I’ve just finished a 4500 mile trip in a new lorry, well new to Me its an 09 Volvo VN, like an FH but with a bonnet, down to West Virginia & back to Alberta before coming home, heavy loaded down then a light load back to Edmonton, then heavy down to Estevan, this probably means not a lot to most on here but its as varied as it gets over here really a mix of like ups & downs motorways & poxy A roads really, anyway I think the i-shift is a complete waste of time, I’m no Fred Dibner saying things where better way back when either, I usually embrace technology but I can’t get on with this at all, what do some of You older lads think that have had both?
fly sheet:
I’ve just finished a 4500 mile trip in a new lorry, well new to Me its an 09 Volvo VN, like an FH but with a bonnet, down to West Virginia & back to Alberta before coming home, heavy loaded down then a light load back to Edmonton, then heavy down to Estevan, this probably means not a lot to most on here but its as varied as it gets over here really a mix of like ups & downs motorways & poxy A roads really, anyway I think the i-shift is a complete waste of time, I’m no Fred Dibner saying things where better way back when either, I usually embrace technology but I can’t get on with this at all, what do some of You older lads think that have had both?
Regards
Fly sheet
I prefer a manual box myself you can do more with it and change up and down when you want to. Most trucks are auto now and most are rubbish, so think yourself lucky as volvo i shift is the best of them in my opinion.
I thought it was still the land of the proper Fuller box over there.Maybe the guvnors over there have been reading too much of Pat Hasler’s moans about good old fashioned if it ain’t broke don’t fix it engineering and so they’ve decided to start putting autos in everything now.
The auto shift is part of the downward spiral that is transport today, everything is dumbed down so that any idiot can (& does) drive a lorry
I think that auto shift does have a place, but on a long haul tractor unit it is a complete waste of time, money and will cause problems that don’t exist with a simple stick poking out the top of the gearbox, mainly maintenance and reliability problems, which in turn will cost a bloody fortune to put right
In the UK, with its high traffic density I would rather have an auto shift, but anywhere with mostly open roads (like we have here) give me a stick every time
Our man won’t buy anything else now so he says, they’ve had two i-shifts fail in the last month & another one got a fix up, I don’t think any of them have over 500,000 kms on them which makes Me wonder how many more go boss eyed before the roadranger makes a return, they’re warranty claims though & as He moves them on at 800,000 kms who knows.
newmercman:
The auto shift is part of the downward spiral that is transport today, everything is dumbed down so that any idiot can (& does) drive a lorry
Christ isn’t that the truth, a conversation we’ve been having recently after several accidents in our fleet.
Bring back lorries that need lorry drivers.
I’ve had the displeasure of driving nearly every auto gearbox there is, and the Volvo is by far the best of the bunch, so be grateful you didn’t have the ZF junk that resides in DAF/MAN/Iveco lorries and probably others, got to be the most useless frustrating heap of junk ever foisted on us, presumably designed by satan whilst in one of its most foul moods as a life punishment before full time hell.
fly sheet:
I’ve just finished a 4500 mile trip in a new lorry, well new to Me its an 09 Volvo VN, like an FH but with a bonnet, down to West Virginia & back to Alberta before coming home, heavy loaded down then a light load back to Edmonton, then heavy down to Estevan, this probably means not a lot to most on here but its as varied as it gets over here really a mix of like ups & downs motorways & poxy A roads really, anyway I think the i-shift is a complete waste of time, I’m no Fred Dibner saying things where better way back when either, I usually embrace technology but I can’t get on with this at all, what do some of You older lads think that have had both?
Regards
Fly sheet
Ive just bought a 2012 vnm 630 with the 16 litre 550hp volvo motor,with i-shift,was to sure at first about it as i had driven a pete and a volvo with an Eaton auto-shift and didnt reckon much to them,but the i-shift is good,i run fully freighted with woodchips at 63.500 kg and had no problems with it at all.I run from sundre,ab up to Hinton pulp mill and have a lot of long climbs.A round trip is 830 ks and its doing it on 400 litres of fuel.
Scania opticruise with a clutch pedal = nightmare, had a magnum semi automatic years ago, that was crap aswell, never drove a merc eps though. I dont mind the volvo ishift, i tend to drive it in manual though pressing the button twice for every gearshift otherwise it tries to set off in 6th. Going to be lots of problems as these trucks come onto the second hand markets, just going to be massive headaches.
My car has got to be auto, but I sure as hell don’t want one on a lorry, I’ve used one once, I never want to do a repeat.
My lad works for a big Volvo truck and bus outfit and he says the change the Volvo auto boxes for fun, they can’t get enough of them, the warranty costs must be horrendous.
