Especially in the weekends, many truck drivers park their machinery in an industrial park, nearby their residence. I spotted a cluster of three vehicles, waiting for a new working week. Arranging them in descending order, given size and weight, the first one is a 2014 DAF CF 370 FAN.
The 6×2 flatbed truck has a single wheeled, steering and liftable tag axle. The DAF’s companion is a Wirtgen W 50 Ri cold milling machine, used to remove concrete and asphalt pavement. The 370 DIN-hp truck is rated at a legal maximum GVM of 27,000 kg (59,525 lbs).
Next is a 2009 Iveco Eurocargo 140E22 aerial work platform truck (hoogwerker, in Dutch). It’s powered by a 5.9 liter turbodiesel with a maximum power output of 218 DIN-hp.
Parked just around the corner, this 2018 Iveco Daily 70C18 flatbed truck with a crew cab. The heaviest of the RWD, body-on-frame Daily-series; according to its registration, the vehicle’s legal maximum gross weight is 7,000 kg (15,432 lbs).
The bed height in this segment of RWD light trucks, when unladen, is somewhere around 100 cm (39.4”). Some other dimensions, as registered: overall length 740 cm (291.3”), wheelbase 435 cm (171.3”).
It’s quite obvious what the Daily’s job is. There’s a 180 DIN-hp, 3.0 liter inline-four turbodiesel under its hood. The FPT 3.0 engine is also offered in the Fiat Ducato~Ram ProMaster.
On the road again, somewhat later. A dash cam still (…), featuring a 2014 Carnehl end dump semi-trailer with the usual tridem axle/super singles chassis set-up. Clearly, the semi-trailer’s frame can be made substantially wider when using wheels with super singles instead of dual wheels with standard sized tires. The tractor unit was a Mercedes-Benz Actros.
Working on the country’s infrastructure is an ongoing, never ending process. It’s common that this work is done during night hours and weekends, so it was no surprise to catch this rig on a Sunday. You can see the gray back side of the yellow warning and detour signs on both sides of the road (have a look at the cargo of the Iveco Daily again).
Further down the road I found this brand new Toyota Yaris (2020 XP210 generation on Toyota’s TNGA-B platform), a fresh arrival on our car market. Soon, these will be everywhere, I’m absolutely certain of that.
The B-segment/subcompact five-door hatchback has a wheelbase of 256 cm (100.8”). Its main competitors are the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo, Opel Corsa, Peugeot 208 and Renault Clio.
This is the Yaris to have, powered by the 1.5 hybrid drivetrain, that is. The combined maximum power output is 116 DIN-hp. The also new 1.5 liter engine is a three-cylinder. So far for this short tour on a sunny Sunday.
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For 2021, Toyota has withdrawn the Yaris from the U.S. market. We were getting a re-badged Mazda2 the last few years, and only an automatic transmission.
This wasn’t Toyota’s first sales flop here, but I have to wonder if Toyota sticking with overly conservative mechanical specs at the low end of the market are part of the reason why this car didn’t do better.
At least in theory you could get a manual on the sedan but not the hatchback. When I was car-shopping in January there were 2 or 3 listed in my area but I couldn’t find one for a test drive because Toyota’s website, uniquely and maddeningly, always directs you to the nearest dealer and gives no indication where a specific car is located at. The configurator also (and just as uniquely and maddeningly) won’t show you options that aren’t in stock in your zone.
GM’s configurator is by far the best. And the regional Toyota limitations are maddening.
Honda is pulling the class-leading Fit from the US market as well. Fiesta’s gone. Sonic is gone. Mazda2 is gone. This class of car apparently isn’t popular or profitable enough to invest in and Toyota seemed to realize this years ago when it stopped updating the Yaris here. I would wager that they could have thrown hundreds of millions at redevelopment and it still would have failed here.
Nice selection Johannes.
I quite like the new Yaris. We went to take a look at the new GR at our local dealer at the weekend. It was a LHD pre production model and the only one in the UK dealer network at the moment and is doing a tour of all the dealerships. Quite a beast. My wife has booked a test drive for when the first demos appear. Should be fun……
Wow! You actually mean this GR Yaris?? As in the AWD, 261 DIN-hp GR Yaris??
“Should be fun….” must be an understatement!
That’s the one! She’s thinking of changing her Up GTI for one.
I’m starting to see a few flat-bed, van-based trucks on this side of the pond. Only as single cabs, though – neither Ford nor Ram offers a Crew Cab-and chassis in their van lines.
Until now, this segment has been dominated by Japanese COE trucks – Isuzu, Hino, and UD – and they’re still the only ones who offer a crew cab.
A bit of nitpicking here, but these aren’t really van-based trucks. Something like the Iveco Daily is both offered as a van (with a choice of wheelbases, roof heights, etc.) and as a chassis-cab (that’s a rolling chassis with a complete single or double cab) at the same time. Both straight from the factory. Chassis-cabs also come in different wheelbases and rear overhangs, and with single or dual rear wheels.
The most basic body on a chassis-cab is a flatbed with dropsides, often offered as a factory option, yet also built by independent companies/coachbuilders. Just like on a big truck, you can have pretty much any body you want, like an enclosed box.
In Europe, anything above the weight-segment of the Daily/Sprinter/Transit etc. is a cabover with a tilt cab, European built too. Japanese trucks are very rare, in northwestern Europe anyway, and only some light models are being offered (like the Fuso Canter and Isuzu N-series).
He’s not referring to the Iveco daily, which isn’t offered in the US. He’s talking about Sprinter, Promaster and Transit chassis-cab trucks. Yes, they do have a separate frame, but it’s probably reasonably fair to say that they’re “van-based”. Or at least “van related”.
Thanks for helping clarify that, Paul.
A RAM dealer I regularly drive by has a ProMaster-based “pickup” on the front of the lot. It has a flatbed much like the Iveco in this post, but it’s also a dump bed, and it’s displayed at full tilt so we know what it does.
I’ve got no idea how it’s priced, but it sure looks like a more practical “pickup” than any actual pickup truck on the lot.
These chassis cabs just have frame rails that are welded to the cab. Not really all that different than the vans, whose frame rails are also welded to the body too. I’m quite sure the chassis cab frame rails are stronger, as the van structure adds a considerable amount of strength to the vehicle that’s missing in the chassis cab.
This is essentially the same as has been done with cutaway chassis-cabs on the US Econoline, GM vans and Dodge vans for ages.
Like this? I saw it parked at Lowe’s a couple of months ago. Fully finished cab with a rear wall and then the utility body on top of the rear part. Looked quite usable with far less wasted space than a regular pickup truck.