Driving Tips - DAF XF Euro 6

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

I’ve just moved out of my old Actros and into a shiny new XF. Discovering the side lockers would be hard pressed to hold a book of postage stamps was a bit of a downer, and who thought that having a tiny opening was a sensible way to design a locker? It means things just get stuck! and the lack of a fold up passenger seat seems distinctly stingy in the cab. Also, what the ■■■■ is going on with the whole one arm rest thing?! Is that because it’s a poverty spec motor, or does DAF think that everyone enjoys sitting a little wonky to use the door as the other arm rest■■?

I’ve already discovered that if you want to accelerate at a half decent rate on cruise, you have to switch it to Manual or Eco Off.

The exhaust brake is a let down too, you might as well open the window and stick your arm out for all the good it does!. In comparison with the Merc’s pretty powerful 3-stage one, the DAF’s couldn’t pull the skin off custard. The youngster inside me is also disappointed that it doesn’t sound like a lorry. Where is any of the noise?! It’s quieter than my car!

Predictive Cruise Control is a little weird to get used to, but I’m already getting the hang of spotting hills where it’s going to back off near the top, so that I can choose to override it or not. Depending on how heavy traffic is, I mostly let the speed drop be set at the max 10km/h in light traffic and I’ll reduce it or turn it off in heavy traffic as I don’t think it’s fair on people following if they don’t have space to drive around me if they want.

The lane departure warning is just simply annoying as hell, I don’t mind it on when on a motorway or decent size A-road, but it gets turned off for safety on smaller roads because it’s definitely a distraction buzzing away right when you’re busy making sure you don’t hit something.

Adaptive Cruise Control I think I really like, although if you aren’t paying full attention, you’ll end up following a Tesco lorry at 80km/h for a while before wondering what the hell is going on as you clearly aren’t dragging uphill any more! :unamused: :laughing: :blush: One major thing I don’t like about it is that it will run you up to the vehicle in front of you too quickly, and then drop the anchors. It’s another thing where you’ve got to get used to it, and knock it off cruise, activate the exhaust “brake” :unamused: and give the service brakes a little squeeze to get the distance right, then switch cruise back on. For overtaking, I tend to back it down to the minimum following distance, for just driving along, I usually leave it on 3 or back it off to 4 or 5 as I feel like 3 is uncomfortably close for heavy, but fast flowing traffic. A whinge about cruise is that you have to click the button for each 0.5km/h - if you hold the button down, instead of jumping 5k’s at a time, it just counts really slowly in 0.5s.

I’ve had my first false positive readings off a bridge, and off a car braking on a slip way, activate the emergency brakes. I can confirm what everyone else has said about that - it doesn’t give you enough warning to react. The dash lights up red, it beeps/pings at you and before you can even move your foot, it’s slammed on, then realised there is nothing in the way, and popped the brakes off again. It’s certainly made me feel nervous about what would happen in the wet, on a corner… I might have to switch it off and drive with my foot in bad conditions :neutral_face:

Any Top Tips from you lot to help me drive it better would be appreciated.

2

Mine (late 65 plate) has Adaptive Cruise Control not the Predictive type. If you wish you can change the Addaptive CC to a standard one. By pushing and holding down the distance setting button on the ACC it stops looking at the vehicle in front and just holds its speed. I think that the DAF ACC is not a good one: getting close to the preceding vehicle then applying brakes aint smooth or economical driving. I cant comment on whether any others are better or worse. I tend to ignore ACC or CC totally, if Im too tired or too bored to hold down a pedal Ill go get a coffee! Trying to be economical the ACC will vary the speed by 2 or 3 kph, so anyone making an overtake may not like "you" accelerating whilst they are out there. The "freewheeling" cruise in neutral mode can be overridden in the ECO settings if you wish, but will only come on in Cruise mode anyway. The Eco Coaching mode (flashes green ticks) can be turned off in the ECO settings too. Pretty useless system: Ive got it over 90% and under 30% with little effort.
Automatic Emergency Braking System: yep so good it even sees hazards that arent there! What would happen if it comes on when a DAF on PCC or ACC is following too closely the ripple back down the queue will be "interesting". Good idea, when it works properly itll be worth having, what DAF are fitting is plain rubbish. Again I cant compare it to other systems so it may be better or worse than others, but it aint good.
Lane Departure: if you turn it off the yellow warning light comes on. If you turn it off and it becomes wet, snowy or whatever the screen flashes up yellow, it bings/bongs and makes a fuss to tell you that what you have already turned off is no longer working! Stupid pain in the ■■■■. On some roads it will tell it isnt working with flashes bells etc, and sometimes will let you wander over lines with no warnings at all: useless rubbish. When manoeuvering on any sort of hill select manual: if left in auto it can set off in, say, 2nd, change into 5th, realise it cant hold that gear, and try to change back to 1st, by which time you`re rolling backwards! Absolute crap. A forced heavy brake can stall the engine. Crap.

