It's the Kobus Wiese of 4x4s

Very few vehicles can cope with an offroad course without the driver touching the brake or accelerator. The Iveco Daily 4x4 can - and it's not even an automatic.

This super-butch truck - I can't bring myself to call it a bakkie - is so capable over the rough stuff that it will take your breath away/have you shaking your head/doing both at the same time.

What is it?

The Daily 4x4 is a 5.5-ton truck, which means it's small in the eyes of Iveco, a global manufacturer of large buses, excavators and enormous trucks, big brothers to the Daily.

Next to one-ton bakkies it's like Kobus Wiese alongside Breyton Paulse.

The single-cab and double-cab share the same powertrain, dimensions and other essentials.

You have to step high to get into the surprisingly spacious, comfortable cab. The driver's seat, especially, feels as if it is air-sprung.

On public roads you'll need a Code 10 licence.

How does it look?

Although it's a working vehicle with mining/construction applications, the go-anywhere ability and sheer macho presence will attract people who enjoy going a long way off the beaten track.

Remember the excitement when the Hummer came to SA? The Daily 4x4 is like that, in the same way that Arnold Schwarzenegger is like Justin Bieber. Up front you have bumper bars, big headlights and multiple foglights.

The cabin and load-bed ride high on the chassis for good ground clearance (300mm) and river-wading ability (700mm with a snorkel) and the wheels have plenty of room to move when it comes to crossing axle-twisting obstacles. The appearance is plainly utilitarian but it has its own charm.

What's it like to drive?

All you have to do is steer, said the instructor. He was right. Once I put the Daily into gear, all I had to do was let the clutch out, put both feet flat on the floor and enjoy the ride as the idling speed of the three-litre diesel (and the gearing) was enough to crawl over obstacles and even up slopes on the Broederstroom hills near Hartbeespoort.

Anyone who has played with serious 4x4s will know you can go down a slope without touching the brakes, allowing engine compression to slow the descent.

But it was the huge competence with which the Daily 4x4 coped with this and other procedures that impressed.

We watched as a vehicle ahead of us made its way around the course, tipping this way and that on slopes and hills - but when we came to the same sections, inside the cab we felt safe and stable, with hardly any sensation to tell us what the vehicle was overcoming.

We did not get to drive it on the road but someone said it had a top speed of 110-120km/h.

Any special features?

It's not just the power and torque (107kW and 350Nm) that makes the Daily 4x4 so super-capable off road. Three differentials - front, centre and rear - and a six-speed manual gearbox offer effective use of 24 ratios.

All this has a multiplying effect on the torque, the result being that you really feel you can go anywhere in this vehicle.

The double-cab has ample room for three passengers in the back - or four, if a bench-type seat is specified. There's storage space in the roof above the dashboard.

Should you buy one?

Iveco describe the Daily 4x4 as a professional all-wheel-drive, able to go anywhere and expected to do so.

They also call it the smallest high-performance off-road truck.

No doubt heavy-duty companies working in hard-to-reach places have already taken note. But adventurous types who like to spend their holidays in the back of beyond will also be taking a close look.

It's bound to cause a sensation when you drive it down your suburban street, preferably covered with mud and bits of jungle.

The Specs

Iveco Daily 4x4 single and double-cab

Engine: 3.0-litre HPI diesel, 107kW and 350Nm

Transmission: Six-speed manual with three locking differentials. Permanent all-wheel drive. Approach angle of 51 degrees, ramp angle up to 35 degrees, departure angle up to 42 degrees

Prices: Single cab R556450 excl VAT; Double cab R577450 excl VAT

Warranty: Two years, unlimited kilometres