Iveco Massif

Iveco Massif
Manufacturer	Iveco
Parent company	Fiat Group
Also called	Iveco Campagnola
Production	2007–2011
Assembly	Linares, Jaén, Spain (Santana Motor)
Class	Off-road vehicle
Layout	Front engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive.
Engine(s)	3.0L HTP Sofim I4 diesel
Transmission(s)	6-speed manual
Wheelbase	2,452 mm (96.5 in) (3door); 2,768 mm (109.0 in) (5door and pick-up)
Length	4,228 mm (166.5 in) (3door); 4,720 mm (185.8 in) (5door); 4,548 mm (179.1 in) (pick-up)
Width	1,750 mm (68.9 in)
Height	2,050 mm (80.7 in)
Related	Land Rover Series; Santana PS-10

Campagnola2008 — Iveco Campagnola Alpina

Santana ps-10 pu front offroad — Santana PS-10

The Iveco Massif is a utility 4x4 vehicle 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. Massif was produced by Santana Motors from 2007 to 2011.

In 2011 Santana close the factory and 1341 people was licensed, production of Massif stopped in the first part of the 2011^[1]^[2].

Overview

The Massif is produced in Linares (Spain) by Santana Motor Company’s and marketed 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 PS-10, which (like the Defender) is itself a derivative of the Land Rover Series 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^[who?] 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.

Specification

The Massif was styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro and the Iveco Style Centre. The Massif bears a clear family resemblance to its sister product the Santana PS-10 which itself was heavily based on the Land Rover Series. Beyond the modernized front clip, the family resemblance to the Land Rover Defender is strong.

The Massif is available with two versions of Iveco’s 3.0 litre diesel engine taken from the Iveco Daily van. A 150 PS (110 kW/148 bhp) HPI version with 350 N·m (258 lb·ft) of torque and a 176 PS (129 kW/174 bhp) HPT version with 400 N·m (295 lb·ft) 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 four-wheel drive, like its forebear the Land Rover Series (but unlike the Land Rover Defender which has permanent four-wheel drive). This is intended to reduce fuel consumption, claimed as “up to 10%” by Iveco. The decision to have selectable four-wheel drive is believed to be because Iveco suggest permanent four-wheel drive is unnecessary for the majority of driving conditions. The Massif is usually in four-by-two, rear-wheel drive unless four-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 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 hand brake is also a disc brake, operating on the transmission.

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 both front and rear to give a compromise of on-road handling and off-road ability. The parabolic suspension system is also regarded by some^[who?] within the automotive industry as a good compromise between the simplicity and load carrying ability of leaf springs and the better comfort and axle articulation (and thus 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 4x4s. The chassis is based on the chassis used for the Iveco Daily van range. This layout 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 increase its attraction to commercial users further.

The interior of the Massif has been overhauled from 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 (2,768 mm (109.0 in)) and short wheelbase (2,452 mm (96.5 in)) 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 mainland Europe, but a UK release date of January 2009 has been announced.{

References

External Links

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Iveco Massif. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons by Attribution License and/or GNU Free Documentation License. Please check page history for when the original article was copied to Wikia

[1] Santana Motors: end of the story

[2] Santana Motors chiude, addio anche ai fuoristrada Iveco

[1]

[2]

Iveco Massif

Contents

Overview

Specification

Models

See also

References

External Links

Fan Feed