Ford Ranger vs Iveco Daily

What's the difference?

There’s a lot to like about the Ford Ranger Sport, especially with the V6 engine. It's nice to drive, comfortable and packed full of features and tech.

Sure, it’s better suited to towing and open-road/track recreational duties than being used as a rock-crawling 4WD, but that doesn’t matter one iota to the Ranger’s core market.

One thing though: the bi-turbo is just as good as the V6, I reckon. And it’s cheaper. 

However, if you plan on repeatedly towing large boats or horse floats over long distances, then perhaps the V6 is the better option, especially if you’re concerned about the smaller engine’s ability to withstand the stresses and strains of lugging loads over an extended period of time.

This workhorse combines good cabin comfort and storage with an expansive tray (or other service body if you prefer) and GVM/GCM ratings large enough to cater for a multitude of heavy work requirements. It would be worthy of consideration if you have a car licence and need more than a one-tonne ute or full-size US pickup to get the job done.

The Ranger Sport is the same look (inoffensive) and size (big) as other dual-cab variants in the line-up but it has those few aforementioned styling differences – black grille, machined alloy wheels etc – to set it apart from its stablemates.

Lower-spec Rangers look good, and the Sport is essentially a mildly jazzed-up version of a standard Ranger – not quite reaching the stylistic levels of Wildtrak, Platinum, or the Raptor – and so its appearance lands it squarely on the correct side of inoffensive.

The latest Daily E6 range features a revised and more streamlined grille design with more prominent horizontal louvres.

It has also switched from hydraulic to electric power-steering, bringing numerous benefits including steering wheel height/reach adjustment and the new ‘City Mode'.

The latter allows the driver to reduce low-speed steering effort by up to 70 per cent when negotiating tight worksites or loading zones. A welcome feature that allows turning with one or two fingers.

Iveco claims catering for big Aussies was of primary importance when refining its driver seating comfort which includes a taller headrest, longer seatbelts and seat-rails for greater adjustability, plus what it claims to be the first use of memory foam in commercial vehicles.

The only thing missing for RHD markets like Australia is a driver's left footrest, even though LHD markets get them as evidenced by the one residing in the passenger footwell, which is of course the driver's footwell in LHD models.

Passenger seating is often overlooked in single-cab designs but our test vehicle is unusually comfortable, particularly in the central position where even tall people can sit with sufficient knee clearance from the dash and with ample room for large boots on a flat floor.

The steel ladder-frame chassis rides on torsion-bar independent front suspension and a live rear axle, located by substantial double-stacked leaf-spring packs.

Braking is by four-wheel discs and it has a compact 13.5-metre turning circle, which certainly takes the stress out of U-turns, particularly at busy intersections.

The front bumper and lower sections of the doors, where most bumps and scrapes occur, have a low maintenance dark grey finish.

The bumper is now made in three pieces to minimise repair costs, as each section can be replaced independently if damaged rather than having to replace the entire unit.

The Ranger cabin does pretty well in terms of practicality and comfort – for the ute segment anyway.

The multimedia system is easy enough to navigate and operate and that screen is big enough and crisp enough so even my old bloke eyes could cope with it.

Driver and front passenger have easy access to plenty of storage options – centre console, cupholders, big door pockets, a pocket-dump shelf etc – and charging points – wireless charger, USB and USB-C sockets – in this ute’s control room.

There’s also plenty of space inside for the driver and the passengers, front and back. The seats are supportive and comfortable upfront and only marginally less so in the back row. There’s enough room back there for a three-person party – I sat behind my driving position and had loads of space.

Second-row passengers get a fold-down centre arm-rest, door pockets, and map pockets as well as air-con vents and controls.

The business end of this ute, the tub, has a sturdy-looking liner, four tie-down points, a 12-volt outlet, and LED lighting.

But beyond all that it has a handy built-in step at the rear right-hand side of the vehicle. I can attest to the usefulness of something like this because a few years ago while loading a ute – not a Ranger – I injured myself trying to get into the tub by standing on top of one of the tyres. It was raining at the time, the tyre was wet, and the soles of my old boots unfortunately didn’t provide the requisite amount of traction required to prevent me from slipping. I sustained a deep haematoma to my upper right thigh, which calcified and still troubles me to this day. Boo-hoo, I hear you say. Well, my point is this: well done, Ford, because that step is a worthwhile addition, not at all a novelty.

