Iveco Massif

Infobox Automobile
name = Iveco Massif


manufacturer = Iveco
parent_company = Fiat Group
class = Off-road vehicle
production = 2007–present
related = Land Rover Defender
Santana PS-10

The Iveco Massif is a utility 4x4 mainly aimed at the utility services and military markets and is part of Iveco’s 4x4 and Off-road range which also includes the Trakker lorry and Daily 4x4 van.

Overview

The Massif is produced by Iveco (the commercial section of the Fiat motor company) and competes with the Land Rover Defender at the utility end of the 4x4 market. The Iveco UK light vehicle product manager Jon Stokes announced that pricing of the Massif in the UK will be: “attractive against the Land Rover” suggesting that the Defender has been identified as its nearest rival.

The Massif is essentially a revamped and restyled version of the Santana Motor Company’s PS-10, itself a derivative of the Land Rover Defender which Santana formerly built under licence. The Massif is part of a joint venture between Iveco and Santana, Iveco announced in Madrid in May 2006 that it was essentially taking over the PS-10 product. Iveco already supplied the engine and drive-train to Santana for its PS-10 model so this seemed a logical progression.

The Massif is currently produced alongside the Santana PS-10 but due to their similarity it is unclear whether the Santana variant will be phased out and will be replaced by the Massif. Industry insiders have suggested that this is unlikely as the Santana PS-10, like the Massif, is also new to the market and seems to be intended as the main model for Santana.

pecification

The Massif was styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro and the Iveco Style Centre. The Massif bares a clear family resemblance to its sister product the Santana PS-10 which itself was heavily based on the Land Rover Defender. Automotive critics have drawn obvious physical comparisons between the Iveco Massif and Land Rover’s Defender.

The Massif is available with 2 versions of Iveco’s 3.0 litre diesel engine taken from the Iveco Daily van. A convert|150|PS|kW bhp|0|abbr=on HPI version with Auto Nm|350|0 of torque and a convert|176|PS|kW bhp|0|abbr=on HPT version with Auto Nm|400|0 of torque are available. The extra horsepower of the HPT version comes from a variable geometry turbocharger. Both engines meet Euro IV emissions standards.

The Massif is fitted with a 6 speed ZF 6S400 overdrive manual gearbox with high and low range ratios. No automatic is available. The Massif also has selectable 4 wheel drive, not permanent, like it’s Land Rover rival. This is intended to reduce fuel consumption, claimed as “up to 10%” by Iveco. The decision to have selectable 4-wheel drive is believed to be because Iveco suggest permanent 4-wheel drive is unnecessary for the majority of driving conditions. The Massif is usually in 4x2 rear wheel drive unless 4-wheel drive is engaged.

The Massif is also fitted with manual-locking free-wheeling hubs on the front axles which prevent the rotation of front axle components supposedly to reduce wear. An optional limited slip rear differential is also an available to improve off-road ability by reducing the chance of getting cross-axled.

The Massif has all round disc brakes with ventilated discs on the front axle and simple discs on the rear axle. The Massif’s transmission brake is also a disc brake.

The Massif is fitted with parabolic suspension all round, as opposed to the coil springs of its contemporary the Land Rover Defender. The parabolic suspension system is arranged with double bladed springs on the front axle and four bladed springs on the rear axle. The Massif is fitted with hydraulic dampers on the front axle, gas dampers on the rear axle and anti-roll bars at the front and rear to give a good compromise of on-road handling and off-road ability. The parabolic suspension system is also regarded by some within the automotive industry as a good compromise between the simplicity and load carrying ability of leaf springs and the better comfort, axle articulation and hence off road ability, of coil springs.

The Massif is built as a body-on-frame construction with a ladder chassis rather than a monocoque construction which is now common with most modern 4x4’s. The chassis is based on the chassis used for the Iveco Daily van range. This is another similarity with Land Rover’s Defender as the body-on-frame construction is better suited to utility vehicles which are intended for towing or carrying heavy loads.

The rear door of the Massif was designed to have a full metre-wide opening to allow a standard Euro pallet to be comfortably carried in the rear of the vehicle –intended as a unique selling point of the vehicle because of its anticipated market of the utility/commercial sector.

The Massif can also be specified with a variety of transmission or transfer box Power Take-Off units and electrical connections on the body work to further its attraction to commercial users.

The interior of the Massif has been overhauled over the Santana PS-10 version to make it more competitive with the recently updated Land Rover Defender. There will be more hard-wearing ‘utility’ interiors available but the Massif can also be specified with air-conditioning, leather and satellite navigation.

Models

The Massif is available in long (convert|2768|mm|in|1|abbr=on) and short wheelbase (convert|2452|mm|in|1|abbr=on) variants. A hard top, station wagon, pick up and chassis cab are available. The long wheelbase station wagon will seat up to 7 people. A ‘heavy duty’ version of the Massif with a 3.5 tonne GVW and towing capacity is also in development for commercial users.

Launch models have been heavily promoted with advertising showing the All Blacks New Zealand Rugby Union squad as Iveco have recently signed up as the main sponsor of the team. Launch vehicles have been displayed with black body work and ‘tribal’ graphics which are associated with the team.

The Massif is also aimed at the service sector and the Iveco website shows computer generated models of the Massif with custom bodywork to allow the Massif to be used as emergency service vehicles such as ambulances and fire-fighting vehicles for off-road use; traditionally a sector that the Land Rover Defender with its specially dedicated Land Rover Special Vehicles division has dominated.

Iveco have announced that a military specification of the Massif will be available and will be fully air-portable similarly to its sister vehicle the Santana PS-10.

The Massif is currently only available as left hand drive and only in Europe, but a UK release date of January 2009 has been announced.

References

*http://www.massif.iveco.com/?lang=en
*http://www.army-technology.com/projects/ivecomassif/
*http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2008/04/04/109983/video-and-pictures-santana-off-roader-becomes-the-iveco-massif.html
*http://www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?news_id=17266
*http://www.roadtransport.com/Articles/2008/03/12/130061/first-drive-iveco-massif.html