Holden Colorado vs Iveco Daily

What's the difference?

The Holden Colorado Z71 is a pretty decent towing machine, handling all aspects of general load-lugging duties with a quiet reliable efficiency. In simple terms, it kept the whole ute-and-van combination trucking along nicely.

The Z71 is a solid Colorado package all-round with some welcome flashiness to its functionality.

The Iveco Daily van’s light-truck genetics mean it’s not as immediately familiar to the end-user as some of the competition. It’s a fair climb to get inside, for instance, and once you’re there, the cabin lacks the ambience of a more passenger-oriented machine. Its wheelbase and external dimensions, too, mean it requires plenty of parking skill and real estate, and the dynamics are surefooted but hardly athletic.

Of course, fleet managers won’t care too much about any of that, and the flip-side is those truck underpinnings point to a low maintenance, high-mileage lifespan with good warranty as a promise of less time lost in the service bay when the van could be on the road earning its keep.

Right at the moment, the Daily van appears to be forming some kind of bridge between the car and truck world in terms of safety equipment and driver assistance gear, too. And that’s got to be a good thing.

But equally, it remains a pretty specialised piece of equipment that won’t work for everybody, nor does it have a lot of cross-over appeal between the car and truck worlds. None of which, of course, will prevent it being a valuable tool of the trade in the right hands.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The Colorado is a good-looking unit, so it follows that the Z71, the Colorado line-up's top dog, should be the best-looking vehicle in the entire range. And it is. Look at the photos yourself and make up your own mind.

The Z71's black highlights everywhere, the roof rails, side steps and fold-away tonneau cover add functionality to the flashiness.

Under its slick exterior, the Z71 sits on a steel ladder-frame chassis.

There may be no mechanical differences between the Z71 and other similarly-powered Colorado utes, but this is not merely a sticker-pack special – this is something more substantial than that. Don't believe me? Keep reading.

One thing Iveco is very up front about is that its vans are truck-based. To some sectors of the market this is no problem whatsoever, but it means that stylistically, the end product is not likely to be as fashionable looking as some of the competition. That big, bluff front, for instance, while maybe looking a bit heavy-handed to some, will conjure up just the right amount of brute force for others.

There is also evidence Iveco doesn’t mind if the exterior appearance fails to hide how the machine works. That perhaps why the wheel arch flares are obvious and the track for the sliding door is proudly on display rather than hidden.

Even inside, the bare cargo-bay walls tell their own utilitarian story, but when you get down to actually lashing down heavy loads, that truck heritage is very much in evidence with a non-nonsense layout and presentation.

The Z71 has a Colorado carry-over interior, which is nice and simple, with some Z71 branding stitched in the front seats.

For starters, there are grab handles for the driver and front passenger – I'm a big fan of grab handles.

The dash is a basic layout – but made family-friendly with expanses of tough plastic and soft-touch leather – and it has everything you need. The centre console houses an 8.0-inch colour touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and standard nav.

There is a USB port in the centre-bin, and there's a 12V socket in the back of that bin for back-seat passengers.

The cabin is reasonably comfortable; the front seats – in fact all of the Z71's seats – err on the side of firm rather than being well-cushioned. But, even in the back seat, when I sat behind my driving position, I had ample head- and leg-room.

There are the usual collection of storage spaces around the cabin – sunglasses, glove box, door pockets, seat-back pockets – but a long centre-bin lid impedes access to the cupholders in between driver and front-seat passenger, and there are no cupholders in the back seat's fold-down centre arm-rest.

There are shallow storage spots under the rear seats, one of which contains your jack etc.

Overall fit and finish is impressive without being spectacular, but that's fine with me.

The tray is 1484mm long, 1534mm wide (1122mm between the wheel-arches) and 466mm high. Back there, you get Premium DuraGuard Spray–on tub liner, which seems sturdy and durable, as well as four solid tie-down points.

