FIAT Ducato 3.0 JTD ELWB 2007 Review

Road Test

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Meet the Fiat Ducato 3.0 JTB ELWB (extra long wheelbase van). Fiat's super-sized van, the 3.0 JTD is big... How big? Four-fifths of the world's population live in houses smaller than this vehicle. Indeed, large groups of people go to sea for extended periods in vessels smaller than this and people fly between continents in jets with less room. Hell, those whacky Americans have been to the moon and back!

Yep, this is the mega-daddy of commercial vans and at the upper end of what can be sensibly driven in congested city streets. It offers more interior space than most tradespeople would need, unless they're operating a mobile workshop. And for couriers and transporters, it's a gift, with it's wide sliding side door and vast rear opening, both able to accept a fork-lifted pallet.

Vans are probably some of the most difficult vehicles to make attractive -- by definition, they're big slab-sided boxes, irrespective of which badge adorns the nose. In typical Italian style, the Fiat's looks initially appear quirky, but eventually grow to seem... Well, right...

Now in its 26th year of production, over 1.7 million Ducatos have been sold globally and the latest version is bigger, longer, wider and (claimed to be) more efficient than its forebears. The engineering hasn't been overlooked though. The nose of the barn-like vehicle is surprisingly aerodynamic, offering a drag coefficient of just 0.31 -- if not the best in class, then close to it and better than some sedans.

Inside, careful thought, intelligent design and clever engineering could be credited with making the cabin a safer, quieter, more comfortable and less distracting place to be for long and short-haul journeys. However, from a driver's point of view, the Ducato can be a pain -- literally, unless you happen to be Quasimodo, or one of those souls who can stand rigidly at attention and scratch their knees...

Thus the Ducato is generally well-equipped, but some curious omissions grate. The steering column telescopes, but there's no rake adjustment and the seat-wheel-pedal relationship requires a hunched stance that is ultimately tiring.

Fiat has gone to the trouble of fitting a driver's armrest, audio controls in the steering wheel -- even a central grabrail mounted on the ceiling. There are also two well-shaped gloveboxes, cupholders and a table in the flip-down back of the central seat, yet the driver's seat gets minimal adjustability There are twin front multi-stage air-bags, yet no vanity mirrors; height adjustable safety belts inside and height-adjustable headlamps; but no front foglamps.

Driving the Fiat erases many of these quirks, or at least dilutes them. While it's primarily a working man's tool, the Ducato delivers spirited performance when empty or (as we tested it) toting a piffling 400kg payload. A slick-shifting six-speed gearbox mates to (depending on model) either a 2.3-litre (88kW) or 3.0-litre (115kW) four-cylinder common-rail turbodiesel; both engines are Euro IV emissions-compliant.

Fiat claims a 16 per cent reduction in fuel consumption over previous incarnations. During our 604km acquaintance, the Ducato burned diesel at the rate of 9.8lt/100km -- impressive for so large a vehicle. With a 90-litre tank, range is unlikely to be an issue for all but the longest haulers.

Extended service gaps -- 45,000 km for major services with a single oil and filter change in-between -- keep Ducatos at work longer.

Fiat also claims to have gone to great lengths to make the cabin as car-like, quiet and restful as possible. This helps limit fatigue from high ambient noise levels. In practice, it's largely mission accomplished -- especially given the vehicle is essentially a big steel bass drum with a thrumming diesel engine at the front.

On the safety side of the equation Fiat now fits ABS brakes with EBD (emergency brakeforce distribution) and switchable ASR traction control to its medium-roofed derivatives. Both systems are well-modulated and the traction control is barely perceptible, doing a great job to moderating the 3.0-litre engine's 400Nm when grip levels are low.

A measure of the system's effectiveness was the big bass drum was able to scrabble its way -- unladen -- up some unmade roads near Chez Kealey's that more sensible drivers would only tackle in an all-wheel drive, or at least a sedan with more equitably proportioned weight distribution.

Putting a load into the Ducato is made especially easy by a low floor with a non-slip rubber mat, wide side and rear doors and a plethora of cargo hooking points in both floor and walls. By way of an experiment, we loaded four large capacity road motorcycles two-by-two into the Ducato and there was space to walk around among them and stand up while doing so.

The Ducato van (there's also cab-chassis versions if you prefer) is a blank canvas onto which all manner of working and/or recreational solutions may be grafted. With a net weight of 1959kg and a GVM of 4005kg, there's a great deal of scope for you to turn it into your own working class masterpiece -- witness the vehicle's popularity with local motorhome builders.

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