With a five-star crash test rating and the sort of safety tech normally associated with pricier passenger cars, Toyota‘s latest Hiace is good not only for those who use it, but also for those wanting to keep staff safe out on the road.

With Toyota‘s new Hiace van tilted at a seemingly precarious angle on the steep road camber, pointed sharply downhill towards a disconcertingly deep culvert hidden in tree shadow, I wondered at the wisdom of testing a new van by taking in a cross-section of New Zealand conditions not met during the necessarily limited launch event. A steep, narrow, gravel lane in thick bush won‘t be every van driver‘s daily grind, but it‘s not that unusual for New Zealand, certainly for courier drivers say, delivering to the outskirts of Auckland, Wellington or even Nelson. These things aren‘t compact; how well would it cope? Surprisingly well is the answer. Toyota didn‘t get where it is today by designing vehicles suited only to its factory environs. Our test van was the ZX Hiace, with the higher roof and greater headroom. It‘s available as both a panel and a glass van, and we opted for the latter, with its improved visibility for the driver.

Photo: Rear step and tow bar a cost option; those wanting rear barn doors will go for the panel van version.

Mind you, even drivers of the panel van have it relatively good these days, thanks to modern tech. This Hiace includes a blind spot monitor, which uses radar sensors to detect vehicles on the road cruising in positions likely to be invisible via the outer mirrors, as well as rear cross traffic alert – again using radar sensors to detect oncoming traffic when reversing – and the reversing camera, two front and four rear parking assist sensors. Given the mirrors are also excellent, and deliver a generous field of view, there‘s not much excuse for parking bungles.

Photo: Standard glass van delivers enormous load space; liner as pictured is standard.

Photo: Very wide side door opens on pavement side.

Certainly this array was a godsend during the opening scenario. Our test took place on a steeply sloping gravel lane in the Waitakere hills, with limited parking due to the lane‘s narrow width, and equally limited opportunities to turn around. It‘s the bane of the local courier‘s life, not to mention intermittent visits from power or phone service crews, and most van drivers sighted there exhibit the bulging eyes and tightened lips of a driver pushed to the limit of their experience. Manoeuvring a 5.9-metre-long vehicle in these conditions is not just a good test of the driver, but also of how well designed their vehicle is. This rear-drive van with its torquey engine starts out with an advantage on the uphill entry.

But it was the array of rear-view cameras, mirrors and parking detection warnings that really came into their own. Having nosed into a narrow driveway with overhanging branches brushing the 2.28-metre-high roof, we‘d reversed back around, carefully, keeping an eye on the deep ditch on the other side, before being forced to pull into a parking bay hacked out of the bush to let an oncoming vehicle past. Given the length of the bay, the trees that fringed it, and the slope, there was very little room for error if one was not to scrape a tree, or drop a wheel into a drain.

At all times the driver was aware of where every corner and panel was in relation to the Hiace‘s surroundings, with trees skimmed past by millimetres, that brief moment when individual wheels seemed to leave the ground and the view ahead was of a panel-bashing drop, before the nose came faultlessly around and the whole plot was back on the road and merging with the tarmac descent. Not long ago, such a manoeuvre would have sent a van driver‘s hair white – but not today, in this ZX. Sure, few folk will encounter this stuff every day, but it only takes once to end up at the panel beater‘s, whether it‘s a bush courier delivery doing the damage, or an awkward approach past loaded pallets and containers. Top marks.

The pronounced bonnet of this generation Hiace let its designers put the wheels and engine ahead of the cabin, making for more space up front. It‘s quite a climb to get into – assisted by a grab handle and step – but the driver‘s possie is good, and the experience quieter through the engine‘s greater isolation from the cabin. That isolation also improved the safety rating – it gets five stars, thanks in part to all the safety tech fitted, including auto emergency braking, which uses a radar sensor and a camera to predict whether a collision with a pedestrian, cyclist or vehicle is imminent, issues an audible and visible warning, prepares the brakes for action, and even applies them if you don‘t, to reduce the impact force.

Photo: Cabin layout otherwise very similar to modern cars, complete with many of their infotainment advantages.

Photo: Spacious cabin delivers a wide, shallow tray between seats for small packages, laptops or clipboards.

Photo: Sharp, angular lines define the new Hiace‘s extended bonnet.

Add to that a warning if you drift out of lane, headlights which automatically switch from low to high to low beam as appropriate, road sign assist which uses a camera to monitor speed signs and alert you to them, that blind spot monitor, trailer sway control, and there‘s even a secondary collision brake system – so if you can‘t apply the brakes after an impact, the ZX will do so for you. That‘s on top of the expected airbags, ABS brakes, stability control and the like, and before considering creature comforts, like the 7” touchscreen audio with Bluetooth and voice recognition plus satnav.

The one safety intervention we could do without is the helpful voice that intrudes whenever your speed rises a whisker above the legal limit, to tell you to ‘please obey all road instructions‘. I mean, it‘s nice to know that downhill resulted in 52kph in a 50 zone, but I think I‘d just prefer a beep. As for the cargo area, in this ZX it‘s big, accessed via a single sliding door on the passenger side, or a rear lift-up door. Our standard load requiring a forklift to manage – it‘s a 500kg IRB – we had to go without.

Those who need side-opening rear doors should opt for the panel van instead. Our test vehicle included the step rear and the towbar – sadly we had no opportunity to take a trailer, but can confirm the step eased getting up and down into the load space, though it wasn‘t always handy when one simply wished to reach into the back. It did, however, prevent anyone from banging their shins on the tow bar… Admittedly while empty, this Hiace felt masterful on the twisty, hilly climb to our test scenario, and for an empty van, quite quiet during open-road cruising. Overall the latest-gen Hiace is an impressive piece of kit. Easy to drive, surprisingly easy to manoeuvre despite its size, able to carry anything that will fit in the back, right down to tiny items a courier driver, or similar, can put in the wide tray between the front seats. It‘ll also keep HR managers happy as its safety rating ensures it‘s a safe place from which to work.