Even within the framework of vans that are agile enough to park relatively simply, can be driven on a normal car license and are priced within reach of even recreational users, there’s still a lot going on. Think optional payloads, wheelbases and cargo volumes, just for starters.

So let’s start with the Daily 42S. Available with either a 3520mm or 4100mm wheelbase, the 42S can cope with a payload of 1872kg or 1741kg, respectively. Towing capacity is 3500kg. It stands more than 2.7 metres tall and seats three.

The 50C is the next step up the size ladder and, like the 42S, can be had with either a 3520mm or 4100mm wheelbase. But from there, the 50C just gets bigger with a choice of three overall lengths (up to almost 7.7 metres) and two distinct roof heights. Payload varies from a high of 1942kg to 1752kg and, like the 42S it also seats three and can tow 3500kg.

Iveco has stuck with single rear wheels (rather than a dual-wheel rear axle) for the 42S variant as this minimises the internal space taken up by the rear wheel arches and ensures that the van in any configuration will still swallow a standard pallet between those arches. The 50C, meanwhile, with its greater payload potential, features dual rear wheels. The other reason for the dual wheels is that the 50C can be ordered with an upscaled GVM of 5.2 tonnes, versus the standard vehicle’s 4.5 tonnes. At that point, though, the driver requires an endorsed license to stay legal.

The cabin is a master-class in finding a storage space for everything, with no less than three cubbies per door, storage bins on the dash-top and above the sun-visors, half a dozen cubbies in the dash fascia, a single glove box and a huge storage area under the flip-up cushions of the passenger’s bench seat. In standard trim, the Iveco vans seat three with a two-person bench and a single driver’s seat. That, however, doesn’t mean the vehicle has a walk-through function, and the solid cargo barrier keeps the cabin permanently separate from the cargo bay.

Access to the cargo area is via twin barn doors at the rear which open back on to the sides of the vehicle for easier fork-lift loading. There’s a single sliding side door as standard on the kerb-side, but you can option a second sliding door on the other side. There are also no less than 10 tie-down points (five per side) and they’re solid and mounted on the floor for maximum usefulness. Three LED lights illuminate the cargo area.

When you start to dig into the Iveco Daily range, it soon becomes apparent there’s huge depth to the line-up. In fact, there’s everything from a four-wheel drive dual cab-chassis, a bare-bones cab-chassis and even van versions with enough GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass) to require a truck license to be driven legally.

But for most users, and certainly those that might otherwise resort to an American pick-up or some other form of dual-cab utility for their work and play requirements, the Daily variants that offer the broadest appeal are the 42S and 50C vans.

That pair gives you a choice of capacities (see Practicality section) as well as some new safety tech and some structural changes aimed at making the vehicle safer.

You also get climate-control air-conditioning, cruise-control and a tilt and height adjustable steering column. Seat trim is still cloth, the floor coverings remain vinyl and the wheels are stamped from steel. This is, after all, a truck-based vehicle and it shows in some respects.

A pair of option-packs start with the 'Business Pack' which takes fuel capacity from 70 litres to 100 litres, a new 10-inch multi-media unit, a passenger’s bench seat with table, a heated driver’s seat with suspension function, climate-control, keyless entry and go, fog-lights and an electronic park-brake.

The 'Premium Pack' adds auto headlights and wipers, LED lighting, a leather steering wheel, wireless charging, adaptive cruise-control and lane-centring.

Right at the moment, we don’t have pricing for those packs, nor do we, in fact, have confirmation of pricing for the new van range. But word on the street is that pricing – thanks to a strong exchange rate at the moment – may not be very different from the superseded range, meaning the entry-level 42S van could enter the market around the $60,000 mark plus on-road costs, while the 50C variant could top out at closer to $100,000. That’s a pretty sketchy prediction, we know, but it’s all we can offer at the moment.

The Z71 has a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel Duramax engine (147kW at 3600rpm and 500Nm at 2000rpm), six-speed automatic transmission, a part-time 4WD system and a rear limited slip differential.

