Hyundai iLoad 2014 Long-term Review - 3

Here at motoring.com.au we've waxed lyrical about the performance punched out by our long-term LCV, Hyundai's iLoad. Our van has the range-topping combo of the 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel and six-speed automatic transmission, which combine to deliver 125kW and a hefty 441Nm.

By way of comparison, the five-speed manual version of this same engine sees those outputs drop to 100kW and 343Nm, while the 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, with five-speed manual, produces 129kW and 228Nm.

As we've discovered over the last 6000-odd kilometres, the 2.5 CRDi engine churns out plenty of useable torque and lends the van an impressive turn of speed. After a brief moment's hesitation from the six-speed auto, it streaks away from a standing start with (in LCV terms) impressive pace.

However, the majority of those 6000 kilometres have been completed with next to no weight, which is ignoring a major aspect of the iLoad's brief. We did stick 600kg in the back when we conducted our medium-size van comparison test earlier in the year and found it barely made a mark on the iLoad's performance, but how would the van react when loaded to capacity?

To find out, we headed back to Melbourne business Motorsport Safety & Rescue to load our iLoad to the hilt. There we soon ran into a hurdle – getting a standard Australian pallet in the back with a forklift.

At 970mm wide, both sliding side doors are too narrow to take a pallet, which in this part of the world measures 1165mm by 1165mm. Trouble is, the top-hinged tailgate also rules out loading with a forklift from the rear, as the accompanying photo shows.

It's no surprise then why so many of the iLoads on our roads are fitted with the 50/50 barn-style doors (a $550 option, limited to diesel variants only), which will allow a pallet to be placed between the van's wheel arches and which also require less clearance in tighter confines than the top-hinge door. The top-hinge door is a handy dry spot for a smoko on rainy days, and it affords an unimpeded view to the rear, but from a practical viewpoint it has its limitations.

MSR staffer Bernie and I soon switched to 'Plan B' – loading the weight on the pallet into the back of the iLoad by hand, one 6kg rubber-coated disc at a time. So, 168 discs later, I plonked my 90kg self behind the wheel to achieve a payload of bang on 1098kg. While using the forklift would have been far more palatable (pardon the pun), loading the discs by hand did at least mean the load was evenly distributed over the van's load bay floor.

The load bay features a synthetic liner that – after some initial doubts in our comparison test – seems to be quite durable, while the mid-height plastic panelling lends the single-skin steel body some extra internal protection from shifting cargo. It's not as tough as a plywood lining or a plywood floor (the latter a $554.85 option), but it's better than nothing.

The felt lining of the cabin floor and its underlay ends abruptly where the back of the cab ends and the load bay begins. It's no big deal and you wouldn't see it with a bulkhead in place, but without one it looks ugly and unfinished.

So, with my 168 new friends in the back, I set off on a few days of scooting around Melbourne. I have to admit, I was expecting the iLoad to deliver its best slug impersonation but on that count I was mistaken. You certainly notice the weight under acceleration or brakes but the iLoad was still able to get along at a thoroughly respectable pace – I certainly couldn't say it was struggling.

It requires more input with the accelerator and more forward planning with the brake but, fully loaded, the iLoad held its own in the cut and thrust of city traffic.

The ride quality was significantly improved with the added kilos, losing the harshness that seems to transmit most minor road irregularities when unladen, and through the bends the MacPherson strut and leaf spring/shock suspension package handled the weight nicely, controlling body roll well.

As I made my way through the next 400 or so kilometres around town (covered over the space of a few days), I was painfully aware of the lack of a bulkhead or cargo barrier. Those 6kg discs may have been encased in rubber but they'd still serve as nasty little projectiles in a forward collision, and that's an area where a steel bulkhead pays dividends. Hyundai offers a factory cargo barrier ($707.99 fitted) but no full bulkhead, so owners wishing to install one will need to turn to aftermarket suppliers.

In addition to ramping up the efficiency of the cab's heating and cooling systems, a bulkhead can also provide a barrier to any olfactory assaults a load may unleash – the van was haunted by the stink of that rubber days after the weights had been returned to MSR.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect to the iLoad's payload test was the subsequent impact it had on the van's fuel economy. So far the iLoad's progress has averaged out at 8.6L/100km, with figures spanning from a frugal 7.5L/100km to the thirstiest figure of 8.9L/100km. However, with the tonne in the back, 400km of trundling around town delivered consumption of 8.6L/100km – the same as its total average. Go figure!

That's pretty good going, bettering even Hyundai's quoted combined figure of 8.8L/100km, and it still delivers a safe range of over 800km from the 75-litre tank.

Rubber-disc-lugging aside, the iLoad has been kept busy running all sorts of errands for motoring.com.au staff. It's been called upon to carry dirt bikes into the bush and to shift various items of furniture, in addition to its daily commuting duties.

Thus far, it's done everything we've asked of it with consummate ease – which goes some way to explaining why 3359 iLoads have been sold this year in Australia to the end of September (FCAI data). That's 28.4 per cent of the 2.5-3.5t van market, a figure bettered only by Toyota's HiAce.

Check back shortly for another update on the iLoad's progress.

Hyundai iLoad long-termer introduction

Hyundai iLoad long-termer update