It’s deffo a personal thing then 
Lucy:
So I have to choose between an over-rated Swedish rabbit hutch on wheels or an over-rated Swedish veal crate on wheels…?Think I’ll abstain.
So thats a vote for the recycled Fiat Uno then!!!
I’d been driving truck for a few years before I drove a Scania and I was a bit disappointed. After everything I’d heard I thought it was going to be trucking Nirvana.
The first one I drove were P cabbed on trunking work, then I did nights out in a Topline and I liked driving it except for the gear change, but living in it was hard work.
I’ve driven a range of old FH’s and thought they all drove well the old manual gearboxes seemed easy to use. Now got a new FH with Ishift and it’s a dream to drive, However it’s a 4x2 and LHD which is what most of the development would have gone, Physics says that a 6x2 with a steering second axle will turn better than a 6x2 with a fixed axle, so maybe Scania have got that right,
but I’m sure if the boss had got me a new Scania, DAF, Merc, Renault. I’d still be happy with it and like it’s good points and learn to live with the bad points.
killsville:
Lucy:
So I have to choose between an over-rated Swedish rabbit hutch on wheels or an over-rated Swedish veal crate on wheels…?Think I’ll abstain.
So thats a vote for the recycled Fiat Uno then!!!
The Fiat Uno is a a boxy, ugly car. The Stralis is the best looking truck on the road 
Both are good million mile+ motors with their own good points, but imho
Cab - Scania 4 series Topline with the top bunk - why did they go back to putting the bunk on the back of the cab?, however the rest of the interior space was wasted by the designers. But the sloping back windscreen of FH makes you feel that your head is going to smack off it.
Mirrors - Scania others take note.
Brakes/retarder - Volvo
Seats - Scania especially heated, a couple of times I had a bad back before setting off but with the lumbar support and heater by the end of the drive, I could jump out of the cab!
Engines either even the Volvo 12litre 380 pulls strongly, but the lure of a V8!
Gearbox - Volvo by a long way, the Scania engineers were absent on this project.
Again this is just my humble opinion, but as I currently drive either a CF85 380 drawbar or XF105 410 Space Cab, I know what I would rather drive and they come from Sweden, tack!
howatsi:
Both are good million mile+ motors with their own good points, but imhoCab - Scania 4 series Topline with the top bunk - why did they go back to putting the bunk on the back of the cab?, however the rest of the interior space was wasted by the designers. But the sloping back windscreen of FH makes you feel that your head is going to smack off it.
Mirrors - Scania others take note.
Brakes/retarder - Volvo
Seats - Scania especially heated, a couple of times I had a bad back before setting off but with the lumbar support and heater by the end of the drive, I could jump out of the cab!
Jumping out of the cab is probably what caused the bad back in the 1st place
Can’t see how ANY of you can say that the volvo manual box is better than the Scania, I had a 610 FH16 out for a couple of weeks & was glad to see the back of it, a phenomenal machine but that gearbox ruins it, last Scania I drove was a LHD 144 & that was like a knife through butter, could be that the extra work my right arm has done over the years had an effect I suppose
Engines either even the Volvo 12litre 380 pulls strongly, but the lure of a V8!
Gearbox - Volvo by a long way, the Scania engineers were absent on this project.
Again this is just my humble opinion, but as I currently drive either a CF85 380 drawbar or XF105 410 Space Cab, I know what I would rather drive and they come from Sweden, tack!
on friday i drove a 56 plate fh12 6x2 auto solo up to blackpool and came back with an empty trailer…the seat was definetley not upt o scratch(still aching now-and i normally use an f10 for these kind of runs)…i went with another driver who moved from this truck to a daf 105(57 plate)…when we got back,he swopped his stuff straight back into the volvo…he didn’t like the auto box.
but,hey i’m no expert on these things…lol. 
If it gets me from A to B then personally I dont care.
JB:
I swapped a 460 xl globetrotter for a r420 topliner last week.
The scania seems to ride better than the volvo did, whether thats because the mid axle steers and the volvos only lifts i dont know. I find it a comfortable truck.. however.. who designed a bed that you have to ponce about with before sleeping in it? One of my first motors was a wendy house volvo and even that had a proper bloody bed! The exhaust brake... I WANT MY VOLVOS EXHAUSTER BACK
Sitting in the passenger seat one night i noticed the button in a lhd is much more comfortable to press under your left foot.
Pressing the button causes the revs to scream around to the blue zone! The volvo also kicks the exhauster in automatically above a set speed on cruise Storage- The volvo wins hands down, although i hear the latest 08 model scania has two big lockers on the outside. The scania cab is massive inside i just dont feel theyve used the space properlyI also now have a compulsion to buy 16 spotlights, frilly curtains and a pelmet, chrome wheel trims and swirly stickers for the windows?
Other than that i like it…
JB, not telling you how to drive your truck, but the button you refer to is not the exhaust brake, its for selecting the engine brake program, im guessing as you have this button you have Opticruise?
The exhaust brake works off the brake pedal, the button on the floor, changes the gearbox into a lower gear, to give engine braking thats why it makes the engine scream a bit,
On another note the R series Opticruise is a vast improvement over the 4 series opticruise, anyone who has had a drive in a 4 series with opticruise i would recommend you try an r sereis and see the difference,
VOLVO
I had a scanny 420 topline new on an x plate , and hated it. To be fair it was a good drive but it was uncomfortable on a long trip as you couldn’t really move your left foot. And that stupid bunk over the drivers head was an awful idea, some drivers love em but not me.
