A world first at the CV Show: Oaf unveils latest
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CF and LF By Will Shiers THE CV SHOW 2013 will go down in history as one of the alltime greats in terms of new vehicle launches, with numerous UK and world premieres.
Among the notable new trucks on show were a trio from Daf – the first UK outing for new XF and the world premiere for both CF and LE Nigel Charlton, owner of Nigel K Charlton, was impressed with the new range. "They look great," he said. "It has done a terrific job of modernising and restyling them, while keeping within the confines of the existing cabs." The Frome operator, who runs a fleet of Scanias, said the old CF and XF were popular with drivers, and these latest changes are only going to help improve this reputation.
Equally as impressed with the new range was David Steinberg, MD of Stardes. He's been running Dafs since 1978, and said they tick all the boxes in terms of his operation. "We do a lot of work in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus," he explained, "and those roads will knock the **** out of a truck. But the Dafs cope with it well." He says as well as decent build quality, the XF cab has plenty of driver appeal, which is only going to increase with the Euro-6 version.
He likes the new interior, particularly the redesigned dashboard, and had favourable comments on the external styling too. In fact, he was so impressed that he decided to place an order for six Euro-6 XFs. He said: "I could've bought EEV and saved some money, but instead I'm going for the new Euro-6 versions. We are all going to have to buy Euro-6 eventually, and I figured I might as well start now."
Paul Curtis, driver and fleet engineer at Heywood-based CFT Services, said the new CF was "a really pretty truck". He added: "I'd certainly be happy to spend a week in one of these."
But while he loved the new interior, and had only positive things to say about the new family grille, he wasn't so convinced about the CF's headlights. "I would've preferred it if they'd used the old lights with the new grille, like on the new LF – that would look fantastic," he said.