Fiat: Ducato van raises tech bar

Fiat's Ducato - more tech than you'd think. Photo / Supplied

The new engines will further extend the Ducato's reputation for economy, durability and a long service life ... Ducato's portable sat-nav unit tells you far more than just where to go

The updated Ducato van range for New Zealand gets the Fiat Group's new TomTom satellite-navigation docking station as standard, plus the new range of Euro5-compliant turbo-diesel engines.

The docking station is a Fiat Group innovation built into the dashboard of Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars and commercials.

The TomTom 750 is standard equipment on the Ducato and optional on Fiat and Alfa cars. It means suction cups and cables are a thing of the past.

The TomTom slots into the housing unit on the dash and integrates with the Fiat Group's Bluetooth Blue&Me telematics system.

It links wirelessly to phones, the car's computer system and USB or iPod music players. It can monitor engine revs and fuel use - among its many functions - and will automatically warn when fuel is getting low and list the nearest fill-up points.

It takes TomTom's portability to a new level. A contractor, for example, who drives a Ducato during the week and a Fiat or Alfa Romeo car at weekends, needs only to slide the sat-nav unit out of the Ducato's dash on Friday night and pop it into an identical docking unit in the Fiat or Alfa car.

At the moment the TomTom 750 unit is the only one that integrates with Blue&Me. Fiat is working with the sat-nav company to update Blue&Me to TomTom 1000 Live, which monitors real-time traffic.

Fiat Group vehicle owners heading overseas can take the unit with them, if the car they hire at the other end is a Fiat or Alfa with the same docking station and Blue&Me telematics.

Blue&Me won't work with any old TomTom. The dedicated TomTom 750 unit is only available through Fiat and Alfa dealers. Standard TomTom units, of course, will fulfil their usual sat-nav role, but they cannot be programmed to interact with Blue&Me.

The system helps drivers monitor real-time fuel use in the new four-cylinder diesel Ducato engines, which Fiat claims have cut use 15 per cent.

"The new engines will further extend the Ducato's reputation for economy, durability and a long service life, whether it is taking an urgent load across a city or doing a lap of New Zealand as a motorhome," says Lawrie Malatios, general manager of Fiat New Zealand.

The 2.3-litre MultiJet delivers 96kW at 3600 rpm and 320Nm at 1800 rpm. Emissions and consumption are 9 per cent lower than the previous Euro4 engine, but with 8 per cent more power.

The optional 2.3-litre MultiJet II engine produces 109kW at 3600 rpm and 350Nm at 1500 rpm. It delivers 24 per cent more power and 9 per cent more torque compared with the previous Euro4 2.3-litre unit.

Both engines are mated to either six-speed manual or clutchless six-speed automatics with manual mode.

The 2012 Fiat Ducato is available in two body styles; a long-wheelbase, high-roof model that combines a 13cu m interior with a load capacity of 3500kg, or an extended body style that takes interior volume up to 15cu m and load capacity to 4000kg.

Prices range between $59,990 and $69,490.