Ford Transit Custom vs Hyundai iLoad vs Toyota HiAce LWB comparison review

Although they compete in the same weight division, the HiAce, iLoad and Transit Custom each have enough uniqueness in their styling that they can be easily identified.

Looks are subjective, of course, but we reckon the Transit Custom has the most attractive styling of the three. In fact, we reckon it’s the best-looking mid-sizer on the market with its distinctive trapezoidal grille, slender swept-back headlights and wedge-shaped character lines flowing all the way to the tail that give it such a rakish and purposeful look. The added bonus is that this visual appeal does not come at the expense of practicality.

The Ford has the most attractive styling of the three (Transit Custom Sport 320L LWD pictured).

The Transit Custom is also the only one of these three that comes as standard with a steel bulkhead that separates the cabin from the cargo bay. And the HiAce differs from the three-seater iLoad and Transit Custom by offering seating for only two with walk-through access to the cargo bay.

They all use coil-spring strut front suspension, power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering, four-wheel disc brakes and leaf-spring rear axles. However, the Transit Custom is also unique in using front-wheel drive while its HiAce and iLoad rivals adhere to more traditional rear-wheel drive.

The HiAce Crew Van in metallic grey Quicksilver.

One advantage of RWD is often a tighter turning circle and that’s evident in the chart below. Although the Transit Custom has the shortest wheelbase and length of this trio, it also has the largest turning circle by more than half a metre. RWD also has an inherent traction advantage due to dynamic weight transfer from the front wheels to the rears under acceleration, which is an engineering tradition that Toyota and Hyundai want to preserve.

For the vast majority of work requirements, you wouldn't notice any difference. However, if your work involves hauling and/or towing heavy loads on compromised surfaces, particularly up steep inclines that can also become wet or boggy, then RWD’s inherent advantage would be more noticeable. So, in this context, it’s horses for courses.

Driving position adjustability and cabin comfort are generally good but there are exceptions, like the iLoad’s centre passenger seat which is too narrow for an adult, the backrest has no head restraint - and there’s only a lap-type seatbelt. And to make matters worse, the lap-belt’s buckle digs firmly into your right butt cheek when clicked-in. This seat should be for emergency use only and, if you must, only for short distances.

The Hyundai iLoad is a worthy competitor in this competitive market.

The Transit Custom gets the biggest tick here, thanks largely to its unique cabin bulkhead which insulates the cabin from cargo bay noise and doubles as a robust cargo barrier, reducing driver fatigue and increasing safety in these days of increasingly stringent OH&S requirements. The Ford is also unique in providing the driver with a fold-down inboard armrest, which helps to reduce strain on the left arm and shoulder during long shifts behind the wheel.

Toyota claims a combined average of 8.2L/100km which wasn’t far off the HiAce’s trip computer readout of 9.1L after nearly 400km of our real-world testing, with the automatic engine stop-start function switched off and more than a quarter of that distance lugging maximum payload.

Impressively, after crunching our own numbers taken from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, we came up with an identical 9.1L figure. So, based on our figures, you could expect a realistic driving range of around 770km from the HiAce’s 70-litre tank.

Hyundai’s official combined figure is 8.8L/100km, so we were impressed to see near-identical figures from our own calculations after the iLoad testing, which included a similar distance to the HiAce carrying a maximum payload. As a result, you could expect an even longer driving range of around 870km from its larger 75-litre tank.

By comparison, the Transit Custom’s dash display was showing a combined average of only 8.5L/100km after more than 600km of testing, which was not much higher than Ford’s official combined figure of 7.2L/100km. Our own numbers worked out at a frugal 8.2L/100km, which means an extensive real-world driving range of around 850km from its 72-litre tank.

So, in real-world driving, both unladen and with maximum payload, the Transit Custom proved to be the most economical of the three. However, again we’re splitting hairs here, because the difference between the HiAce and Transit Custom was less than 1.0L/100km with the iLoad in-between.

Needless to say, any commercial van that can comfortably haul a one-tonne-plus payload and return single-digit fuel economy is high on efficiency. And all three of these vans achieved that without raising a sweat.

The HiAce’s 2205kg kerb weight and 3300kg GVM results in a payload rating of 1095kg and up to 120kg of that can be carried on the roof, using Toyota’s genuine accessory triple-bar roof rack set. It’s also rated to tow up to 1500kg of braked trailer and with its 4800kg GCM (or how much it can carry and tow at the same time) it can carry its maximum one-tonne-plus payload while doing it.

770kg loaded into the cargo bay of the HiAce Crew Van.

The iLoad’s 2062kg kerb weight undercuts the HiAce’s by more than 140kg yet its 3160kg GVM results in a near-identical 1098kg payload rating, of which up to 125kg can be carried on roof racks. Like the HiAce, the iLoad can tow up to 1500kg of braked trailer and its meaty 4660kg GCM means it can do that with a maximum payload on board. In other words, they can both legally carry more than one tonne while towing 1.5 tonnes.

The Transit Custom 340L LWD has a payload capacity of 1149kg.

By comparison, the Transit Custom’s 2061kg kerb weight is line-ball with the iLoad but its 3400kg GVM results in a mighty 1339kg payload, which surpasses the HiAce and iLoad by around 240kg. 100kg of that payload can be carried on the Transit Custom’s clever and unique trio of permanent roof racks, which lie flat against the roof when not in use but can be quickly rotated through 90 degrees and locked into vertical positions.

