Iveco Daily vs Volkswagen Amarok

What's the difference?

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 Amarok W600 is impressive when you get it onto a twisty road, and my hat goes off to Walkinshaw for turning a dual-cab into something that is genuinely fun to drive on twisty roads. I’m not kidding, the W600 is proper fun.

But it’s expensive, and despite the tough looks and on-road ability, it doesn’t have any more on-paper performance than its standard siblings. That and its ride is compromised by its new abilities.

Those who spend the cash on a W600 probably won’t be disappointed if they can handle a slightly stiff ride, but it’s possible VW is expecting people will be more into the idea of a corner-carving dual-cab than is the reality.

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

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 Amarok W600 looks tough. In fact, it might even look a little too tough given the engine under its bonnet is unchanged from the regular V6 Amarok.

Walkinshaw has done an excellent job making the Amarok look like a properly fierce on-road performer, from the bespoke front bumper and new ‘W’ motif in the grille, to the lightbar across the front of the fascia connecting the lights and the aforementioned 20-inch Walkinshaw wheels.

The side-exit twin exhaust up the back of the ute looks excellent, and the fact that the sidesteps retract to tuck in below the doors gives the ute a sleeker vibe.

It’s a bit underwhelming in the cabin by comparison, with the Walkinshaw stitching in the headrests and the stainless steel pedals the biggest additions to the (admittedly already plush) Amarok interior.

It’s just a little more than a jazzed-up Ranger interior, but not by much.

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.

The Amarok starts from a solid base in terms of practicality, so the W600 inherits pretty much all of it, including a couple of its downsides.

The positives to start, the W600 uses the same handy multimedia system on a nice, clear vertical touchscreen with always-on climate controls and a few buttons for key shortcuts.

As much as a bespoke steering wheel would feel more special, the standard one from the Amarok has convenient buttons and is nice to hold.

The seats in the W600 are comfortable, and finding a naturally ergonomic position is easy with the 10-way electric adjustment, but as much as everything falls nicely to hand the cupholders are in an awkward position and there’s not a lot of easy storage space.

A little cubby above the glovebox and a small centre storage bin are a little hard to reach or access while driving, and the phone charger isn’t the best place to store items.

There’s decent space in the back, with doorcard bottle storage (as up front) and a centre armrest with cupholders.

Impressively, the Amarok W600 still has a 3500kg braked towing capacity, a 954kg payload, and no intrusion on the 1544mm long and 1224mm wide tray. There’s an optional roller cover for that, too.

Given the W600 is positioned at the pointy end of the Amarok range it should be no surprise that the dual-cab ute is pricey.

But the W600 starts from $91,990 before on-roads, which is $1300 more than the Ford Ranger Raptor. And the Raptor could be considered a bigger step up in performance when compared with its Blue Oval Brethren than the W600 is to its family. 

Noting, of course, that the Amarok borrows much of the Ranger’s construction from chassis to driveline to interior elements, the W600 is like the much more refined European cousin to the redneck Raptor.

For what you pay, the W600 does have a healthy level of features included, but it does feel like a lot of that cost is paying for the engineering that comes with it.

Regular stuff like a big 12.0-inch multimedia touchscreen, wide 12.3-inch driver display, eight-speaker sound system, electric leather seats and wireless phone charger should be expected anyway, but specific to the W600 is a set of 20-inch Walkinshaw wheels custom-fit to the W600, a dual-exit exhaust which of course exits to the side, and retractable sidesteps.

That, and the engineering underneath which includes a bespoke set of Koni dampers, the addition of a rear anti-roll bar, and a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres to go with the new lightweight wheels.

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.

Powering the W600 is the standard 3.0-litre twin-turbo-diesel V6 available in other Amaroks, with 184kW and 600Nm.

It’s mated to a 10-speed torque converted automatic and powers either the rear or all four wheels, depending on how you’ve set the all-wheel-drive system.

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 Amarok’s diesel V6 engine remains unchanged so the 8.4L/100km fuel consumption rate stands, but if you’re driving the W600 as intended, you’ll see that figure climb.

It’s fitted with an 80-litre fuel tank so theoretically a 950km trip would be possible in WLTP test conditions.

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.

The first and most impressive thing to mention once you’re on the move in the Amarok W600 is that, once you sling the 2.4-tonne dual cab into a corner, you can tell there’s been some rigorous engineering work undertaken here.

The cornering and handling ability of the W600 belies its dual-cab nature to some extent, as it holds relatively flat and is far more confidence inspiring even on soaked roads than any ladder-frame ute I can recall. 

Of course, the tyres help on the cornering front too, with the PS4 SUV rubber being a fairly big trade-off in terms of sacrificing off-road ruggedness for asphalt grip.

Even the exhaust is a subtle reminder that you’re in something that’s had the once-over (or several times over) from a crew of engineers who know what they’re doing.

Sure, it’s not the same burble that used to roll out of the Walkinshaw sheds back in the Holden days, but it growls gently at certain revs or under the right load.

But the ride is firm, and it’s surprising the roads in the south and east of Tassie showed that given they were the test roads used to turn the W600 into the ‘ultimate driver’s ute’.

It’s noticeable enough that you’d probably get a bit tired of it on a long trip, which is a shame as that’s something VW is pretty sure its W600 customers are looking to use it for. That’s why it can still tow 3500kg and has that near-1000kg payload.

I should note that utes with some weight in the tray often feel a little more settled at the leaf-sprung rear, but we didn't test the W600 with any load onboard.

Its big wheels and low-profile rubber probably don’t help the 2.4-tonne ute on the comfort front, but hey, they look good.

The other main issue is it doesn’t feel as ‘special’ as it could in the power and performance department. 

The engine is great for a dual-cab, plenty torquey and doesn’t feel like it needs to work hard day-to-day, but something with a bit of mongrel about it would have been better.

VW not wanting Walkinshaw to detract from its towing and payload ability might have hindered this a little, but I can’t help but wonder if the Amarok W600 could have been more lively with the four-cylinder petrol engine than the diesel V6.

In the Amarok TSI452 variants, it feels peppy enough to be interesting, and there’s probably more scope for chassis balance than the twin-turbo diesel allows.

It’s also the engine used in Ford’s Mustang EcoBoost and the wicked Focus RS of a few years ago, so not bad pedigree.

The Amarok boasts a five-star ANCAP rating and a strong list of safety features as standard, including a very impressive count of nine airbags.

A driver assistance suite includes lane-assist, pedestrian and cyclist monitoring, a surround-view parking camera, trailer and hitching assist with sway control, plus front and rear cameras with cross-traffic alert.

It’s certainly at the more impressive end of the dual-cab market considering the age of the Amarok as a whole.

Even better, the driver assist systems are unobtrusive, leaving you to enjoy the impressive on-road performance of the W600 without interruption from dings, chimes or warnings.

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.

The W600 is backed by VW’s standard five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty.

Given most popular utes are covered by the same, that’s pretty standard, but longer warranties are creeping in.

Volkswagen says a five-year servicing plan covers the Amarok for just $3200, which averages to $640 a year. Service schedule is every 12 months or 15,000km.