Hino 616 Tipper: Review

There’s nothing new about small factory tippers. Hell, we can well remember the virtually indestructible Daihatsu Deltas of 30 or more years ago, complete with hungry boards, loaded up with who knows how many tonnes in the back…

And while the Deltas have long since gone, the demand for a no-nonsense robust small tipper has not. Many a tradie or small business finds a need for a small truck that will haul a tonne or two and not be overloaded, as many of the modern utes are, even though they claim to be 'one-tonners'.

Enter the Hino 616 Tipper. Like the other small truck manufacturers and importers, Hino is offering a range of ready-to-use trucks that owners can roll out of the dealerships and put straight to work, rather than have to buy a cab/chassis and have it built up. Hino's offering is called the Built To Go range and the 300 Series forms the bulk of the choices.

Hino Tipper buyers have plenty of variety, from the light-duty 300 Series standard cab 616 IFS that you see here, through the 300 Series wide cab 917 Factory Tippers and up to the big medium-duty 500 Series Factory Tipper – you can even have a hybrid version if you want to do your tipping in stealth mode!

But our test vehicle was the conventional diesel burner powered by Hino's N04C US engine, which is a 4.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged and intercooled diesel that puts out 110kW (150hp) at 2400rpm and 420Nm of torque at 1400rpm. This was mated to a six-speed fully automatic gearbox with fourth gear as a direct drive (1:1 ratio) and fifth and sixth as overdrives (0.773 and 0.634 respectively).

The auto is an absolute cracker, with all the characteristics of a passenger-car auto rather than the slow-shifting hesitant changes of the automated manuals we've been used to… but more on that later.

The 300 Series Hino models are equipped with a cocktail of features that make them some of the safest trucks on the road. Certainly, the modern WHS standards virtually force manufacturers to include many safety features in their trucks if they want to be on the fleet buyers' lists, but that can only be a good thing and lead to safer work environments for all drivers.

Hence, our test truck was fitted with dual airbags, ABS, front and rear disc brakes, vehicle stability and traction control, Hino Easy Start hill-start assist (manual models only), reversing camera with audio and a driver’s suspension seat.

The passenger gets a fixed bench seat that can also accommodate a third passenger in the middle if the work table is folded up, but that person only gets a lap belt and no airbag so under some WHS tenets, the Hino would only be classified as a two seater.

We didn't get to use the tipper function as, to be honest, I didn't feel like shovelling a tonne-and-a-half of gravel back into the truck after I tipped it out, so we'll just have to go with the specs. The body is built by Toyota Group's Kyokuto Kaihatsu Kogyo and Kyokuto also builds the high-pressure gear pump and 'Gouriki' hoist mechanism.

The big advantage of this is that the one warranty covers the whole truck, including the tipping body and its workings.

The tipping body is in effect a drop-side tray back as well and our truck was fitted with a load cover from the optional accessories list.

We also had the optional tow hitch which was rated up to the truck's maximum towing weight of 3500kg. Our test vehicle had the car-licence friendly GVM of 4495kg with a GCM of 7995kg, but this can be raised up to a GVM of 5500kg with a GCM of up to 9000kg.

Tare weight – according to the rego papers – is 3015kg, giving a total payload of 1480kg. The tipper body has a capacity of 1.9 cubic metres.

Tilting the cab is an easy operation and can be done by one person. The cab itself is well balanced and access to all the necessary servicing components is excellent.

Climbing aboard, it's an easy one-step into the cabin and once there, it's comfortable by small truck standards. The seat is upright with adjustment fore and aft as well as the backrest. The steering column is adjustable for reach and tilt but there's still not much angle to it.

There are the traditional analogue gauges for the tacho and speedo with digital readouts for fuel and temp.

A basic trip computer is provided with odometer, two trips and average as well as instant fuel usage. There is no distance-to-empty, which would be handy. Cruise control is standard and handled by a second stalk on the right of the steering column.

Dominating the centre of the dash is the infotainment screen, which offers a host of features including Bluetooth connectivity, navigation, digital and regular radio as well as CD.

Sound from the system is OK without being great but the telephone connectivity works a treat and is simple to pair to your phone.

Storage in the cab is voluminous. There are overhead shelves above the driver and passenger, a big shelf along the underside of the dash, big door pockets and ample drink holders.

Vision from the driver's seat is terrific. The big mirrors are electric adjustable and heated and the additional spot mirrors help with parking, as does the reversing camera.

One thing that really struck me as soon as I picked this truck up was its manoeuvrability. It has a quoted kerb-to-kerb figure of 9.6 metres (11.0 metres wall to wall). This means that it can easily do a U-turn in a normal-size street and is super manoeuvrable in tight situations like carparks or work sites.

Our test vehicle was loaded with around 1.5 tonnes of gravel, bringing it right up to the 4495kg GVM, and the Hino handled it easily. On the highway it could happily cruise at 100km/h, revving at just a tick over 2000rpm, although it felt happier at 90km/h at around 1900rpm.

Around town in the traffic, the Hino easily kept up and felt relaxed in its power delivery.

I have already mentioned the auto box, but it's worth mentioning again. It's one of the best truck gearboxes I've come across in recent times and is not only well matched to the engine, but is so slick in its operation that it feels positively car-like.

If this is the future of all automatics in trucks, then bring it on! Downchanges are just as smooth as upchanges and the box responds well to hills and acceleration even with the full load.

On the economy front we got two readings. Firstly a mixture of urban driving with a bit of freeway returned a figure of 6.9km/lt (14.5L/100km) and then another figure with more freeway and less urban driving gave us a figure of 7.4km/litre (13.5L/100km). Considering that the truck was full and we were keeping up with all the traffic, it was a pretty impressive result and would give a range of between 550 and 600 kilometres from the 80-litre tank.

In the final wash up, I was impressed by the Hino 616 Tipper. It has a great engine/gearbox combo, it's comfortable and relatively quiet as an around town truck and it has a great range of features.

Manoeuvrability is outstanding and the turning circle is better than a lot of utes on the market. In fact, if you're looking to step up your work vehicle from a ute to a light truck with the ability to genuinely haul a tonne or more, the Hino 616 should certainly be on the shopping list.

Hino 300 Series 616 Tipper (auto)
Engine: 4.0-litre four-cylinder in-line turbo-diesel
Emissions: Euro 5
Power: 110kW (150hp) at 2400rpm
Torque: 420Nm at 1400rpm
Transmission: Six-speed fully automatic
Brakes: Four-wheel disc with ABS
GVM: 4495kg (5500kg opt)
GCM: 7995kg (9000kg opt)
Fuel: 80 litres