While vans might be getting ever closer to passenger cars in the way they drive (stay with us) in engineering terms, there’s still a bit of 'us and them' going on. That means you kind of have to throw away a fair bit of what you thought you knew about how motor vehicles work, but it also means the Iveco is fit for purpose in a world where big loads and lots of kilometres are the norm.

Power in either the 42S or the 50C comes from a 3.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine. It doesn’t sound too different from what you’d find in a dual-cab ute, but the engine uses some pretty heavy-duty tech, making it closer to a truck engine than a typical light commercial’s, including an impressive service regime. Although capacity remains the same, the Iveco’s unit is available in two tunes, both erring on the side of torque over outright power.

The 42S gets a 132kW and 430Nm version of the engine, while the 50C can be optioned up to the second-tier tune with 155kW and 470Nm. It’s not just an electronic tweak, either, and while the engine’s fundamentals remain, there are changes to the turbocharger and camshaft as well as the engine management.

Standard transmission is a ZF-made eight-speed conventional automatic and there’s electric power-steering as a nod to the chase for maximum efficiency which is perhaps even more important in the Daily’s European home market than it might sometimes be here.

However, it’s when you get to the suspension that the Daily reveals its brawny design ethos. Front suspension on the 42S is by double wishbones and torsion bars which sounds odd, but is pretty familiar in the trucking world. The 50C uses the same arrangement.

At the rear, the 42S gets a simple twin-leaf parabolic spring at each outer end of the axle, while the 50C has the same with optional air suspension and an optional driver-controlled locking differential.

All versions of the Daily also use the time-honoured (in the trucking industry) body-on-ladder-chassis construction method.

Our dash display read 7.9L/100km, but we recorded actual fuel consumption on test of 9.7L/100km. It has a 76-litre fuel tank, so expect an approximate driving range of 753km (according to our on-test fuel consumption), factoring in a 30km safety buffer.

On our towing loop, of more than 200km total, the dash was showing 14.5L/100km, but we recorded an actual fuel-consumption figure of 15.5L/100km. Expect an approximate driving range of 460km (according to our on-test fuel consumption), factoring in a 30km safety buffer.

Fuel consumption of commercial vehicles can vary enormously depending on where they’re driven and how they’re used and loaded. As a commercial vehicle, there are no official fuel consumption claims made by Iveco according to any standard test procedure.

Our experience with this vehicle in the past, however, suggests that between nine and 10 litres per 100km is a good indication of overall consumption. Obviously, hitching a 3.5-tonne trailer to the vehicle and loading it fully will have a big effect on that number.

With the standard 70-litre tank, the Daily should be able to cover near enough to 700km between fills, while the optional 100 tank should take it closer to 1000km.

Don’t forget, either, that the new Daily requires AdBlue which is carried in a 20-litre reservoir on the vehicle, and that the cost of filling this needs to be added to overall running costs.

The Z71 has a steel ladder-frame chassis, double-wishbone front suspension and leaf-spring live rear axle, so it's more aligned with heavy-duty work than smooth on-road performance.

Having said that, the Z71 is quite settled over most surfaces, including highway bitumen and rough back-road backtop, and at most speeds – rather impressive for an unladen ute.

Steering is a bit floaty, with some play in it, and there is noticeable understeer on corners.

The engine is one of the torquiest in the current-day ute mob – only matched by V6 utes – and it delivers that torque quite evenly and smoothly across the rev range. The Duramax turbo-diesel can, however, be noisy, and because of that it seems like it's working hard, though it never feels too stressed, even when towing a caravan that has a caravan with a tare (empty) weight of 2600kg.

There's plenty of life in terms of acceleration with active pedal-feel but, when it comes time to pulling up to a fast stop on front disc and rear drum brakes, the brake pedals are rather spongy.

The six-speed auto is generally spot-on for all duties, although it did occasionally down-shift with an extra violence of action when it didn't really need to.