Drive a nice shiny new fh520 i shift now. Lovely.
howatsi:
Both are good million mile+ motors with their own good points, but imhoEngines either even the Volvo 12litre 380 pulls strongly, but the lure of a V8!
I had a 99 fh 380 for a while. I used to pull a glass trailer into the north at least twice a week. Always 38 ton. The 1840 mercs that siu’cra (irish sugar) had could walk past me coming outa Newry or anywhere hilly around Banbridge and they were always 40 ton
ellies dad:
People say mercs are slow,huh.
They sure are…if you don’t know how to make them sing.
i prefer a scania over a volvo any day ov the week, i used to drive a 03 plate bullnose a 420bhp 1 with all the lights on etc until the lease ran out unfortunaley my boss didnt renew the contract then handed me the keys to a 03 irish plate globetroter which i drive today without the same smile on my face as the old motor reasons being, the sitting/steering position isnt as good as the scania ( i used to like my wheel raked back or the formula 1 position) i think the volvos jack-knife mirrors r useless, the sterring wheel is too small and has no feeling to it, also the clutch is very heavy and the gears have to b forced into gear all the time(volvos say there is no fault found) the only good thing about the volvo is its a 460 , the engine brake is better an there is slighty more room but given the choice i would have the scanny bak tommorow
When I passed my C, I had the pleasure of driving a low cab FH12 on an X plate, I thought it was OK.
Then I was given the keys to a Y plate 420 topline! WOW!
A much more comfortable truck to drive and live in for a week!
Better steering, better all round vision (mirrors on the FH blocked alot of vision. And as for the bed, well, I preffered sleeping in my truck than at home! I only used the top bunk as bed was always ready to jump into!
In my current new job, I am piloting a Scania and I like it apart from it aint a topline. Tommorrow I am taking out one of our new Volvos, its got this new fangled i-shift gearbox thingy! 
So until tommorrow night I still say SCANIA! But alas I may change my view once Wednesday is over!
Volvo every time for me
Scanny…over any other make, every single time.
Currently drive a 54 plate 124 420 Topline. Nothing else comes remotely close to it.
Volvo FH i shift because;
The headlights are better - Scania has to have 6 spotlights across the top and 4 across the bottom.
The sidelights are better - Scania has to have blue,green,white and purple lights all the way round the front of the cab.
The rear lights are better - Scania has to have the rear wind deflectors covered in red lights that blind you when they are overtaking you see next point.
The speed limiter is better (it works) - Scania surges between 55.5mph and 56.5 mph and sits along side you for mile after mile after mile.
The curtains are better - Scania has vevet curtains with tassles hanging down and are always halfway across the side windows so that when you are on a roundabout and the Scania comes up from your left flat out you think it will not give way until the last moment when the driver manages to poke his/her right eyeball round the curtain and slam on their brakes or more likely keeps going.
The drivers know they are driving a Volvo - Scania has to have a blue neon light in the back of the cab to remind them of their vehicle make.
The wheels stay cleaner longer - Scania has to have theirs polished during your 45 miute break.
Volvo is a better looking truck,better inside,better engine,better gearbox (i shift) and better drivers.
shade:
Volvo (with i-shift for me)I have always wondered why the Irish firms that run to Europe all seem to opt for big Scania’s with all the extra’s.Any particular reason for this■■?
Yea mate because they are all posers
Stralis all the way 
Discopete:
JB:
I swapped a 460 xl globetrotter for a r420 topliner last week.
The scania seems to ride better than the volvo did, whether thats because the mid axle steers and the volvos only lifts i dont know. I find it a comfortable truck.. however.. who designed a bed that you have to ponce about with before sleeping in it? One of my first motors was a wendy house volvo and even that had a proper bloody bed! The exhaust brake... I WANT MY VOLVOS EXHAUSTER BACK
Sitting in the passenger seat one night i noticed the button in a lhd is much more comfortable to press under your left foot.
Pressing the button causes the revs to scream around to the blue zone! The volvo also kicks the exhauster in automatically above a set speed on cruise Storage- The volvo wins hands down, although i hear the latest 08 model scania has two big lockers on the outside. The scania cab is massive inside i just dont feel theyve used the space properlyI also now have a compulsion to buy 16 spotlights, frilly curtains and a pelmet, chrome wheel trims and swirly stickers for the windows?
Other than that i like it…
JB, not telling you how to drive your truck, but the button you refer to is not the exhaust brake, its for selecting the engine brake program, im guessing as you have this button you have Opticruise?
The exhaust brake works off the brake pedal, the button on the floor, changes the gearbox into a lower gear, to give engine braking thats why it makes the engine scream a bit,
On another note the R series Opticruise is a vast improvement over the 4 series opticruise, anyone who has had a drive in a 4 series with opticruise i would recommend you try an r sereis and see the difference,
Thanks for the info pete. It is an opticruise yes. ( i still want my volvo back though )
turnip:
I had a scanny 420 topline new on an x plate , and hated it.Drive a nice shiny new fh520 i shift now. Lovely.
a bit harsh on the scanny to compare it to a fh520.
i actually really liked the scannys.
it doesnt bother me really i just compare them to l reg p cab scania i had when i first started.
i would go jb’s scanny everytime.