For measurement nerds, such as myself, the tub measures 1464mm long (at the floor; a pallet-swallowing 1217mm between the wheel-arches), 1520mm wide and 525mm deep. Opening width at the tailgate is 1393mm.

If you’re keen to build your Ranger as an adventure vehicle then you’re in luck. When you order a new Ranger you can order an ARB ‘Build’ to suit your lifestyle. That chosen build will be fitted to your Ranger prior to you taking delivery of it. 

There are three builds – Family Adventurer, Tourer, and Serious Off-roader – and each one includes a specific set of aftermarket accessories (covering protection, suspension, lighting and more) and, when you’ve specified which build you want at Ranger-ordering time, those will have already been fitted to it when it comes time for you to collect it. The builds are covered by Ford’s five-year/unlimited km warranty. 

With its 2135kg tare weight and 4495kg GVM, our test vehicle offers a substantial 2360kg payload rating, which is about double that of the sturdiest one-tonne cab-chassis models.

Even after you deduct the 304kg weight of its aftermarket aluminium tray from that figure, you're still left with 2056kg or more than two tonnes of payload capacity.

It's also rated to tow up to 3500kg of braked trailer and with its 7995kg GCM that means it can legally tow its maximum trailer weight while carrying its maximum GVM.

In other words, this jigger can legally haul just under 8.0 tonnes of combined payload and trailer, which opens the door to many working tasks requiring big load capacities.

The aluminium tray has a sturdy bulkhead with rear window protection and pivoting load retainers up top to ‘book-end' long lengths of pipe or timber.

It also has side-steps up front plus external rope-rails and internal load-anchorage points along each side.

There are two drop-sides along each flank separated by short and sturdy pillars to boost strength and rigidity.

According to our tape measure, this tray's internal work surface is 4070mm long and 2055mm wide with a drop-side depth of 330mm.

There are plenty of places to store things in the cabin starting with three tiers of storage in each door, with the largest equipped with small and large bottle-holders. There's also a full-width shelf at roof height.

The top of the dash has two large bins with clamshell lids, plus a central bin with two USB ports. There's also cup/small-bottle holders on each side of the dash and an open shelf and small glove box on the passenger side.

In the central dash there's a pop-out cupholder, shallow drawer for small items and a larger swing-open bin below them.

The centre seat's backrest folds forward and flat to provide a small work desk complete with a spring-loaded document clamp.

This desk can be raised to reveal a padded compartment below that's ideal for storing pens and slender electronic devices (phones, iPads etc).

Both base cushions in the passenger seat can also be tilted forward to access a large hidden area beneath, so there's good use of limited cabin space to maximise storage.

Our test vehicle is the 50C single cab-chassis equipped with the standard 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, optional eight-speed automatic transmission and 3750mm wheelbase (one of five wheelbases to choose from) for a list price of $70,639, plus on-road costs.

Our example is equipped with the 'Hi-Business Pack' (one of four optional upgrade packs) which consists of the 'Hi-Connect' multimedia system with GPS navigation, wireless and USB phone-charging, fog lights and full LED headlights. So, drive-away price (not including tray) is $73,364.

For that money you get a workhorse that's well equipped for hard yakka, starting with its six rugged steel wheels (duals at the rear) with 195/75 R16 truck tyres and a full-size spare.

The single-cab has a suspended, heated and fully adjustable driver's seat with fold-down inboard armrest plus a two-passenger bench seat, adaptive cruise control, heated and power-adjustable door mirrors with direction indicators, electronic parking brake, daytime running lights, 3.5-inch driver's info display and four-speaker multimedia with multiple connectivity including Apple and Android devices.

There's also plenty of cabin storage and connections are provided to facilitate the installation of service bodies.

Our test vehicle has the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine, producing 184kW at 3250rpm and 600Nm at 1750-2250rpm.

It has a 10-speed automatic transmission and a 4WD system with selectable two-wheel drive (2H), four-wheel drive high-range (4H), four-wheel drive low-range (4L) and four-wheel drive automatic (4A = 4Auto) that sends drive to the front and rear axles as needed, and which can be used on high-traction surfaces.

It has a variety of selectable drive modes – including Normal, Eco, Tow/Haul, Slippery, Mud/Ruts, and Sand – and a locking rear diff.

Iveco's 180EVID F1C is a heavy-duty 3.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel with variable geometry turbine technology and tough Euro 6 emissions compliance using AdBlue.

