IVECO Daily 70C 2023 Review

Earlier this year, the IVECO Daily range came in for a bit of an update that the company described as ‘evolutionary’. And while there were a few changes, they weren’t radical, but they did enhance what is already a comfortable and versatile light truck or van.

The Daily range is extensive and there’s an options list from which you can further enhance your vehicle.

Like other European van manufacturers, the range kicks off with the standard car-licence 35S van with a GVM of 3800kg. However, that can be upgraded considerably with air suspension in the rear.

The range then progresses up to the 50C with a GVM of 4495kg. That van comes in various heights and volumes to suit many applications.

Then comes the biggie of the Daily range, the 70C, with a GVM of 7000kg and a volume of up to 19.6 cubic metres. That vehicle is the subject of this review.

The Daily 70C is unique in our market as it’s the only van on the market with this GVM and this capacity. Physically, the van is imposing. It has a wheelbase of 4100mm and an overall length of 7664mm and an overall height of just over three metres – so don’t go dicing with Melbourne’s Montague Street bridge, or you might end up on the notorious bridge’s own website and the victim of some ridicule!

The 70C is powered by IVECO’s FIC 3.0-litre Heavy Duty turbo-diesel with outputs of 210hp (155kW) at 3500rpm and 470Nm at 1500rpm. Transmission is either six-speed manual or a very nice eight-speed full auto.

The eight-speed transmission is what we had in our test van and it was a beauty. IVECO says it is ideal for congested stop-start city driving and also offers sharp and seamless power delivery on the open road, where an optimised shift pattern ensures the vehicle will always be working at the best mix of speed and efficiency.

One of the upgrades that IVECO did for this model was to the seats and the seating position. The bulkhead has been pushed back slightly to give the driver a bit more room. The seat slides have been lengthened so that there is now more legroom available and the seats themselves have been upgraded.

The seats now offer additional bolstering and memory foam has been introduced – IVECO says it’s the first vehicle in the commercial space to offer this comfort feature.

The Daily is now fitted with electric steering, which brings more benefits than just making the steering feel more direct. The electric steering also allows for the position of the steering wheel to be adjustable not only reach but for rake as well, making the driving position tailorable to suit an even broader range of driver sizes.

A further benefit of the new steering is that allows for the introduction of Proactive Lane Keep Assist 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 correct the vehicle’s line.

If you don’t like it you can always turn it off via a dash-mounted switch.

Getting into the cab via the generous step is a breeze. The step is worth a mention as it’s deep and broad; not chance of slipping here, and it’ll fit a big Aussie boot with no trouble.

Once inside, you see three high-backed seats. This is a true three-seater with a lap/sash seatbelt for the middle occupant, which is nice to see. Too often we see an alleged three-seater with a little dickie seat for the guy in the middle and a lap-only belt, which we think should not pass our ADRs.

The view from the driver’s seat is great. The Daily isn’t really a cab-over but it feels like it, as the driver looks down the slope of the bonnet to the road, so there’s no real blind spot there. Rear vision is good too, with really good mirrors and a high-res camera mounted above the rear doors that gives a great view when reversing.

The dash is sensibly laid out and the HVAC is simple and easy to operate. The gauges are simple too, with my one gripe being that the main calibrations on the speedo are the odd numbers like 50, 70 and 90km/h. That's the European way, because that is more in tune with their speed limits rather than ours, which are more the even numbers like 60, 80 and 100km/h. I found a quick glance at the speedo was sometimes not indicative of where I should have been.

And the storage. Did I mention the storage? Everywhere I looked there was storage. The usual places, for sure, but there was more. Under the seats was storage, in the dash, on the dash, overhead storage, even double-decker storage in the doors. You could take enough gear for a weekend just in the cab!

It is actually a very well-equipped van inside.

And it’s economical too. For my fairly extensive drive over varying roads and conditions, I got 12.5L/100km.

Our test truck was the eight-speed auto which, especially around town, would be the pick of the transmissions.

The dash-mounted transmission shifter is easy to get used to. A flick left and back for drive and left and up for reverse was easy. The manual shifting was easy too, but really, unless you want to use some engine braking for downhill runs, it was more sensible to let the slick eight-speed auto just do its thing.

The engine is a peach. It’s very smooth in operation with heaps of torque across a wide band. Our test truck was loaded with around a tonne of paper on two pallets and the Daily hardly felt it.

We also had the optional air-bag suspension in the rear and this performed exceptionally well, as did the independent front suspension. And the new electric steering is fantastic on the road. It’s tight, direct, and totally devoid of slop.

Another thing about the steering is that in slow-speed driving situations in the city, or when you’re negotiating tight loading zones or carparks, drivers can actuate the new City Mode button on the dash. This function reduces steering effort by up to 70 per cent, making it easier to park or manoeuvre.

The rear of this van is immense. Firstly, I could easily stand tall in the back and walk around – there is 2.1m of internal height in the load area. And there’s 5.1m of length. The width of the load area is 1.7m, which shrinks to 1.0m between the wheel arches.

The rear doors open right around the body of the van to 270 degrees so you can load the rear from a fork lift, and the side door offers 1260mm of width and 1.8m of height.

There are plenty of substantial anchor points along either side of the floor.

Rather than having a huge list of options for the Daily, IVECO has grouped the options into ‘packs’ so depending on the owner’s application and needs, buyers can grab the package that suits.

Packages include the Hi-Business Pack, comprising the Hi-Connect multimedia system with GPS navigation, open storage with inductive charger and USB port, fog lights and full LED headlights.

Then there’s the Hi-Comfort Pack, which gives climate-controlled air conditioning, leather-covered steering wheel, tyre pressure monitoring as well as automatic wipers and headlights.

Next is the Hi-Technology Pack – Automatic Transmission, in which you get Queue Assist, lane departure warning with Proactive Lane Keep Assist, City Brake, Traction Plus, hill-descent control and automatic high-beam control; and finally the Hi-Technology Pack – Manual Transmission, which gives City Brake, Traction Plus and hill descent control, automatic high-beam control, lane-departure warning and Proactive Lane Keep Assist.

The MY2022 IVECO Daily is backed by a comprehensive standard three-year/200,000km warranty with additional extended warranty options of up to five years/300,000km available at extra cost.

If you’re looking for a van that has a serious amount of payload and can also tow 3500kg, there are no big decisions to be made. The IVECO 70C really is the only thing that you can go for.

Fortunately, the 70C is a good thing. Opt for the airbag suspension, the power and torque upgrade and maybe one of the ‘packs’ and you’ll have a very comfortable and capable van.

Throw a mattress or a swag in the back with some camping gear and you’ll also have a great mobile home for the weekends!

Specifications
Model: IVECO Daily 70C
Engine: F1C Euro 6 Heavy Duty four-stroke diesel with direct-injection and electronically-controlled variable geometry turbine (e-VGT)
Maximum power: 155kW (210hp) at 3500rpm
Maximum torque: 470Nm (347ft-lb) at 1500rpm
Emissions technology: Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
Transmission: Eight-speed ZF torque-converter automatic (Hi-Matic)
Tare weight: 3076kg
GVM: 7000kg
GCM: 10,500kg
Safety: ABS, EBD (electronic brake force distribution), ASR (anti-slip regulator),
MSR (motor drag torque control), hill holder (assisted uphill departure), HBA (hydraulic brake assist), LAC (load adaptive control), TSM (trailer sway mitigation), RMI (roll movement intervention), ROM (roll over mitigation), four SRS airbags, advanced emergency braking, reverse camera
Fuel: 100L
AdBlue: 20L