jay0:
The only a autos I’ve driven so far are volvos but I can’t understand why they are hated so
Much, they make driving so much easier and I don’t feel half as tired at the end of the day as I do driving a manual.
Personally I love the ishift, next for me is the old comfort box on a MAN, R series Scania aint too bad either, except in reverse as for all autos, no bite. The newer model (ERF’s er MANS) TGX/TGA are dangerous IMHO, total waste of time and should be band! At least with a stick you know where you are I suppose. Pros /cons, I’d take a decent auto like a Volvo but I’d prefer a manual on lessor models. Quality always shines through.
kr79:
The problem is to many people treat a truck auto like a car one and just stick it in drive and treat the pedals as start and stop.
It’s not an automatic gearbox it’s an automated manual gearbox and a little thought and intervention at times reaps rewards learn to use it not fight it and it makes it a lot more relaxing to drive.
That’s a good point. I’d sooner have a 4 over 4 with a splitter than my Daf auto any day of the week, but if I use the auto in manual mode it’s just about tolerable. At least I can change down and use the engine braking that way.
Interesting point you make in your last sentence. I am a new driver having passed my tests this year in manual Renault Premiums. Being a long term car driver I naturally used the gearbox to provide engine braking, but was specifically told by the examiner not to use it, “gearbox for going, brakes for stopping” which I thought was odd at the time.
I am now driving a mixture of Volvo FM 420’s & Renault Premium 460’s both autos, and basically the same truck under the cab I am led to believe, at 44t and find them pretty faultless. I still stick them in manual climbing hills and slow manoeuvring to aid traction control but cant complain about their general performance. I would still like the opportunity to run a manual loaded for the experience though as life is always a learning curve.
It’s ‘gears to go, brakes to slow’ it rhymes, you see.
Indicative of the crap that comes from instructors since it became a training ‘industry’. For a further 7 hours of their inexperienced, ill-considered and often just made up babble report to you annual DCPC module now.
Brucewillis:
As for auto boxes, I’m a convert anything to make the job a little easier. I don’t understand the " I hate auto boxes" mob. The same ones probably struggle with computers and smart phones. Cavemen!!
That’s the point, they don’t always make life easier. My auto is hopeless, I do more driving in manual mode with it. I only use it fully in auto when empty or in stop start traffic. DX mode on the tip, fully manual on sites and haul roads and on single carrageways because it will have a stroke when it sees a hill. At an alleged 400bhp at 32t, starting off in auto the other day I held up an old Daf CF 340.
It drinks diesel in auto aswell. Oh and the reverse is crap, the “creep reverse” mode is just a plain joke on sites.
The only auto I trust to leave in auto all the time is Volvos I-Shift.
DrivingMissDaisy:
Must be about 4 years since I drove an Opticruise, have they improved in that time? It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t as good as the Volvo.
I think so, only drive rentals now & again as we don’t run them on our fleet, they have the ability to set what gear you want to start in or it can pick automatically (don’t know if ishift can do that), power option (just like ishift)/2 driving modes & a clutch pedal or not (I have driven a 2 pedal scania). To me they are just as good & I think ishift is overrated, you just need to know how to drive your machine to the best of its ability…
Brucewillis:
As for auto boxes, I’m a convert anything to make the job a little easier. I don’t understand the " I hate auto boxes" mob. The same ones probably struggle with computers and smart phones. Cavemen!!
That’s the point, they don’t always make life easier. My auto is hopeless, I do more driving in manual mode with it. I only use it fully in auto when empty or in stop start traffic. DX mode on the tip, fully manual on sites and haul roads and on single carrageways because it will have a stroke when it sees a hill. At an alleged 400bhp at 32t, starting off in auto the other day I held up an old Daf CF 340.
It drinks diesel in auto aswell. Oh and the reverse is crap, the “creep reverse” mode is just a plain joke on sites.
The only auto I trust to leave in auto all the time is Volvos I-Shift.
Most of my work at the moment is trunking so the auto box is ideal, however your post reminded me of an incident a few years ago while tramping on general haulage. I was driving (can’t remember what either an Iveco or a Volvo) with an auto box. Got sent into a quarry and pretty much got bogged in and had to be towed out. I’m sure that if I’d had a a manual box I might have got a little further under my own steam.
Give me a manual any day And yes I do retail furniture delivers mainly to town centres and the manuals always get better fuel than the autos on fleet. Proves the point i think
No problem on Snow with Manuel,but stay at Home with Auto. Last Thing i wanna by Snow is shifting Gear,and,how is it with pressing Clutch if it starts slipping? Going from Trottle to get Wheel to a Speed of your Traveling,yes,if you can that. Otherwise you are always switching between Neutral and Drive,or just go with 5 mph to Scotland,which just wastes your Driving Time.
Better stay at Home or in a Service Station
Immigrant:
No problem on Snow with Manuel,but stay at Home with Auto. Last Thing i wanna by Snow is shifting Gear,and,how is it with pressing Clutch if it starts slipping? Going from Trottle to get Wheel to a Speed of your Traveling,yes,if you can that. Otherwise you are always switching between Neutral and Drive,or just go with 5 mph to Scotland,which just wastes your Driving Time.
Better stay at Home or in a Service Station
Wtf are you on about? Say again in clear or ■■■■ off,
Tarrman:
I do Tesco work for Stobarts, most of the fleet is made up of 60 plate/12 plate Scania G400 4x2 units with a 4/4 manual 'box. There’s a handful of Scania R440 6x2 units which are automatic. It does make me wonder why they never specced them with auto gearboxes, I would of presumed the auto’s would be more economical across the board (ie, able to make the wide variety of drivers drive to similar rpm limits). I know Iceland in Warrington have Volvo FM 4x2 units which are all auto. To have a large fleet of manual specced trucks seemed a bit odd to me, especially as its mostly local work.
When stobarts took over we were going to have r420 6x2autos but couldn’t get the mpg out of them,so changed to g-380 ( a.f.a.i.a it was only chilled as lighter work) 4x2 manual units, and to be fair they killed the 420,s on fuel,not even in the parish.
Good little truck,like a go -cart,only issue was weight ,had some real issues with overweight,often had to pull out and 6x2 had to be sent in,issues to this day with d/d at times.
G-380 were then changed for g-400 but for what ever reason they never went as well and have never managed to get mpg out of them you could out of a 380.
But I’d still take one over auto every day,just ideal for type of work