It produces 132kW at 3500rpm and 430Nm of torque at 1500rpm.

The optional ZF eight-speed torque converter automatic sends drive to the rear wheels and offers a choice of 'Eco' (Economy) and 'Power' drive modes plus the option of sequential manual-shifting, all using the stumpy dash-mounted shifter.

It also has overdrive on its seventh and eight ratios to optimise fuel economy, particularly at highway speeds.

Official fuel consumption for the Sport V6 is 8.4L/100km on a combined cycle.

I recorded fuel consumption of 12.4L/100km on this test.

The Ranger has a 80-litre tank, so, going by the above figures, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 645km from a full tank.

When we stopped to refuel at the completion of our 303km test, the dash display was claiming average consumption of 11.3L/100km, of which about one third of that distance was hauling a heavy payload on a mix of city and suburban roads plus some highway travel.

Our own number, crunched from fuel bowser and trip meter readings, came in slightly lower at 10.9, which is excellent economy for a vehicle weighing more than 2.4 tonnes unladen and almost 4.0 tonnes for part of our test.

So, based on our figures, you could expect a realistic driving range of around 900km from its 100-litre tank.

I've driven a lot of variants of the Ford Ranger on all sorts of terrain and I've always been impressed with how well they've performed.

The Ranger is nice to drive on-road – quiet inside, refined, comfortable and that engine and transmission are a clever and relaxed combination – and it’s very capable off-road but one or two niggles prevent this ute from being a great all-round daily driver.

Let’s get a few of those negatives out of the way first.

This ute is hampered by its own physical dimensions when it comes to four-wheel driving. The Ranger's extended wheelbase especially impacts its ability to traverse steep rock steps without experiencing bumps to the underbody or scuffs to the side-steps.

Its wheelbase is longer than in any previous iteration, great for giving the Ranger a settled stance on a road or track but not so helpful for traversing challenging terrain. Because that stretch has impacted ramp breakover angle which is now listed as 21 degrees, whereas the previous-gen Ranger offered 25 degrees.

For reference, approach and departure angles are 30 and 23 degrees respectively.

The Ranger’s tyres – Goodyear Wrangler Territory HT (255/65R18) – are not as off-road-suited as you might like, especially for anything beyond light-duty 4WDing. (As always, with most standard 4WDs, these kinds of problems – compromised off-road angles and less-than-ideal off-road tyres – can be addressed with a mild - two inch or so - aftermarket suspension lift and a good set of aggressive LT-construction all-terrain tyres.)

I still think the driver-assist tech that has off-road applications – the track-view/360-degree camera and vehicle-info read-out (displaying driveline/diff lock indicators, and steering, pitch and roll angles etc) – are more novelty than necessity, but on this test I became more used to them than on previous trips.

The brake pedal feels spongy – taking a long time between initial foot pressure to actually ‘biting', and then the brakes – discs all round – quite abruptly clamp into action.

I’ve previously expressed annoyance at the auto transmission shifter – a kind of joystick on steroids – but it’s also another element in the Ranger to which I’m becoming accustomed.

Anyway, to the positives…

Off-road, the Ranger does well.

With a listed length of 5370mm (with a 3270mm wheelbase), a width of 2208mm, a height of 1886mm and an official kerb weight of 2351kg, this is not a small ute. It has a turning circle of 12.9m, but never feels too unwieldy on bush tracks, no matter how tight they become.

The V6 engine is rarely stressed, offers plenty of torque across a decent spread of revs and it doesn't have to work hard to get you through most obstacles or challenges.

The 10-speed auto transmission is clever – scrambling between ratios has been minimised if not completely ironed out – and if you want to take over duties yourself you can do so via the manual shifter. The ‘e-Shifter’ in 4WD Rangers is mildly annoying but, as I mentioned earlier, I’m getting used to it.

Low-range gearing is adequate and the Ranger has an electronic rear diff lock for more traction-boosting control.

There’s plenty of driver-assist tech onboard and off-road driving modes include Mud/Ruts and Sand. These are no substitute for track-worthy 4WD mechanicals, but these modes do effectively adjust engine throttle, transmission, braking, traction and stability controls to suit the driving conditions.

Hill descent control is effective, and held the Ranger to a controlled 3-4km/h while we crept down to the turn-around point on a set-piece hill.

