Steve-o:
Volvo can disable kickdown aswell so it might not be long before that’s taken away from you too
Never had “KICK DOWN” in the first place! OR the power button.
To me it’s a lot about having the options, yes I mostly use Auto to, but there are time when the manual options is handy.
It’s like having stabiliser fitted to your truck!! 
I just wish they would leave the truck alone, it’s a great bit of kit.
Wait til they knock it down from 56 if they haven’t already.
Not having any manual option , slow as hell at the bottom of a hill and no power button or kickdown…
It goes from I shift to It’s ■■■■. 
On a positive note, it looks like a handy flat place for your coffee. 
Wheel Nut:
Like Neil i never found the need to worry about using it in manual. Don’t forget I drove a liquid tank with a sloppy load and the ishift could handle that remarkably well in all weathers.
What they said +1. I drive one on International Oversized loads. The only time I use Manual is if I’m empty and enjoying a bit of “drive it like you stole it” up Millau.
The rest of the time your foot can tell the truck more than enough 
The previous driver loathed it and insisted it had to be driven in manual 
He even tutored/conned the others who use it occasionally or on double man jobs to do so. Fuel consumption was horrendous. Still, the boss now thinks the sun shines from my derriere given what I get from it especially as I know about and use the eco roll as well 
Personally I like the idea of not having to put my coffee down to often 
It’s because “drivers” who “know better” insist on messing that this type of thing happens
I’m surprised they even bothered with such a contraption as, iirc, the manual options can be disabled via the ECU software, done at your dealer ■■ Or do i remember wrongly ?
I’m sure Ive driven I shifts where the manual and power options simply did not work, due to those being disabled by the Volvo dealer.
BTW, I don’t agree with such measures.
it might be blanked off for a couple of reasons.
my boss when i was driving coaches had the manual selection blanked off like that to stop people using it. he had one driver destroy a gearbox, about 30 grand the bill was in the end.
the other one might be to do with modern licences. quite a few coach drivers started off driving buses and so will only have an auto licence. by blocking off the manual he is covering his arse if plod stop the driver and do him for not having the correct licence.
can you get an auto restricted truck licence?
it doesn’t matter as the newer coaches are having the 9 litre engines and that has an i-shift BUT no manual setting.
has anyone here got a fm9 with an i-shift? has it got a manual option?
there are times manual is useful
as mentioned by Sainsbury man
if you never go to that locality no probs
so it should be and is alldown to training
i really mean the lack of it
wincanton contaianers just put a fleet of actros and man with the manuaul control removed via the computer.took one out in the snow last year.got back and said to the fleet eng,in my opinion thease trucks are dangerous as i cant control transmision
all this doesnt make any sense to me as we ended up with manuals as the fuel figures were ■■■■ for our autos,our manuals ■■■■ all over the autos weve got on fuel.
the autos weve got we were shown a scania video and it said if your not using manual mode as well your not driving the truck properly
on the run:
Blocked from using Manual GearsWhat’s your views on this? The Volvo has had a device fitted to block the use of the Manual setting. We have complained about it on Health and Safety grounds but as you would expected been fobbed off!
Its to save fuel by the way ■■?
0
wait till they start speccing your trucks with manual window winders to save themselfes £100 
on the run:
Blocked from using Manual GearsIts to save fuel by the way ■■?
Firstly hello this is my first post
How is it to save fuel? If you do a SAFED course I am sure they tell you to use the manual shift on hills as the auto has a tendency to over rev before a gear change takes place,thus wasting fuel but I stand to be corrected on that.
Don’t people realise truckers are lazy at heart and we don’t generally use manual unless it’s absolutely necessary, far too much work for me anyway.
Looks like it’s just one bolt either side. 20 seconds with a spanner at the beginning and end of every shift and problem solved.
As others have said though, the iShift is about the only box I reckon a manual option isn’t needed on. DAF or IVECO then yes, but not the iShift.
Scarab:
Looks like it’s just one bolt either side. 20 seconds with a spanner at the beginning and end of every shift and problem solved.As others have said though, the iShift is about the only box I reckon a manual option isn’t needed on. DAF or IVECO then yes, but not the iShift.
I’ve been driving and auto Daf for the last couple of years and can only think of two occasions when I have used manual mode. I think the auto Daf runs the i-shift a very close second once you’ve worked out how to get the best from it.
Is that a somerfield motor now co-op .
billybigrig:
It’s because “drivers” who “know better” insist on messing that this type of thing happens
I think you have just hit the nail on the head with that line there.
If the manual selection wasnt meant to be used or used as an option - then the gearbox /truck manufactuers wouldnt have fitted it in the 1st place 
You would only have 4 selections --Park/ Reverse/ Neutral/ + Drive.
So if manual selection/ (gear position Hold) wasnt meant to be used , Why do the manufacturers fit it then 
Explain that one if you can
Also:
Someone please explain WHY NOT use it if manual selection is fitted .
Surely the options to select manual mode also includes the facility to hold the vehicle in a lower gear and prevent it from gearchanging up the box to higher gears when either on steep inclines Uphill or paricularly on a steep incline Downhill.
The last thing you need is a gearbox changing higher on a steep downhill incline and causing a `run-away’
situation as well cooking your brakes trying to slow it down or stop it.
There are plenty of steep gradients throughout the UK let alone going Euro too , where the approach to incline have warning signs Select low gear'** \+ **Steep incline’ ,
surely thats a clue
Anyone remember the losses due to `run-aways’ on Blonc + Frasier when EPS 1st came out ?
trux:
Surely the options to select manual mode also includes the facility to hold the vehicle in a lower gear and prevent it from gearchanging up the box to higher gears when either on steep inclines Uphill or paricularly on a steep incline Downhill.
You can do that with it in auto by just careful use of the the loud pedal on an ascent and the pedal and the exhaust brake or engine brake on a descent.
On the ferry thread I posted tonight teher is a picture of the ramp on teh ferry I used today. I went up that with a loaded trailer with the gearbox in auto and I made sure it held the gear all the way up. I didn’t want it to change as that is quite steep, and if it misses the gear you will be bolloxed, but it never occurred to me that it wasn’t possible with auto and I should use manual.
trux:
Anyone remember the losses due to `run-aways’ on Blonc + Frasier when EPS 1st came out ?
errrm NO Not on Frejus or Mont Blanc either. Or Fraga or Somosierra or Cleremont or Pamplona or Miguels etc etc
The option is there because the same box is fitted to, for example, Scandinavian 60 ton LHV combos that run on poor road surfaces and might actually NEED it. As opposed to trolley dollying around Englandshire, even up and down the fearsome Corley bank (sorry Birmingham early arrivals slight incline)
My I shift will go through the cogs to top with less changes than it is possible to make in manual option. Every shift burns more fuel
