Best and worst vehicles from drivers point of view?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
61

I am a new pass but have driven the following.

Scania R450, New Actros Mirror Cam, Daf XF

Scania for me is the most pleasurable to drive and the most comfortable. The controls just work and the gearbox is good. It is the jack of all trades one for me as other trucks do some bits better but other bits a lot worse. Scania for me is the most balanced in that respect.

Daf is your billy basic workhorse of a truck. It just works but everything is just ordinary.

I can see where Mercedes are going with the Actros but it needs a load of polish.

The gearbox is terrible but I think this is an Actros thing. It always seems to get lost leaving you stuck at the lights.

The handbrake is annoying I much prefer a normal one. I keep finding if I do not put it back into Neutral and then drive at the lights it can get stuck on when trying to leave the lights.

The air tanks are tiny and constantly need revving to fill up after waiting for a tip or connecting a new trailer. This was the same on the older Actros as well.

The interior is fantastic however as is the infotainment system. No complaints with this. It is a really nice place to sit and use

The PPC (Predictive Powertrain Control) is great in theory but again is still in its infancy. I did a little stint on some A roads and whilst it did slow the truck down a lot it was relaxing and all I did was have to turn the wheel basically. Throughout the day it did have a bit of a brain ■■■■ and wouldn’t brake for corners which was alarming and sometimes it just didn’t seem to work so since then I have turned it off and just use the radar cruise which is excellent when setup correctly.

Mirror Cam is an excellent feature and is the future no doubt but at the moment it needs a lot of work.

Positives. Wide angle camera when reversing. Blind side becomes a lot easier plus you can see a lot more of your trailer when doing roundabouts/manoeuvring etc. The lines to judge the back of the trailer and lane merging makes it a doddle to see where the back of the trailer is or when to merge back in after overtaking something.

Negatives. Wide angle camera makes it difficult to judge when going into a bay when straightened up as your view of your rear tyres is so far away (although I believe this can be switched off but haven’t tried it yet). Refresh rate is crap so flickering of LED lights in your mirrors is not good for your eyes. If your camera is in direct sunlight it makes it very difficult to see. Likewise if you manage to get one blob of water on your camera lens it can block over half your view. These also do effect normal mirrors as well but not to the magnitude of a small camera lens.

Will be nice to see how the DAF mirror cam is and if it has resolved issues around the Mercedes one.

62

Neoo:

stu675:

Neoo:
Merc, It’s truly shocking truck…

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Apart from a little jolting, and the mirror cams, what am I missing from any better truck?

Just to be clear, I’m talking about previous gen Actros, the one before mirrorles, I know there is some improvements in new model but I haven’t driven it and also people still say a lot of bad things. As per previous gen, gearbox absolutely shocking, speedometer unreadable, drive quality shocking most of the buttons make no sense, non stop warning lights about all sort of faults i could go on and on. I would take Renault or Daf over Merc any day, not talking about Scania or Volvo wich is just different league…

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I had a 450 Renault tractor unit for a few weeks a while back, apart from the confusing switchgear I really liked it.

63

Gavv8:

Neoo:

stu675:

Neoo:
Merc, It’s truly shocking truck…

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

Apart from a little jolting, and the mirror cams, what am I missing from any better truck?

Just to be clear, I’m talking about previous gen Actros, the one before mirrorles, I know there is some improvements in new model but I haven’t driven it and also people still say a lot of bad things. As per previous gen, gearbox absolutely shocking, speedometer unreadable, drive quality shocking most of the buttons make no sense, non stop warning lights about all sort of faults i could go on and on. I would take Renault or Daf over Merc any day, not talking about Scania or Volvo wich is just different league…

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I had a 450 Renault tractor unit for a few weeks a while back, apart from the confusing switchgear I really liked it.

Me to, my daily driver, its a f…ing chaos that instrument panel and buttons at beginning, bet when you get used to it it’s start to make sense. As for a truck it’s Volvo, so it drives pretty good.

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64

AdamST205:
The PPC (Predictive Powertrain Control) is great in theory but again is still in its infancy. I did a little stint on some A roads and whilst it did slow the truck down a lot it was relaxing and all I did was have to turn the wheel basically. Throughout the day it did have a bit of a brain ■■■■ and wouldn’t brake for corners which was alarming and sometimes it just didn’t seem to work so since then I have turned it off and just use the radar cruise which is excellent when setup correctly.

An excellent thoughtful post if i may say so.

The piece i’ve quoted gives me the willies, wouldn’t brake for corners? what demented demonic evil is all that, i don’t want a sodding lorry judging anything like that, thank goodness my experiences with modern mercs are few and far between and comprise only a local jaunt.

