Brilliant gearbox as has been stated but not to sure about the fuel consumption. What egine did you have yours married to Neil?
we have the 460 and mixture of light and heavy loads in high tautliners we struggle for 8.3 mpg.We have been Volvo trained and Volvo trainer took one of ours out for two days and could not better that.
The 420’s and 480’s seem to be more economical I gather.
Running 480 at my place and pulling full weight .
Don’t get me wrong you can have crap fuel return on some legs(hilly) of a run , but you can pull it back when you get on the flat .
Always look to get anywhere between 8.5 and 9.5 mpg .
On longer runs 9.5-10 mpg is do-able .
As said above best I have managed is 10.3
disgo:
Brilliant gearbox as has been stated but not to sure about the fuel consumption. What egine did you have yours married to Neil?
First one was a 380 and the second was a 420.
Get your boss to send you (or at least someone at your firm) to Volvo at Warwick to do an I-Shift course.
Only then will you fully appreciate what it is really capable of if driven as intended.
It’s been done to death before, but just once more - I-Shift, Opticruise, Telligent, Powershift - whatever the technology is doesn’t matter - to get the best from it you need to learn a whole new set of skills. They’re all very different nowadays.
Sure you can jump in an I-Shift without any training, you can make it go, do a day’s work and then stop. But you don’t know the 'box properly without guidance.
I’ve seen blokes trying to VOR an I-Shift Volvo because ‘it keeps jumoing out of gear’. Well actually - that’s what it’s supposed to be doing…
scania245:
)Harry Monk:
scania245:
watch youre fuel consumption go through the roofDon’t understand this, trucks with automatic gearboxes have better fuel consumption.
They are not like cars. The I-Shift gearbox is not a “wet” gearbox with a torque converter, it is a manual gearbox with the gear changing controlled by electronics and hydraulics. It changes gear at the optimum time, always.
Could you expand on what you mean by “watching your fuel consumption go through the roof”?
sorry harry respect you but ■■■■■■■■ if you want a good fuel consumption you need a manual box the driver decides the gear
these auto boxes aint fit for purpose (here i go again
) ps the dafatronic changes gear at the optimum time
sorry but i agree that autos arent all they are cracked up to be with fuel consumption. i did a test one day and i got a far better result by using the i shift in manual and being a little lighter on the pedal than the auto box was.
it took longer though and i nearly ran out of driving time 
I couldn’t be arsed to use it in manual to be honest .
Occasionly I will blip it down to 11 when running at 40 mph and not loaded as it wants to be in 12th and the engine really labours .
When loaded it behaves and sits in 11th .
Inselaffe:
Oh! And don’t accidentally leave it in gear overnight. When the air pressure drops, it ain’t going to go back into neutral and therefore won’t start until the nice man comes to fill the air tanks up again…
I didn’t know that, but as always you never stop learning on this job 
Life’s a Gas:
Beware of the ‘eco roll’ if yours is programmed to use it.It’s a system that selects neutral gear on downward slopes when you are using the cruise control. If the speed exceeds 4 or 5 kph over the CC setting it will re-select the gear & slow you down again.It can be a little worrying the first time it happens but does wonders for your MPG.
Most of the i-shift trucks I’ve driven use it but I think it’s something that operators can turn on or off using the on board computer system.
that only happens if you have the secondary brake on auto. it doesnt happen if its off or 1,2,3
Life’s a Gas:
Beware of the ‘eco roll’ if yours is programmed to use it.It’s a system that selects neutral gear on downward slopes when you are using the cruise control. If the speed exceeds 4 or 5 kph over the CC setting it will re-select the gear & slow you down again.It can be a little worrying the first time it happens but does wonders for your MPG.
Most of the i-shift trucks I’ve driven use it but I think it’s something that operators can turn on or off using the on board computer system.
Isnt that the E+ setting you chose on the stalk on the right of your steering wheel.
Can set it to E+ or a different settings. Can also adjust what speed it will slow you down up to 15kmph over the cruise control.
I done a few weeks tramping in a 480 it was nice, got good MPG but was carrying aluminium so no weight.
Drove a 380 the other night, that was nice as well.
I-shift made me think twice about automatics, i hate MAN auto’s, ok on the open road but found running about the city centre and on slight hills carrying a truck full of kegs of beer it was choosing the wrong gears, to a point where it was becoming dangerous i.e. try and pull off and it stalling or trying to roll backwards.
The Daf autos find them too slow, ok people gonna say fuel consumption, and shouldnt be hammering it accerelation wise in an arctic, but being realistic at some junctions, joining some roads you need to get your speed up not crawling on.
Kenny1975:
i hate MAN auto’s,
agreed. i drove them for boots. bookers have got a load of 07 plate TGAs in. they gave me a 52 reg manual. my only real complaint was the fact that the radio worked but didnt seem to be connected to the speakers. blackpool is a long way from livingston with no radio 