Wading depth is 800mm and, while there had been recent rain in our 4WD proving ground prior to this test, I couldn’t find any mudholes deep enough to seriously challenge the Ranger’s water-crossing ability. 

Wheel travel – how far the axle can move up and down relative to the chassis – is not great, with the Ranger’s tyres sometimes left to dangle in space rather than stretching to the dirt.

If you’re planning to use your Ranger as a remote-area touring vehicle or even a weekend adventure machine, then take note of the payload and gross vehicle mass (GVM) figures, which are 929kg and 3280kg respectively. Remember: any aftermarket equipment (bullbar, roof rack etc), people, pets and camping gear must figure in your payload and GVM equations.

If you want to use the Ranger as a tow vehicle, it’s handy to know that its towing capacity is listed as 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked). Gross combined mass (GCM) is 6400kg.

The Ranger’s big physical dimensions, long wheelbase, and settled driving feel may seem like it’s a shoe-in as a tow vehicle of choice, but there have been rumblings in the general public about the 10-speed transmissions becoming unusually hot when the vehicle is under load for a sustained period of time, so keep an eye out for any reports on those kinds of issues.

It's easy to find a comfortable driving position given the memory foam bucket seat has adjustments for lumbar support, base-cushion rake and driver weight for its inbuilt suspension.

The fold-down inboard armrest, in partnership with the door's armrest, ensures balanced elbow support to reduce neck and shoulder strain.

There are good eyelines to the big door mirrors, with the bottom thirds of each offering wide-angle views. However, with the seat in its most rearward position, the slim column that separates the fixed and sliding glass in the driver's door slightly obscures the outside edge of the driver's door mirror, which suggests the single-cab has more rearward seat travel than the van version we've previously tested.

The electric power-steering is nicely weighted (particularly the new ‘city mode' in tight spots) and the four-wheel disc brakes have good stopping power.

It's a no-brainer the ride quality is harsh over bumps when unladen, given it's designed to cope with 8.0-tonne GCMs.

Fact is, in a working role, this vehicle would rarely if ever be driven without a substantial load to engage its big rear springs, which we did when forklifting 1.3 tonnes onto the tray. With driver this payload totalled 1.4 tonnes, which was still more than 600kg below its peak rating (with tray).

Even so, it was enough to make the ride much smoother, which is most relevant in this context. The 3.0-litre turbo-diesel maintained good performance hauling this load in city and suburban driving, displaying useful flexibility either side of its 1500rpm torque peak in Eco mode.

We did sample the Power mode, but found the engine was more than capable of handling this task in its economy setting, with the eight-speed auto doing its best work if left alone without the need to manual shift.

The engine only requires 2000rpm to maintain highway speeds, so engine (and tyre) noise is low at 110km/h. The most cabin noise comes from wind-buffeting around the mirrors, bulkhead frame and payload hanging in the breeze.

In Eco mode it performed well on our 13 per cent gradient, 2.0km-long set climb at 60km/h, comfortably hauling this load to the summit in third gear without the need to select Power mode.

Engine-braking on the way down, in a manually-selected second gear, pegged the road speed at 50km/h without the brakes needing to being applied for most of the descent, until it overrode our manual gear selection and shifted up to third when the engine was approaching its 4500rpm redline on overrun.

In our experience, these engine-protecting protocols are common in European commercial vehicles. However, it can spring a surprise if you're leaning on the engine to help restrain a big payload on a steep descent and it suddenly changes up a gear.

Even so, the engine-braking performance was good given its sizeable payload.

Heavy commercial vehicles are not eligible for ANCAP ratings but the 50C cab-chassis is equipped with numerous standard passive and active safety features including driver, passenger and curtain airbags, AEB, adaptive cruise control, a suite of nine electronic stability programs and more.

The Ford Ranger line-up has a five-year/unlimited km warranty and five years of roadside assistance as long as you always service your Ranger at an authorised dealer.

Service intervals are scheduled for every 15,000km or 12 months, whichever occurs soonest.

Capped-price servicing applies to a MY24 Ranger’s first four services for a total cost of $1516, according to the Ford Service Price Guide.

Standard warranty is three years/200,000km (three years is short) but the option of up to five years/300,000km is available at extra cost.

Scheduled servicing is every 50,000km/12 months whichever occurs first.

Iveco offers a range of maintenance agreements to help owners manage maintenance costs.