Poor compressors seem to be a German thing, MANs are the same, thankfully on the ones i’ve driven no one’s specced auto idle shutdown (so far) so you can leave the things ticking over as long as you like to keep pressures up whilst you sort things out.
Does this Merc have the same issue as previous models that should someone inadvertantly leave it in gear and switch off the engine, if the air runs down you can’t get it out of gear so need to plug in an external air source? This can also happen to you whilst hitching up if the pressure drops enough, can’t get it out of gear in order to reinflate.

Agree with you that Scanias are probably the best all rounder to just jump in and drive, switchgear is sensible and user friendly in that they don’t assume all lorry drivers are 21 year olds brought up from birth with computers and smart phones.
Electric parking brakes are an answer to a question no one asked, i really don’t like or trust them, but they are useful for the type likely to leave the park brake off whilst connecting up or exiting the cab, more likely to auto brake the vehicle should it start to run away, but fitting such equipment in order to prevent people who should never have been allowed within 100 yards of a wagon from doing what anyone normal could have predicted they would really isn’t the answer.

65

I’d generally agree that all trucks are light years better in virtually every respect from the stuff I started on in the 1980’s. And so they should be.

I’ve been on Actros pretty much solid for the past four years, 450 wagon and drag and now a 480 artic, and prior to that had a Renault for five years. The first Actros (66 plate) had the sluggish gearbox issue, the artic (18 plate) is much better, neither being as good as the Volvo box fitted to the Renault but both have proved reliable and overall I like the Actros as a tramping motor. The biggest issue has been the poor dealer service down here in West Wales from both suppliers; it’s so bad that both my previous and current employers go to the local Volvo dealership, which has a very positive “can-do” attitude, for any Merc problem that can be fixed there.

Occasional forays with Scania have left me wondering what all the fuss is about; admittedly I’ve never driven one of the all-singing all-dancing ones but those I have experienced were not significantly better in any respect to make me yearn for a change. Likewise Volvo; I had a week with an FH on demo whilst I was at Forfarmers, which was very nice, but the FM which was the usual fare there might be a solid truck but I find it cramped and awkward for living in.

I confess to a soft spot for ERF’s, but I don’t think I’d want to drive one for a living any more.

66

For those complaining about the Actros 'box, it does go and stay in manual mode if you choose it.
Or is that too much for some people, y’know, telling it what gear you want rather than just complaining about it being crap at junctions.
You can then also keep it in lower gears for hills, and also avoid the 2 gear block change (10-12th) when trying to make progress.
As I mentioned in a previous thread, we also have the mirrorless units, but I (and others) personally avoid them.

67

Juddian:
because couldn’t get rid of some message referring to cruise settings which completely obliterated the speedometer :unamused: , well done lads,

Glad I’m not the only one :smiley: It was this button you needed.

68

Never liked Daf 2800s , and I’m not much for the xf , Ivecos cheap build, Scanias are better, but I have to go against the majority , I like the Actros but in saying that I’ve driven Bedford tks kms Seddons before they were Seddon Atkinson , Erfs, and a Leyland Clydesdale for about a year noisy and horrible, my hearing has never been right since, pardon!

69

stu675:

Juddian:
because couldn’t get rid of some message referring to cruise settings which completely obliterated the speedometer :unamused: , well done lads,

Glad I’m not the only one :smiley: It was this button you needed.

Much obliged to my learned friend, if ever cursed with having to take one of the bloody things out again i’ll try to remember that tip.

70

Spent a day the other week in a DAF XGhave to say i am impressed. They have addressed some of the problems with the XF old model. The cab is a proper tramper size. I would have kept it but fleet said no ways i have a 22 plate Scania less than 6000 miles

71

Dav1d:
For those complaining about the Actros 'box, it does go and stay in manual mode if you choose it.
Or is that too much for some people, y’know, telling it what gear you want rather than just complaining about it being crap at junctions.
You can then also keep it in lower gears for hills, and also avoid the 2 gear block change (10-12th) when trying to make progress.
As I mentioned in a previous thread, we also have the mirrorless units, but I (and others) personally avoid them.

So your way of thinking is you buy a car with automatic gearbox to drive it and change gears manually ? Its not about somebody being not able to change gear manually, but it’s about awfull gearbox not being able to change gear when its needed like for example Scania or Volvo does without a hickup or even Daf most of the time…

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72

My Actros gearbox is flawless.

73

msgyorkie:
Once had the misfortune to drive a Hino 8 wheel tipper. That has to be the worst I have ever driven. Absolutley no leg room as they are based on 5ft 5 inch Japanese drivers. My knees where constantly rubbing against the dashboard.

This!!
Terrible things.I hated going to work when I had to drive one of these piles of ■■■■.
It got stolen and even the thrived didn’t want it!!
Got it back then my mate wrote it off-best news ever