The problem is not usually with the gearbox, it’s the cog behind the wheel. 
You can’t just drive them like an auto car, you need to learn how to drive them just as much as you do any manual box. You use your right foot differently than with a manual box for a start. I love the i-shift box and in my last truck, a FM Globetrotter it was a great drive. When I got the DAF I didn’t get on with the box for a couple of days until I worked out how it liked to be driven and now it’s also a great drive, not quite as good as the Volvo because it takes a little more work but not far off it, same goes for the Merc auto boxes. Once you’ve worked them out you no longer get that pause pulling away from things for one thing. Same goes for reversing, I’ve seen guys have real problems when they are either stationary or going backwards at full tilt because they are too heavy with the right foot in that situation. Just don’t try to drive them like a fire engine and you’re half way there.
Steve-o:
DAF95XF:
Like I said in an earlier posting in this thread that I recently drive a Volvo coach with an I-Shift, after everything Ive read on here and in magazines about it I thought it would be the dogs ■■■■■■■■, sadly I was left disappointed…How old was the coach? IIRC there’s a ishift mk1 & 2. change over point 56/07 plate. Basically, see the way the auto box behaved in the renos you drove at ND? The ishift is the exact same as what will be in that 60 plate coach, perfect.
Correct, I-Shift Mk1 changed gears a bit slower, typical problem in A Mode was pulling away in 4th, which it would hold until between the Green and Red bands, then it-d up into 7th…but the engine would only pick up from around 800rpm, just under the Green! Uphill gradient pull-aways were a nightmare in A mode, although it would detect the terrain and select 1 or 2, it would STILL bang up too many cogs and leave the engine struggling at 800rpm to get up the hill!
Mk2 saw some changes such as the E/P button and the Thottle Kickdown becoming optional extras as on Mk1 these came as standard, leading to some customers complaining.
Mk2 also saw much much better cog changes and faster shifts as well.
A strange oddity between Mk1 and Mk2 is when you go from A to R or R to A. On Mk1 it would show your selection but it would default the gearbox to Neutral (in the LCD) until you’d slowed down almost to a complete stop before engaging your selection…on Mk2 if you’re going too fast then it automatically engages the brakes and slows the vehicle down to the speed required!! (No matter how fast you’re going!).
My experience of the I-Shift was on Volvo B12B National Express Coaches…being used to ZF/VOITH/Allison Fully Automatic transmissions I always found the I-shift really annoying because suddenly my obtainable gaps pretty much all disappeared!
DAF95XF:
Steve-o:
DAF95XF:
Like I said in an earlier posting in this thread that I recently drive a Volvo coach with an I-Shift, after everything Ive read on here and in magazines about it I thought it would be the dogs ■■■■■■■■, sadly I was left disappointed…How old was the coach? IIRC there’s a ishift mk1 & 2. change over point 56/07 plate. Basically, see the way the auto box behaved in the renos you drove at ND? The ishift is the exact same as what will be in that 60 plate coach, perfect.
It was an 09 plate, the Renaults were better
try the daf auto they are the worst on the market a shocking pile the old set up on the xf was much better 
drove one from wednesday to friday.
it is the dugs baws. no delay when moving