Outside broadcast company Zest4.TV has bought its first 7.2-tonne IVECO Daily chassis cab equipped with the class-exclusive Hi-Matic automatic gearbox, after spending just an hour behind the wheel of a demonstrator.
Supplied by IVECO Retail in Hayes, the new arrival will be used as an outside broadcasting truck to support the filming of live events and broadcast programmes across the UK, including Channel 5’s The Gadget Show and Parklife, an independent music festival in Manchester.
Simon Roe, Managing Director of Zest4.TV, chose the vehicle based on its impressive specification and unrivalled payload capacity, thanks to having the highest gross vehicle weight of any light commercial vehicle (LCV) on the market – offering a carrying capacity greater than many 7.5-tonners.
He says: “We needed to replace a 20-year-old vehicle which was going to prove too expensive to bring into the new Ultra-Low Emission Zone in London. We don’t do a huge annual mileage, but reliability and payload are the critical factors for us. We explored all available options, but only IVECO could supply a vehicle that fitted the bill perfectly. I didn’t need to drive the Daily for long before my mind was made up. It’s so easy to drive and the Hi-Matic gearbox is incredible; it will make a huge difference to driver comfort on our longer journeys.”
Powered by a 3.0-litre Euro 6 diesel engine delivering the best-in-class 205hp and 470 Nm of torque, the Daily (72C21A8/P) joins two other vans on the customer’s fleet. It has been specified with an air- suspended driver’s seat, air conditioning and cruise control, while the body – taken off the older vehicle and re-mounted onto the Daily by Colchester-based bodybuilder Levscol – features three separate areas for engineering, production and sound.
Designed to provide absolute driving pleasure, IVECO’s Hi-Matic eight-speed automatic transmission changes gear more quickly and precisely than the best driver, needing less than 200 milliseconds for a gear shift when greater acceleration is required. Its proven durability and reliability also helps lower repair and maintenance costs by 10 per cent versus a standard manual transmission.
All routine maintenance work will be carried out by IVECO Retail – located just seven miles from the customer’s office in Sunbury – as part of a three-year R&M package, to keep vehicle downtime to a minimum.
Roe adds: “In an industry like ours, vehicle uptime is essential. Some of our work can be live broadcasts so we can’t afford an unexpected breakdown on the way to a job. IVECO has tailored a comprehensive maintenance package which gives us confidence the vehicle is being looked after to the highest standards, and with routine maintenance scheduled around our busy filming agenda.”
The IVECO Daily range offers the widest line-up of light commercials in the industry, with gross vehicle weights from 3.5-tonnes up to 7.2-tonnes and cargo volumes from 7.3m3 to 19.6m3 on panel vans. The Daily is also unique in its class for featuring a truck-like solid steel load-bearing chassis made of high strength steel.
Zest4.TV specialises in providing production facilities to the audio visual, broadcast, live event and live streaming industries. Its portfolio of OB work includes Asian Comedy for BBC Scotland, the Royal British Legion’s Remembrance Sunday event in Trafalgar Square, the Salvation Army’s Brass Band performances in Europe, various music events at The Royal Albert Hall and many other live-to-screen and live-to-air events across the UK.