The Transit Custom also boasts a braked tow rating of up to 2000kg, which trumps its HiAce and iLoad rivals by a whopping 500kg or half a tonne. However, with its 4365kg GCM, towing a 2000kg trailer would leave only 304kg of legal payload capacity, which could easily be chewed-up by a crew of three alone.

The iLoad’s 2062kg kerb weight and 3160kg GVM results in a genuine one tonne-plus payload rating of 1098kg.

So, that 2000kg tow rating might look great as a headline, but a Transit Custom owner would have a more practical set of numbers to work with in the real world by capping the braked towing limit at 1500kg like the HiAce and iLoad. That would leave more than 800kg of payload to play with, yet that’s still almost 300kg less than the HiAce and iLoad can carry while towing 1500kg.

The HiAce’s cargo bay provides the largest load volume of 6.2 cubic metres and ample room for two standard 1165mm-square Aussie pallets or three 1200 x 800mm Euro pallets, secured by six floor-mounted load anchorage points. It comes standard with a solid sliding door on each side and a glazed single tailgate with no twin-swing rear barn-door option. As a result, it’s not forklift-friendly and therefore not well suited to carrying pallets.

The iLoad’s cargo bay offers a total load volume of 4.4 cubic metres which is considerably less than HiAce and Transit Custom. It will take two Aussie pallets but falls just short of taking three Euro pallets. Even so, it’s forklift-friendly given that it in addition to standard solid sliding doors on each side it offers buyers a choice of single-lift tailgate or twin-swing rear barn-doors with 180-degree opening.

The iLoad is forklift friendly.

The Transit Custom’s 6.0 cubic metres load volume is slightly less than the HiAce but considerably more than the iLoad. It can also match the HiAce in being able to carry two Aussie pallets or three Euro pallets and its load floor length can be extended, by opening a hatch at the base of the steel bulkhead which accesses the vacant space beneath the passenger seats for carrying extra-long items.

Like the iLoad, the Transit Custom is forklift-friendly, as it comes standard with twin-swing rear barn-doors with 180-degree opening, but only one solid sliding door on the left-hand side. Extra-cost cargo bay options include dual solid sliding doors, dual glazed sliding doors, a window on the LHS door only and a single-lift tailgate.

So, in summary, the Ford wins on payload but its Toyota and Hyundai rivals offer more practical GCM ratings. The HiAce offers the largest load volume, but is not as forklift-friendly as the iLoad and Transit Custom. Again, we can hear the hoofs of those horses for courses.

It’s a testament to the shared quality of Australia’s top three mid-sized commercial vans that there are no glaring discrepancies when one has to decide which is the best to drive on a daily basis with either light loads or when unladen.

They all provide good driver comfort in terms of seat and steering wheel adjustability, left footrests and clear eyelines to all mirrors to minimise blind-spots. They also offer safe and competent handling, steering, braking and ride quality and there’s negligible differences in engine and transmission performance.

The Ford Transit Custom 340L LWD van.

The larger gaps in gear ratios are noticeable in the five-speed iLoad compared to the six-speed HiAce and Transit Custom, but that’s far from being a deal-breaker given the iLoad’s overall competence. And they all offer low-stress highway operation, with over-driven top gears that ensure relatively low engine rpm at highway speeds for optimum fuel efficiency.

If we had to choose a narrow winner in this context, though, it would be the Transit Custom. And that’s largely due to the steel bulkhead that insulates the cabin from cargo bay noise evident in the HiAce and iLoad, which makes the Transit Custom the most car-like to drive. It’s also unique in providing a fold-down inboard armrest on the driver’s seat, which helps to reduce driver fatigue during long shifts behind the wheel.

The sixth-gen HiAce sets the mid-sized van benchmark with standard safety features that rival many passenger cars and SUVs. There’s a maximum five-star ANCAP rating (achieved 2019) and AEB with day/night pedestrian and day cyclist detection, plus lane departure alert with steering assist, road sign assist, auto high beam, cruise control, adjustable speed limiter, vehicle stability control including trailer sway control and hill-start assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, reversing camera with guide lines and front/rear parking sensors. And there’s seven airbags.

HiAce Crew interior featuring a 7.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The Transit Custom also carries ANCAP’s maximum five-star rating, albeit achieved back in 2012. Even so, Ford has kept at the cutting edge of commercial van safety since then to ensure its one-tonner is equipped with the latest in driver assistance technologies as they have become available.

Apart from having one less airbag than the HiAce, the Transit Custom is line-ball with Toyota’s benchmark for mid-sized van safety, headlined by AEB with pedestrian detection plus a suite of active safety features including adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, lane keeping assist with driver alert, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, rear-view camera, front/rear parking sensors, side-wind stabilisation, trailer sway control etc. Like the HiAce, its safety menu is as long as its load floor.

The iLoad cabin environment is bright and airy with a tasteful mix of light and dark grey surfaces.

By comparison, the iLoad only offers a four-star ANCAP rating and that was achieved back in 2011, so it would struggle to achieve the same rating if re-tested today. It also has no AEB and, as mentioned previously, the centre passenger seat only has a lap-type seatbelt. Although there’s front and side (thorax) airbags for the driver and outer passenger seats, the iLoad is increasingly overdue for a significant safety upgrade.

The Transit Custom cabin offers moderate storage levels, with three open storage bins set into the top of the dash, and a large glovebox.

So, with its extra airbag and freshest ANCAP test date, the HiAce scores a narrow win over the Transit Custom with the iLoad a distant third.