3

slowlane:
The exhaust brake is a let down too, you might as well open the window and stick your arm out for all the good it does!.

Depends what options the truck is fitted with. If it has the descent control then it’ll hold 40 tonnes coming down from Stainmore on the A66 or 44 tonnes coming down from Windy Hill just on engine braking on a 460.

I will ask you this question though - what revs do you have when you use it? In the above scenario the auto box changes down gear until the engine is revving just a couple of hundred RPM below redline. Exhaust brakes work better the higher the revs on most trucks.

I’ve had my first false positive readings off a bridge, and off a car braking on a slip way, activate the emergency brakes. I can confirm what everyone else has said about that - it doesn’t give you enough warning to react. The dash lights up red, it beeps/pings at you and before you can even move your foot, it’s slammed on, then realised there is nothing in the way, and popped the brakes off again. It’s certainly made me feel nervous about what would happen in the wet, on a corner… I might have to switch it off and drive with my foot in bad conditions :neutral_face:

You can’t.

4

Conor:

slowlane:
The exhaust brake is a let down too, you might as well open the window and stick your arm out for all the good it does!.

Depends what options the truck is fitted with. If it has the descent control then it’ll hold 40 tonnes coming down from Stainmore on the A66 or 44 tonnes coming down from Windy Hill just on engine braking on a 460.

I will ask you this question though - what revs do you have when you use it? In the above scenario the auto box changes down gear until the engine is revving just a couple of hundred RPM below redline. Exhaust brakes work better the higher the revs on most trucks.

I’ve had my first false positive readings off a bridge, and off a car braking on a slip way, activate the emergency brakes. I can confirm what everyone else has said about that - it doesn’t give you enough warning to react. The dash lights up red, it beeps/pings at you and before you can even move your foot, it’s slammed on, then realised there is nothing in the way, and popped the brakes off again. It’s certainly made me feel nervous about what would happen in the wet, on a corner… I might have to switch it off and drive with my foot in bad conditions :neutral_face:

You can’t.

It is a 460, but not spec’ed with Descent Control. If it doesn’t put itself in the blue band, I’ll downshift it myself - it still seems to make virtually no difference. I suppose that the basic option is just crap.

5

Mine has the 460 with hill descent and DAF engine brake. It will rev up into the red then change up. . . .Thats at 40tons on French motorway hills. . .I dont trust it an inch. I dunno how good/bad the exhauster is but the DAF engine brake is nowhere near as the proper retarder we had fitted previously: that was brilliant and would slow the truck down from 90kph on a proper hill without stressing the engine or warming up the brakes themselves.
The DAF publicity writers are better at their job than their engineers I reckon!

6

Best tip I can give you when it comes to modern DAFs is try everything you can to avoid driving them! Awful awful things

7

switchlogic:
Best tip I can give you when it comes to modern DAFs is try everything you can to avoid driving them! Awful awful things

Amen.
Those produced a few years were great trucks: not perfect, not showy, but unfussy, good solid workhorses. Those produced today are horrible things for anything beyond a half load, on a nearly flat road, in clear weather, with no road furniture or over-bridges.

8

slowlane:
It is a 460, but not spec’ed with Descent Control. If it doesn’t put itself in the blue band, I’ll downshift it myself - it still seems to make virtually no difference. I suppose that the basic option is just crap.

Sadly that does appear to be the case. No idea why the difference between the two. The better specced ones are a different beast to drive than the poverty spec with the exception of the random slamming on of the brakes.

9

My 65 plate XF was a joy to drive. Maybe because my boss spec’d them properly.

And maybe some drivers are not quite as good as they thought they were…? :grimacing:

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10

I love driving my DAF. It’s a XF SSC 510, loads of room inside and is specced with a manual gearbox and a three stage engine brake which holds back fairly well. I cant think of another truck on the market at the moment that i want to drive.

The first thing i do when i set off is turn off the AEBS and the lane guidance. i know it doesn’t turn off the AEBS fully, but it does cut down on the false alarms i get.

11

madmackem:
I love driving my DAF. It’s a XF SSC 510, loads of room inside and is specced with a manual gearbox and a three stage engine brake which holds back fairly well. I cant think of another truck on the market at the moment that i want to drive.

The first thing i do when i set off is turn off the AEBS and the lane guidance. i know it doesn’t turn off the AEBS fully, but it does cut down on the false alarms i get.