Never thought Id take to auto, the first ones Volvo tried out on FLs not a success, but 2003 started for Newcastle Breweries FMs auto I shift loved them, knowing when to drop them in manual was the key. Later we went on to IVECO & I know what a lot of you on here think about Ivecos but the 450 & auto, one of the best matched engine & gearbox autos Ive driven & Ive driven all the autos bar the Renault (Uk that is) Presently Mercs most of which are auto but if my moters not back & I end up with manual I moan although never been a fan of the Merc manual to start with. If anyone thinks Im a young buck just starting out then Il tell you my first wagon was a Thames Trader in 1969 & all sorts since, 2 of my favourites being an F10 320 & a limited edition Sed Akt Strato with 410 ■■■■■■■ & eaton twin splitter.
Anyway love the autos I know lots of others will have opposing opinions but thats what a forum is for so lets have them without abuse, Rock on autos.
Just an ad on, did a trip in the new merc couple of weeks ago, now theres a whole new argument
newmercman:
The auto shift is part of the downward spiral that is transport today, everything is dumbed down so that any idiot can (& does) drive a lorry
Have to agree about the idiots, up till recently I was driving an old DAF XF (54 plate) with manual range change, but as it ran 7 days a week and I only worked 5 it was constantly being abused by young agency drivers. It had 2 clutches in 12 months (unbelievable, I know) as they would make it set off in high range even when loaded because they weren’t familiar with range change gearboxes. Their other little trick was to glide under trailers under the pin and smash the side skirts!
I have to say I prefer the I-shift over that Scania clutch/automatic abortion any day.
Ive driven a few autos the Daf being the worst ,the Iveco not much better even though its the same box ,the Volvo and Renault are the same box ,i just dont like them i prefer to be in control specially at roundabouts waiting to pull out ,thinking will it set off or not suprisingly i didnt mind the Scania with clutch pedal as they were the easiest to control going backwards,i think someone on here hit the nail on the head ,its so anyone can drive em or should i say steer `em … total crap
seems like we are going to be getting a M shift Mack in the near future have been told its better than I shift,but im hoping its no for me as i like my old multi coloured (long story how its multi coloured( 12 speed Mack.
to be 100% honest,the first one i ever used was in about 1998 in a Merc,and i thought if this is the future they can keep it!Fast forward 10 years and i was driving for a guy in Ireland and i got a 580 Scanny with the 3 pedal opticruise,although not keen on the idea of a 3■■ pedal automatic i found it very reaxing to drive,then a Renault 460DXi with i suppose is Renaults take on the aforementioned i-shift,what a revelation!!! you can keep your manual boxes,fantatic,then a fully auto(2 pedal)620 Scanny,brilliant!!!
And ive driven the lot,Scammell with a gate,Fuller,Eaton twin split Foden 2 stick,all good in their time,but autos are the way forward(for me anyhow)
I wasn’t to keen on autos until I got one. The first one I drove was a scania Opticruise roll on roll off and I liked the clutch as it was great for manoeuvring when picking up bins but found the jumps between gears to much and it felt like someone was kicking you in the back everytime it changed gear. I drove a daf and a MAN with the zf auto and found it a bit indicisive if say you slowed for a roundabout saw a gap and put your foot down it couldn’t make it’s mind up and reversing it was a bit all or nothing but I shift I can’t fault I hardly ever use manual and it always seems to get the right gear.
For the work I do around lOndon I’d take the auto truck every time but over your side of the pond unless you are driving round new york or LA every day it’s a bit of a waste.
Whats difficult about changing gear?, i prefer an automatic car but the lorries are totally different,infact they are manual constant mesh boxes and the computer changes gear , they cant anticipate a situation ,are dreadful when trying to enter a roundabout and totally useless trying to reverse uphill onto a loading bay,the Dafs as mentioned already are terrible in tight situations where you are trying to manouver backwards and forwards … i just dont see the point.I remember 1 bloke saying to me that the new scania opticruises we had were crap as they kept changing from top gear down to 11th when driving at 56 mph ,he was driving on kick down!!!
The roundabout problems that you get with an auto shift are not the fault of the gearbox, but the driver
The computer cannot see, so it does what it thinks is correct, all of a sudden you stop slowing down and stick your right boot down and expect it to know what to do, it takes a bit of time to react, hardly the fault of the machine is it
Except for heavy traffic enviroments there is only one advantage of an automated transmission over a manual constant mesh and that is the fact that it levels the playing field a bit and allows an inexperienced or otherwise unskilled driver to manage tough conditions such as steep hills etc’ as well as a much more experienced and skilled driver.
The down side of that is the fact that there is no requirement or even incentive for the inexperienced driver to gain the aforementioned skills.
In my opinion that is what killed the Eaton Fuller and Twin splitter in the UK.
have been told its better than I shift,but im hoping its no for me as i like my old multi coloured 
(long story how its multi coloured( 12 speed Mack.
