Slick shifts at a price
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by Toby Clark
• EuroTronic is a semi-automatic version of ZF's AS-Ironic gearbox, first revealed in CM in 1994. This is an electronically synchronized gearbox: it uses the engine's electronic control and a transmission brake to match input and output speeds: this is why the launch is limited to EDCequipped 380hp and 470hp models.
By dispensing with conventional synchromesh cones ZF has made the 16speed EuroTronic 56kg lighter and 62mm shorter than its equivalent syn chromesh box. Gears are selected using pneumatic actuators (the clutch is air-operated, too) with control via a fore-and-aft joystick instead of a conventional gear lever.
Iveco has an exclusive deal to fit the transmission for a year before it is made available to other manufacturers. In April EuroTronic will be launched on EuroStars and EuroTechs in Italy, Benelux and Scandinavia. It will them spread across the Continent, finally reaching the UK in September. It will add £3,000-£3,750 to the list price.
We joined Iveco engineer Pier Luigi Chierici and his team at lvalo in Finland, around 150km inside the Arctic Circle and just 40km from the Russian border. Iveco has been testing here for more than 10 years because the roads are good but the weather is harsh. It's far from consistent, however: while we were there the temperature fell from —11°C to —20°C in less than half an hour's driving: the week before it had been as low as —28°C.
In these temperatures reliable starting is essential, but Chierici didn't make it too easy: the
trucks were started from cold, without a block heater, and happily turned over after 30 seconds of preheat. It was cold enough that steam from the exhaust condensed to ice on the side panels, but there was no
visible smoke and we drove away after around five minutes.
We drove both the 380hp EuroStar (with the 12-speed EuroTronic box) and the 16speed 470hp version. Each 4x2 tractor was hitched to a stream
lined Kugel triaxle trailer laden to 40 tonnes gross. Fitted with studded Michelin tyres, the tucks behaved remarkably well on the icy, snow-blown IvaloKaamanen road. Only when we came down from the cab and tried to walk did we realise just how slippery it was...
These vehicles were fitted with Intarder (ZF's integral retarder). Combined with cruise control and the Bremsomat speed-hold system, it made them easy to drive. The automated clutch was smooth when setting off—particularly important on ice—and the system is straightforward to use; it's easier to learn in practice than it is to explain.
The most remarkable thing about the EuroIronic box is its speed: changes are faster than with any synchromesh box and as fast as the
best constant-mesh unit; even when switching from high to low range. It never missed a change, and gave the driver one less thing to worry about when the wind Was high and a steep el( v,,ngrade appeared.
Driver acceptance shouldn't be a problem when the EuroTronic comes to Britain— but will hauliers want to pay the price?
El CM's Technology Update next week will look in detail at the engineering and the marketing behind EuroTronic, and will consider if it is a viable alternative to a conventional gearbox.