Ride and handling are pretty good, with its Aussie-tuned suspension (including traditional-ute leaf-springs at the rear) doing a decent job of sorting everything evenly, and it was only ever rattled by very severe bumps, wash-outs, and ruts at lower speeds, i.e. during low-range 4WDing.

The Z71's on-road performance and refinement are generally not as polished as segment leaders, but that's nowhere near a deal-breaker.

The first impression – once you’ve managed to climb inside the cabin (a manoeuvre that requires the in-built step) is of a magnificent view ahead and to the sides. You sit high and mighty and the vast glass area means you always feel like the king of the road. The steering wheel is relatively flat compared with a passenger vehicle, but the column features tilt and reach adjustment, so you can soon get comfortable.

The engine feels a bit grumbly and coarse compared with the dual-cab utes with which many of us are more familiar. It’s not harsh, though, and soon has the Iveco accelerating, if not swiftly, then certainly with some authority and a feeling it would take something pretty solid to slow it down.

The eight-speed transmission is calibrated – perhaps deliberately – to feel a little like the robotised manuals of some bigger trucks, and as such, can feel a little stilted in the way it ever so slightly hesitates between shifts.

The brake pedal is also placed too far to the right for comfortable left-foot braking and there’s no driver’s dead-pedal or foot-rest, suggesting that overseas crash testing may have dictated its deletion and the location of the brake pedal. That said, the Daily was originally designed as left-hand-drive, so perhaps the switch from left to right has imposed some of those compromises.

The other complaint is in the form of the new-for-2026 gear selector. It uses the now common separate Park button, but until Park is engaged, the button is not illuminated or identified in any way and simply looks like another piece of black plastic on the shifter. Once you know where it is, you’re fine, but until then…

The electric power-steering poses no challenges and, in fact, is kind of a metaphor for the whole experience. It’s easy and tactile to operate and takes no time at all to feel comfortable. That’s assuming that you can learn to trust your exterior mirrors and the rear-view camera, because with the standard cargo barrier installed and the lack of an interior mirror, there’s more or less zero rear vision.

Improvements to the Daily’s safety are one of the big headlines here. Well, in Europe, perhaps, because in Australia, the upgrades kind of amount to playing catch-up. But the new driver assistance packages are the real news here and, as such, the Iveco vans now get functions such as active cruise-control, traffic-jam assist, lane centring, autonomous emergency braking (that also identifies pedestrians and cyclists), blind-spot warning and rear-cross traffic alert and assist.

The three-seat cabin features four airbags; a driver and passenger front airbag and two side-curtain bags. The Daily has been crashed tested in Europe according to NCAP protocols and scored a maximum five stars.

A new, deformable crush-box in the front structure of the Daily is designed to give the vehicle improved passenger-protection in a frontal crash.

Top tethers and ISOFIX anchors for child seats are provided with configuration varying by body type.

Holden offers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty across the Colorado range, with servicing required every 12 months or 12,000km. Capped price servicing applies over seven years/ 84,000km with the average annual cost over three years working out to be $405.

Because they’re truck-based, the Iveco vans have meaningful service intervals as a way of keeping down-time to a minimum. In the case of the 42S and 50C models, that translates to a whopping two years or 50,000km between services, whichever comes first. We understand that relies on a particular type of engine oil being used, but even so, it’s a mighty long way between drinks.

Iveco has traditionally offered service plans of up to five years, and that will continue, but we haven’t been given pricing for that at this stage.

The standard Iveco warranty applies to these models, and that gets you six years and 250,000km worth of cover. An extended driveline warranty of up to six years and 600,000km is also offered. Again, pricing for that has not been announced.

It’s also worth noting that the Iveco van engines have been Euro 6 compliant since 2015. The facelift ushers in further changes based on regulations. That means they now need AdBlue which needs to be factored in as a running cost. But because they’re designed for a European audience where emissions are arguably a much bigger issue than here, the AdBlue technology is very advanced and rules out the need for a Diesel Particulate Filter in the exhaust system; something that will appeal to a lot of would-be owners.