Hyundai iLoad van review

Engine

The iLoad is powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine. This nifty little piece does super well for its size with good torque equalling strong acceleration with virtually no turbo lag.

The five speed auto is smooth enough and does well to know what gear to be in and when, working a treat with the 441Nm of pulling power of the engine. 6 speed or more would have been ideal.

It has decent pulling power with plenty of torque to pull all your gear inside the van. Commercially, it acts well whilst still making it feel comfortable as a consumer car up the front.

Not that it matters, but the iLoad will do 0-100kmh in 12.2 seconds, and 0-60kmh in 4.9 seconds.

Payload for this variant is 1096kg. Towing is 750kg unbraked and 1500kg with a braked trailer. Maximum towball down weight is 150kg. And the engine has no issue pulling and still feels strong.

Fuel Economy

Hyundai claims fuel consumption to be 8.8L/100km on the combined cycle.

Our tests returned just a little above that mark. Pure motorway saw us return around 7L/100km, contrasting to pure city driving which saw it jump to around 12L/100km (which is not bad at all).

The combined cycle was fairly close to our averaged figure of 10L/100km.

The diesel is fairly efficient, but could do with an extra gear or two to improve efficiency, start stop (that many people dislike), amongst other fuel saving techniques, but it’s good enough.

Interior & Technology

The iLoad gets a 7.0-inch touch screen that has CarPlay/Android Auto – a huge bonus to make those long commutes a heck load easier.

There are a fair few hard plastics – they are quality materials but it’s more old school rather than new. The carpet on the floor up front is a nice touch, while the seats are covered in a durable cloth they have a very flat base and no lumbar support but do have reasonable bolstering.

They are stock standard commercial vehicle seats that will get the job done, but could do with more support or padding to help on those long drives.

There is adjustable height seat belts, decent storage in the dual front door pockets with bottle holders and there are twin glove boxes in the dash – although they aren’t the largest. The van could do with other storage compartments for paper work/folders somewhere as well, perhaps behind the front seats.

There are AUX/USB ports, 2x 12 volt power outlets and the centre seat folds down to reveal a small storage area and cup holders.

Power mirrors and windows are standard, along with cruise control in the auto model, but both driver and passenger may be disappointed to find vanity mirrors missing on the sunvisors.

The cargo area comes in at 2375mm long and 1620mm wide with 1272mm between the wheel arches, and is 1340mm tall, giving it a total capacity of 4426 litres (VDA). The van has eight good sturdy tie down points. Plenty of space given the iLoad is a bit wider than other competitors and can fit huge amounts of storage.

Safety

Only a 4 star ANCAP rating achieved back in 2011, plus no AEB, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keeping assist etc which are the new benchmarks in this category.

There’s front and side airbags for the driver and outer passenger seats, but none for the centre seat with its lousy lap-belt. The iLoad’s safety menu is overdue for a major upgrade with technology that is used in almost all other Hyundai’s now.

Ride & Comfort

The iLoad has a decently strong chassis and suspension that handles plenty of weight.

The van always felt secure on the road with only a few heftier dips at higher speeds causing the rear suspension to kiss the bump stops.

There was no unstable movement from the rear over the dips and rough roads we drove on and the rear-drive chassis never felt compromised leaving us confident the iLoad is capable of safely carrying its full advertised payload.

Warranty & Servicing

The iLoad comes with a 5-year/160,000km warranty (whichever occurs first).

Servicing is every 15,000km or 12months (whichever occurs first) and is fixed under Hyundai’s “Lifetime service plan price”, with the first five years or 75,000km costing $1930.

Pricing

3S LIFTBACK 2.5LDiesel5 SP AUTO $41,790
3S LIFTBACK 2.5LDiesel6 SP MAN $38,790
3S TWIN SWING 2.5LDiesel5 SP AUTO $42,340
3S TWIN SWING 2.5LDiesel6 SP MAN $39,340
6S LIFTBACK 2.5LDiesel5 SP AUTO $43,790
6S LIFTBACK 2.5LDiesel6 SP MAN $40,790
6S TWIN SWING 2.5LDiesel5 SP AUTO $44,340
6S TWIN SWING 2.5LDiesel6 SP MAN $41,340
CREW 6S LIFTBACK 2.5LDiesel5 SP AUTO $43,790
CREW 6S LIFTBACK 2.5LDiesel6 SP MAN $40,790
CREW 6S TWIN SWING 2.5LDiesel5 SP AUTO $44,340
CREW 6S TWIN SWING 2.5LDiesel6 SP MAN $41,340

Overall

The 3-seater iLoad we tested provided a great compromise between every day practicality and comfort, and flat out commercial use.

There is plenty of space in the back and the car handles the loads well. Additional improvements to safety and technology are all that’s needed, along with an extra gear or two.