Review
There’s off-roaders, soft-roaders, mud-pluggers and all-wheel drive vans. And then there is this behemoth – the Iveco Daily 4x4 – that has just been launched on to the UK market.
One glance at the picture reveals that this new vehicle is different from the others.
It is humongous and – ignoring the leviathan Unimog – will outmanoeuvre anything else on the market when the going gets tough.
The Daily 4x4 has been cranked up to a height of 30cm, which is so tall that the traditional headlights only work as side lights or full beam.
For dipped purposes, another set of lights has been added in the front bumper.
Two models are available, one at 3.5 tonnes gvw and the other at 5.5 tonnes, and both short and long wheelbases are on offer, which rather curiously cost the same.
Crew-cabs offering seven seats and tippers are also optional, along with a stunning array of other gear.
In fact each vehicle is a bespoke piece of machinery, tailored exactly to the buyer’s needs as none will be held in stock at Iveco dealers.
Under the bonnet lurks a musclebound 3.0-litre common rail Euro IV diesel powerplant offering 176bhp at 3,200-3,500rpm and 295lb-ft of torque at 1,250-3,000rpm.
As expected with such a hefty vehicle, payload suffers rather. At 3.5t and with a standard dropside body the Daily 4x4 will carry 800kg and although it doesn’t sound a great deal, product affairs manager Nick Stanton reckons it’s plenty for what this vehicle will be expected to do.
He told me: “We have already sold one to the NHS in Scotland, complete with a snowplough, and we are getting interest from electricity boards, phone mast suppliers, large estates and farms.
“The type of job it will do, it will carry such equipment as tools, a transformer, ladders and maybe fences and posts.
Things like that will be easily accommodated within the Daily’s weight allowance.”
The vehicle is started off by Iveco and then handed over to the Societa Costruzione Autocarri Multi-Role, which is rather unfortunately shorted to SCAM, and when it is finished, Iveco carries out a conformity check and offers a complete warranty on the vehicle.
Prices range from £37,850 to £44,050 ex-VAT.
