What’s the most disappointing truck you’ve driven , not old dogs but new beasts that look the dogs danglies but turn out to be the dogs dinner
I mean ride quality , handling , gear change , cab spec and build quality ?
My 2 are a close run race between an Iveco stralis or the current MP4 Actros
Iveco , due to their build quality very light steering , slow gear change/selection between D/N/R
Actros , it’s mostly 2 things RIDE QUALITY , and the absent minded gear box which forgets what gear its in on roundabouts and has to fumble to find the right gear
Modern Actros stands head and shoulders above everything else in that i cannot find a single redeeming feature for the thing, even the cab steps are rubbish.
Daf’s are decent enough if fitted with anything other than Arsetronic in my humble (compounding the awfulness by defaulting back from manual to manky eco after a minute or so), though the switchgear placement is a lesson in how it should not be done.
Juddian:
Nearly all lorries have strengths and weaknesses.
Modern Actros stands head and shoulders above everything else in that i cannot find a single redeeming feature for the thing, even the cab steps are rubbish.
Daf’s are decent enough if fitted with anything other than Arsetronic in my humble, though the switchgear placement is a lesson in how it should not be done.
Any Merc is an awful thing to drive, DAFs just feel cheap. I walked past one the other day and the plastic cover fell off the windscreen grab handle, for no apparent reason
Iveco for all their faults, are and were always good pullers.
MAN and Renault are for trackie-wearers.
Volvo still make quality trucks, whatever about adblue probs, I doubt Volvo asked for it.
But, as the song says;
It don’t matter what they tell you, the Scania’s still the king!
The old shape axor,with that ■■■■ knock across gearbox.
Wooden brakes
Wooden suspension
And a driving position that left your left foot pointing inwards.
for me has to be the Scania just cant get away with it from the seat position to having to pull the bed out to make it the gears the small cab inside sorry but just no
For it faults ( mainly electrics ) the Iveco not to bad big cab inside with a lot of good ideas
Best for me is the Volvo drive seat position all good
MAN the hand break is in totally the wrong place too far back windscreen a bit big has the biggest bed
Not driven a DAF in a while so cant really comment although does have the best mattress
Renault last 1 I drove not that bad seat can get in good driving position although don’t like the gears on it too similar to the Scania most other things in decent position although no cup holders
Actros the seat hight either too high or too low the cupboards are far too small the gears
Not sure if I want to use the word disappointing, but the Volvo FH4 is well overhyped. Had one for the last 2 months and was really looking forward to it after driving Scanias for the last 3-4 years. Cup holders, what in gods name is going on there? Accelerator pedal super sensitive, it’s either going full throttle or taking an age to get moving shifting up around 1200rpm, there’s no middle ground whatsoever. Electric handbrake not releasing if you hit the pedal and put it in gear at the same time, leaving you sat there burning the clutch forcing a manual release with traffic ahead leaving you for dust (it’s a hard life). No intermediate manual gear intervention, in a Scania full auto mode you can still manually change the gears, in the Volvo you have to put it in full manual, then press the buttons, then move it back to auto again after. Batteries might as well be a pair of AAs (note, I’m on a brand new set). Park up in the evening after a full day of charging, after nothing but running the fridge overnight and the night heater in the morning the fridge has gone into voltage protection, furthermore the night heater channels the hot air around the fridge making it work harder to keep temperature which it can’t keep up with. Fridge is a good size though and the freezer section does actually freeze stuff.
I actually want my Scania back (older version even), the go pedal sensitivity is great, gearbox is well behaved and I can easily intervene if I feel like it, batteries actually hold charge, cup holders fit cups. Alright the fridge is a bit smaller and the suspension can be a bit more temperamental but on the whole a better drive in my opinion.
animal:
for me has to be the Scania just cant get away with it from the seat position to having to pull the bed out to make it the gears the small cab inside sorry but just no
For it faults ( mainly electrics ) the Iveco not to bad big cab inside with a lot of good ideas
Best for me is the Volvo drive seat position all good
MAN the hand break is in totally the wrong place too far back windscreen a bit big has the biggest bed
Not driven a DAF in a while so cant really comment although does have the best mattress
Renault last 1 I drove not that bad seat can get in good driving position although don’t like the gears on it too similar to the Scania most other things in decent position although no cup holders
Actros the seat hight either too high or too low the cupboards are far too small the gears
I drive an R450 and I’ve never used the silly bed thing, I just get in the bunk and go to sleep. Took me a while to get the seat right, and I’m not about to change it!
This is my first scania since my 164, and I must say the steering wheel could be better, it’s too hard and too shallow. Slippery too.