Manual box? Yes please, but our local dealers (allegedly) wont supply them on a full R & M contract. It seems that our boss may trust us as drivers but the DAF dealers dont. . .Our older trucks with manual boxes were knocking a million km on original clutches and boxes, but no, they know best. . .
Well they thought they did, newer trucks are coming from elsewhere now.
The SSC is a great cab agreed. And has been for the last 20 odd years.
The 460 is a good lump too: pulls better than the 480 and the early 460s. A little more economical too it seems, but its difficult to compare as it isnt only the engine specs that have changed. (About 3/4 mpg better).
The 3 stage engine brake is OK, but obviously its not as good as a retarder. Suspension is softer on the newer trucks, and it seems under damped to me. It may give a smoother ride on motorways but the steering is now less precise on country roads. The truck seems to wander around more, horrible feeling. Again that may be due to tyre specs which are geared more for economy than before. It seems to be a "Marmite" truck, one of my mates says its the best truck (same spec as mine) hes driven, bar none. Id willingly swap mine for an older model, in an instant. Slightly more noise and slightly less smooth a ride to get rid of all the downsides? Yep, that`ll do for me.

12

Can’t believe no one has stated the most correct answer.

Don’t drive one lol

Dafs are OK In my book I don’t mind them, I’d rather have them than these horrid Mercs we now are starting to have our Volvos replaced with.

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk

13

Franglais:

madmackem:
I love driving my DAF. It’s a XF SSC 510, loads of room inside and is specced with a manual gearbox and a three stage engine brake which holds back fairly well. I cant think of another truck on the market at the moment that i want to drive.

The first thing i do when i set off is turn off the AEBS and the lane guidance. i know it doesn’t turn off the AEBS fully, but it does cut down on the false alarms i get.

Manual box? Yes please, but our local dealers (allegedly) wont supply them on a full R & M contract. It seems that our boss may trust us as drivers but the DAF dealers dont. . .Our older trucks with manual boxes were knocking a million km on original clutches and boxes, but no, they know best. . .
Well they thought they did, newer trucks are coming from elsewhere now.
The SSC is a great cab agreed. And has been for the last 20 odd years.
The 460 is a good lump too: pulls better than the 480 and the early 460s. A little more economical too it seems, but its difficult to compare as it isnt only the engine specs that have changed. (About 3/4 mpg better).
The 3 stage engine brake is OK, but obviously its not as good as a retarder. Suspension is softer on the newer trucks, and it seems under damped to me. It may give a smoother ride on motorways but the steering is now less precise on country roads. The truck seems to wander around more, horrible feeling. Again that may be due to tyre specs which are geared more for economy than before. It seems to be a "Marmite" truck, one of my mates says its the best truck (same spec as mine) hes driven, bar none. Id willingly swap mine for an older model, in an instant. Slightly more noise and slightly less smooth a ride to get rid of all the downsides? Yep, that`ll do for me.

I admit that the Euro 5 trucks did sound alot better than the current crop. All the DAFS on our fleet are on full R&M packages (mixture of auto boxes and manuals) so they are definitely available.

14

Been retired nearly 3 years now but still do the odd day and had a day out in a 5 month old XF 510 SCC 16sd manual,
pure heaven apart from the poxy electrics, whisper quiet,fabulous to drive but ruined by stupid electronics as are all
euro 6 trucks.
Always found the lockers fine so don’t know what the problem is there,at least you can look in see where yer stuff is
which more than I can do with my son’s Actros need a stepladder to find yer gloves never mind the harsh ride and not as
quiet as the Daf.
Crap I know but favorite lorries in 42yrs of driving, 1st Volvo F88 290 new in 1975,next near the end of working life
Daf XF95 480 SC manual, driving this lorry is what got me up in the mornings, worst lorries are awful back breakin Scania’s
of which I have driven most series. Cheers.

15

If you don’t like a certain marque then if you get one you will always find fault …All trucks have their issues …I guess the ops car has for example 2 arm rests on the drivers seat ,If you work for a multi national ,when they spec a truck it is all down to cost…DAF do well ,as they assist customers even when they veh is out of warranty ,I have seen DAF bail out a 1 veh owner ,his vehicle had neve ever been near a dealer ,was maintained by some 1 man band ,But bring it to the dealer once ,then complain and the world is your oyster …Will point out we helped him for free told him what he needed ,but he then booked it in and phoned DAF to complain even before we checked it lol…

I once said to a driver who moaned about how his boss was buying DAF and not Scania ,that maybe ,just maybe his boss was giving him a hint …He was still ther 5 years later in his DAF lol