Coining it in

Roland Rendell has it large with Fiat’s Ducato 35 MultiJet II 16v LWB HR

Remember the Fiorino? I reviewed the frugal little Italian in the middle of last year, which is named after a coin laced with gold. This time I move up to the Ducato, and it’s an impressive bit of kit.

Fiat seems to like gold coins. Ducato means Duchy, and comes from the word Ducat, a gold trade coin used throughout Europe pre‑WWI. Since its launch in 1981, Fiat has sold over 2.4 million Ducato’s. Also marketed as the Citroen Relay and Peugeot Boxer, it is the most commonly used motorhome base across Europe.
    
At the recent CV Show in Birmingham, GreenFleet’s current LCV Manufacturer of the Year was ‘Making the others Green with Envy’ with its branding and messaging, and, it hopes, the vehicles themselves.
    
The week of the annual GreenFleet Arrive ‘n’ Drive event at Rockingham, I took delivery of the Ducato 35 Van 2.3 MultiJet II 16v 130 LWB HR. It seemed a good way of putting the van through its paces – with a full load and taking in A-roads, dual carriageways and motorways. Would it stack up?

CREATING CAR COMFORT
Fiat have tried to recreate the comfort of their cars in to the cab of the Ducato. I heaved myself up and parked my bulk on the stylish red and black seats. A good start with the armrest and lumber support. A quick scan of the outside world revealed great external vision and plenty of headroom. The two seats beside me looked comfortable enough, with the centre one folding down to form a table. There’s plenty of under‑dash storage for Van Man’s paperwork, packed lunch and other bits and pieces.
    
The steering wheel has the usual buttons, to adjust volume, etc. On the end of the indicator stalks is the cruise control, and behind all this is the display. Usual stuff – speedo, rev counter, fuel gauge and temperature. To the left is the dash‑mounted gearstick, with the 6-speed manual in a comfortable position. The centre consul, from top to bottom, reads stereo, climate control and switches for hazards, door locks and also where the Start&Stop button should be. Unfortunately, my van did not have this feature.
    
This Ducato measures 5998mm long, 2050mm wide and is 3500kg in weight. I now had to manoeuvre it in to place for loading, and with a turning circle of 14.28m, it easily swung round and into position outside our loading bay. The door measures 1250mm wide by 175mm high, so plenty of room. Inside there is 13m³ of loads space, and although we crammed it with branding, banners, flag poles, boxes of magazines, bags, and all sorts of event paraphernalia, we still only used about 25 per cent of the capacity.
    
So how does it drive? Well, I can sum this up pretty simply here – like a dream. The gear change is smooth and seamless. It’s only a 2.3 diesel, Euro 5 engine, with 130bhp. But with 320Nm of torque, this van does not struggle, no matter what terrain I encounter.
    
The twists and turns of urban driving were OK, despite it’s bulk, but I had selected the Instant MPG configuration on the display to see what return I was getting. The Urban figure is 32.1mpg, and I seemed to be getting between 15 and 30, depending on hills, etc. However, once on the motorway and cruise control was selected at 70mph, this is where you will get the best return. It will quite happily sit at that speed and churn out just under 40mpg (I managed 41.2 on the return, with a lighter payload).
    
The CO2 is an impressive 195g/km (189 if you have Start&Stop, with the MPG improving to just under 43). It has a top speed of 93mph and the 90 litre tank should give you around 500 miles from full.  I tried this van around town, on the country roads and on dual carriageways and the motorway, and each time it performed handsomely. It handles well, manoeuvres great and when you do get it up to 55mph plus, it sits there and will chug along all day.

TRUE WORKHORSE
A true workhorse – it drives well, is comfortable and at just under £25k, I would recommend this to any commercial fleet manager. Under the different guises, I’m sure that Fiat will be coining it in over the coming years

DETAILS
GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT: 3,500kg
LOAD VOLUME: 13.0m3
POWER: 130bhp @ 3,600rpm
TORQUE: 236lb ft @ 500-2,500rpm
CO2: 195g/km (189g/km with Start&Stop)
MPG (combined): 38.2 (39.9 with Start&Stop)
PRICE (ex-VAT): £24,845