DJC:
Not sure if I want to use the word disappointing, but the Volvo FH4 is well overhyped. Had one for the last 2 months and was really looking forward to it after driving Scanias for the last 3-4 years. Cup holders, what in gods name is going on there? Accelerator pedal super sensitive, it’s either going full throttle or taking an age to get moving shifting up around 1200rpm, there’s no middle ground whatsoever. Electric handbrake not releasing if you hit the pedal and put it in gear at the same time, leaving you sat there burning the clutch forcing a manual release with traffic ahead leaving you for dust (it’s a hard life). No intermediate manual gear intervention, in a Scania full auto mode you can still manually change the gears, in the Volvo you have to put it in full manual, then press the buttons, then move it back to auto again after. Batteries might as well be a pair of AAs (note, I’m on a brand new set). Park up in the evening after a full day of charging, after nothing but running the fridge overnight and the night heater in the morning the fridge has gone into voltage protection, furthermore the night heater channels the hot air around the fridge making it work harder to keep temperature which it can’t keep up with. Fridge is a good size though and the freezer section does actually freeze stuff.
I actually want my Scania back (older version even), the go pedal sensitivity is great, gearbox is well behaved and I can easily intervene if I feel like it, batteries actually hold charge, cup holders fit cups. Alright the fridge is a bit smaller and the suspension can be a bit more temperamental but on the whole a better drive in my opinion.
The one I want back is my old FH16 520 Globe. What a fantastic truck.
animal:
for me has to be the Scania just cant get away with it from the seat position to having to pull the bed out to make it the gears the small cab inside sorry but just no
For it faults ( mainly electrics ) the Iveco not to bad big cab inside with a lot of good ideas
Best for me is the Volvo drive seat position all good
MAN the hand break is in totally the wrong place too far back windscreen a bit big has the biggest bed
Not driven a DAF in a while so cant really comment although does have the best mattress
Renault last 1 I drove not that bad seat can get in good driving position although don’t like the gears on it too similar to the Scania most other things in decent position although no cup holders
Actros the seat hight either too high or too low the cupboards are far too small the gears
I drive an R450 and I’ve never used the silly bed thing, I just get in the bunk and go to sleep. Took me a while to get the seat right, and I’m not about to change it!
This is my first scania since my 164, and I must say the steering wheel could be better, it’s too hard and too shallow. Slippery too.
The steering wheel is a nightmare & where they have placed the cruise control button is just stupid as well as the other controls although not as bad as the Renault
DJC:
Not sure if I want to use the word disappointing, but the Volvo FH4 is well overhyped. Had one for the last 2 months and was really looking forward to it after driving Scanias for the last 3-4 years. Cup holders, what in gods name is going on there? Accelerator pedal super sensitive, it’s either going full throttle or taking an age to get moving shifting up around 1200rpm, there’s no middle ground whatsoever. Electric handbrake not releasing if you hit the pedal and put it in gear at the same time, leaving you sat there burning the clutch forcing a manual release with traffic ahead leaving you for dust (it’s a hard life). No intermediate manual gear intervention, in a Scania full auto mode you can still manually change the gears, in the Volvo you have to put it in full manual, then press the buttons, then move it back to auto again after. Batteries might as well be a pair of AAs (note, I’m on a brand new set). Park up in the evening after a full day of charging, after nothing but running the fridge overnight and the night heater in the morning the fridge has gone into voltage protection, furthermore the night heater channels the hot air around the fridge making it work harder to keep temperature which it can’t keep up with. Fridge is a good size though and the freezer section does actually freeze stuff.
I actually want my Scania back (older version even), the go pedal sensitivity is great, gearbox is well behaved and I can easily intervene if I feel like it, batteries actually hold charge, cup holders fit cups. Alright the fridge is a bit smaller and the suspension can be a bit more temperamental but on the whole a better drive in my opinion.
You don’t have to put the FH4 in manual to change manually. Leave it in auto, release the accelerator and change up or down then back on the accelerator.
animal:
for me has to be the Scania just cant get away with it from the seat position to having to pull the bed out to make it the gears the small cab inside sorry but just no
For it faults ( mainly electrics ) the Iveco not to bad big cab inside with a lot of good ideas
Best for me is the Volvo drive seat position all good
MAN the hand break is in totally the wrong place too far back windscreen a bit big has the biggest bed
Not driven a DAF in a while so cant really comment although does have the best mattress
Renault last 1 I drove not that bad seat can get in good driving position although don’t like the gears on it too similar to the Scania most other things in decent position although no cup holders
Actros the seat hight either too high or too low the cupboards are far too small the gears
I drive an R450 and I’ve never used the silly bed thing, I just get in the bunk and go to sleep. Took me a while to get the seat right, and I’m not about to change it!
This is my first scania since my 164, and I must say the steering wheel could be better, it’s too hard and too shallow. Slippery too.
The steering wheel is a nightmare & where they have placed the cruise control button is just stupid as well as the other controls although not as bad as the Renault
Agreed, it’s a daft place and I don’t like the gear selector either. I don’t like automatics anyway, though.
Had a Merc Atego 26t tipper on demo to compare to the then new Foden Alpha I had. The Merc was only good for it’s driving position.
Then drove a Merc Axor 32t tipper on a short demo run which I liked except for the slap across gearchange.
Now I drive an 18 month old Merc Atego 15 tonner on chilled food and it’s a lovely tool.
I don’t want to habe to have the opportunity to drive any tipper versions though.
