speed automated Agile transmissions. As I said earlier, I feel it won’t take Iveco long to add the 205bhp variant to the range.

As yet Iveco UK has not decided which models it will be importing; we will have to wait until September for that information. If I was asked to guess I think they will opt for bringing in complete untrimmed vehicles which will give converters the ability to simply trim them out to customer requirements enabling a quick turnaround to be achieved, I think they will bring in the Daily Line with single door and 22 seats to compete with the Mercedes-Benz Traveliner and they will bring in a Tourys minicoach – probably the top end model.

At the wheel

As readers can imagine, I was itching to get my hands on the New Daily because to find out how good the vehicle is you really need to get behind the wheel.

That opportunity came on day two of the launch event at the very impressive Iveco test centre at Balloca, mid way between Milan and Turin. I’ve been here before so I know that it offers a choice of test circuits. One simulates a motorway and another simulates a typical rural road with lots of corners and gradient rises and falls. In addition there are separate areas for carrying out handling tests, brake tests, ESP tests and suspension performance.

Iveco had provided a range of vehicles for us to drive, mostly vans and pick-ups, but with a range of engine powers and both manual and Agile transmissions. I selected a range of vehicles to test starting with a 146 bhp 3.0-litre manual 3.5 tonner because I wanted to experience the new front suspension. It was very impressive. On both the motorway and the rural routes it was just like driving a luxury car. The suspension was exceptionally smooth with no shocks and wonderful road holding. As ever, I was impressed with the 3.0 litre engine and in particular its massive torque back-up available across a wide speed range. This engine has always been outstanding for its performance and its quietness and it didn’t disappoint.

The new cab is to car like standards. I particularly like the dash layout and control layout with everything in view and all controls easily reached from the seat. I also like the extra visibility from the larger screen and smaller steering wheel feels just right. The driver’s seat is excellent with a wide range of adjustment and Iveco have achieved that fine balance between providing a comfortable seat for long distance driving with just enough firmness to give good support.

I next moved on to a configuration more close to what most bus and coach operators want. This was a 170bhp 3.0 litre with the Agile transmission rated at seven tonnes.

I know some operators don’t like the Agile transmission, but I have to admit that I have always been a fan. Some don’t like the slight delay you get from the automated transmission, particularly when starting, but over the years ZF really have improved this and I think the current box is very close to what can be achieved with a fully automatic box. The golden rule with these transmissions is not to force them. If you let them do their thing you can achieve very quick and very smooth changes.

I was very impressed again by the engine’s performance and its quietness but what really impressed me was the integrity of the structure. I was driving a van and there was a wonderful tautness to the body. No shimmer, boom or vibration just a great feeling of sturdiness. The vehicles were fully loaded and the performance and handling were excellent.

I next choose an identical vehicle but with manual transmission. I chose this in order to carry out some of the feature tests and I find a manual better for these where you need to accelerate quickly. You wouldn’t normally drive a vehicle like this, well at least I hope you wouldn’t or you will have a lot of angry passengers, but it is necessary if you want to test out these safety features. First I tackled the steering test which involved negotiating a very tight set of laid out cones, stopping the vehicle in a simulated garage space only a little wider than the vehicle and then reversing it straight into another. You have to do these tests as fast as you can so I hurled the Daily at the cones at a much higher speed than I would normally do and kept the speed up as I went through. The Daily stuck to the road like glue and I passed through safely without clipping any cones and put it squarely into the garage and quickly reversed into the other. The handling was immaculate and I was impressed with the lack of body roll even when swinging it through the cones.

Next I tackled the suspension test area which involved throwing it (there is no other word that fits!) at speed at a series of bumps and humps, some affecting both wheels some just one. Again the stability of the vehicle was impressive. The suspension just soaked up the bumps and didn’t transmit them into the vehicle. Handling was similarly not affected, with no shocks up the column to wrest the wheel from your hands.

Two brake tests followed. The first involved taking the vehicle up to 60kph and then standing on the brakes. It virtually stood on its nose but you still felt totally in control and it stopped straight and true with no flicker of deviation. Next I repeated the test but on the wet surface so the ESP would kick in. The result was identical – very impressive.

At last I got my hands on the vehicle with the 205bhp engine and took that out on the motorway circuit. It was hugely impressive. The performance from the engine was outstanding. Again the vehicle was fully loaded but the acceleration was quite stunning as was the quietness. I decided to give this vehicle an extreme test of its torque capabilities. To do this you have to drive against all your principles. You take the vehicle up to its cruising speed in top gear and then let the speed decay back to 60kph. Normally you’d change down at this point but you don’t. You just increase the acceleration and see how easily it gets back to cruising speed. It just built back up without any hint of being under stress.

Like all the New Dailys this vehicle was fitted with an eco-button designed to enable you to operate the vehicle to maximum efficiency. Basically it irons out the peaks and troughs. I was cruising the vehicle at 110kph (no speed limiter!) when I engaged the eco button. Immediately it knocked back the revs by about 200 yet road speed remained at 110kph. It should be good for economy, especially when cruising with the cruise control engaged.

Finally I got my hands on the only minibus available to drive. This was the top model at 7.0m long with the 170bhp engine and manual transmission. It was fitted with 19 recliners and all the usual in-coach facilities like racks, individual passenger controls, tinted bonded glazing, LED lighting and air conditioning. The standard of fit and finish was exceptionally high.

Putting it round the rural route first, it handled absolutely superbly and the engine again demonstrated its ability to perform but do it very quietly. The minicoach benefited from a retarder and Iveco had positioned the control cleverly so that you could operate it with your fourth finger without taking the rest of your hand off the wheel. It was very effective with immediate response at stage one and well graduated steps thereafter, enabling you to bring the vehicle to a complete stop.

I also took it round the motorway circuit where it cruised happily at 110kph and I had the feeling it would happily have gone on doing that all day. It was exceptionally smooth and the body was taut without any shaking, shimmering or vibration. There weren’t any rattles or squeaks either.

I was accompanied on this drive by Paola Bertelegni, who is in charge of Minibus Product Management at Iveco and I have to say that I was very flattered when she told me that out of all the journos she’d travelled with over the many days of this international launch I had driven her bus the best and the most sympathetically and the Iveco demo driver who accompanied us agreed. They might just have been being nice – but I’ll take it.

Challenger

The New Daily is an outstanding vehicle. Iveco have raised the bar in terms of quality and specification. As I said at the start, you have to put aside your pre-conceptions about Daily. It warrants really close consideration and do get behind the wheel, you will be impressed, very impressed. I think it will challenge the Mercedes-Benz dominance of this market.

The New Daily is due to begin to arrive in the UK from September and as yet we do not know what the UK model line-up will be, I for one hope the Tourys minicoach and the Line 22 seater are in there.

Last word

I asked Lorenzo Sistino who is the Head of all things Daily at Iveco whether they had considered taking the New Daily up the gross weight scale and thereby grab some of the available market that Mercedes-Benz have laid wide open by discontinuing the Vario. He didn’t answer yes and he didn’t answer no. All he said was ‘what a very interesting question’, but he said it in such a way that I think it is something they are considering seriously.