IVECO Daily 35S Van Review

IVECO Australia last updated the Daily range in early 2023. It was a minor, but significant update to what was already a good, solid workhorse in either van or cab/chassis versions.

We’ve always liked the IVECO Daily range of van and cab/chassis trucks. They’re strong, reliable and fit for purpose. The range is huge, spanning from car licence-friendly models right up to seven-tonne vans and light trucks.

We’ve sampled quite a few over the years but this time, we’ve opted for the lightweight 35S, a car-licence friendly van that still has a decent payload.

The IVECO Dailys are commercial vehicles, make no mistake. They are not trying to be cars or luxury people-movers, they are designed to work. But having said that, they are still comfortable vehicles to drive and have all the safety features you’d expect from a European vehicle.

A recent update focussed on comfort, driveability and safety, and although subtle, they were nonetheless significant. Firstly, the driver got a new seat, and it’s a beauty. It’s a suspension seat with memory foam and a higher headrest.

On our test we did two stints of around four hours, and I didn’t have a complaint about the comfort level in the Daily. The seat is adjustable for the weight of the driver and also has a handy adjustable armrest for those long trips.

Another part of the update was the steering, which is now electric rather than hydraulic. It’s direct and beautifully weighted for highway driving. However, if you’re in the tight stuff in the city or doing a lot of manoeuvring, you can hit the “City” button on the top of the dash to put the steering into City mode and makes it significantly lighter.

Also new was the active lane-departure warning. Called Proactive Lane Keep Assist, it’s designed to complement the already-present Lane Departure Warning feature. Proactive Lane Keep Assist uses a windscreen-mounted camera that recognises road markings and sounds an alarm if the vehicle strays from its lane without the driver first signalling. If this occurs, the system will autonomously intervene and steer you back into the lane. It can be cancelled with another button on the dash, which I did on occasion.

Our 35S van was powered by IVECO’s smallest engine, the 2.3-litre four-cylinder diesel with direct injection, intercooler and electronically controlled variable geometry turbine (e-VGT). This is mated to an eight-speed HI-Matic automatic transmission.

The auto box has Power and Eco modes and can be driven as a full auto or as a clutchless manual via the dash-mounted shifter.

In this guise, the Daily has outputs of 136hp (101kW) at 3600rpm and 370Nm of torque at a low 1500rpm. It’s a great engine and transmission combo and makes for a more spirited van than you’d think.

Of course, as the size of the Daily vans increases so do the engines and outputs, with the most powerful being the 3.0 litre with the e-VGT and intercooler that puts out 210hp and 470Nm.

The payload of our IVECO Daily test van was just over 1.5 tonnes, so this is a serious load-carrying van. The van was loaded with a dummy load of 1000kg for the entirety of our test.

The first part of our test was merely running around town for a few days. This was followed by a run through regional Victoria of around 550 kilometres. The trip took us through regional towns, on secondary roads and some freeway running.

On the road, the Daily proved to be a comfortable and very capable van. It could easily keep up with the traffic in all circumstances and had plenty of power in reserve for hills and overtaking.

The interior offers a good mixture of comfort and functionality. As mentioned, the seats are great. I didn’t get any complaints from my co-pilot who did not get a suspension seat (although they are available for the passenger in some models). The seating position is upright, as you’d expect with a van, but there is plenty of room to move around and a large footwell so you can easily get comfortable.

The view from the driver’s seat is great. The windows are big and the wing and rear-view mirrors give a broad view behind. The short snub nose is hardly visible from the seat and the extremities are easy to judge. There is also a rear camera for parking.

Storage in the cab is terrific. Everywhere are cubby holes and storage bins for the asking. There are overhead compartments for paperwork, clipboards and the like, door pockets for drink bottles, cup holders, and even a big storage area under the passenger’s seat.

It really is a well-thought-out interior and quite a nice place to be for a few hours’ drive.

On the highway, I found that the Daily cruised effortlessly with two aboard and its one-tonne load, the engine sitting at around 1750rpm at 100km/h and returning a total average consumption of 10.5 litres/100km.

Back in the load space, the IVECO Daily is all business. The load area is accessed by a big sliding door on the left-hand side and wide barn doors at the rear, so loading by forklift would not be a problem.

There are plenty of sturdy tie-downs spread throughout the van and the floor is covered by a single run of what looks like a durable PVC. The walls are lined as well and, being a high-roof variant, there is full standing headroom of 1.9 metres.

Daily vans cover wide range of internal sizes from 7.3 to 19 cubic metres. Ours was a 12-cubic-metre version with the high roof.

They also have wide variety of GVMs from 3800kg right through to seven tonnes. Ours was the car-licence friendly 3800. And, if you can’t fit enough inside, all the vans and cab/chassis models have a maximum tow rating of a 3500kg.

Depending on what you want to do with the Daily, IVECO offers four optional packs allowing owners to customise a vehicle to suit their requirements.

The packs include the Hi-Business Pack that gives you the Hi-Connect multimedia system with GPS navigation, open storage with inductive charge and USB, fog lights plus LED headlights. Next, there’s the Hi-Comfort Pack that gives climate-controlled air-conditioning, leather-wrapped steering wheel, tyre pressure monitoring system, and automatic wipers and headlights.

Then there is the Hi-Technology Pack – Automatic Transmission that adds queue assist, Lane Departure Warning and Proactive Lane Keep Assist, City Brake, Traction Plus and Hill Descent, as well as automatic high beam control. Finally, there is the Hi-Technology Pack – Manual Transmission, which includes City Brake, Traction Plus and hill descent, automatic high beam, Lane Departure Warning and Proactive Lane Keep Assist.

Our test Daily had the Hi-Business and Hi-Tech packs as well as alloy wheels and metallic paint, making it a pretty well-equipped van.

The IVECO Daily is backed by a comprehensive standard three-year/250,000km warranty with additional extended warranty options of up to five-years/300,000km available at extra cost. IVECO also offers a range of maintenance agreements to help owners manage the budgetary control of maintenance costs.

The bottom line is how much does it cost? Well, the range starts out at $69,483 including GST for the base seven-cubic-metre model.

The base for the 12-cubic-metre similar to our test van is $76,717 including GST. However, our van, loaded with the two packs, auto transmission, alloy wheels and metallic paint topped out at $90,437. But for that you get a large, comprehensively specified van that can haul 1500kg with ease and in comfort.

Engine: S136EVID FIA 2.3 litre diesel with direct injection, intercooler and electronic-controlled variable geometry turbine (e-VGT)
Emissions: Euro 6
Power: 1365hp (100kW) at 3600rpm
Torque: 350Nm at 1500rpm
Transmission: Hi-Matic eight-speed auto (six-speed manual std)
GVM: 3800kg
Payload: 1521kg
Max Towing: 3500kg
Cargo area: 12 cubic metres
Fuel: 100 litres
AdBlue: 20 litres
Warranty: Three years/250,000km (five-year/300,000km available)