ROADTEST
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FA 60 210
• Record breakers are nothing but trouble. As if it isn't bad enough having to go over the test results with a fine-tooth comb, you then have to spend hours wading through CM's roadtest files, just to make sure that there isn't some forgotten model tucked away in a dark corner that actually beats the young pretender.
Well we've checked our results, gone through the cabinet, and it hasn't made any difference. The Leyland Daf FA 60.210 is the fastest and the most economical 17-tonner to date round our Welsh middleweight test route.
• DRIVELINE
On paper, at least, there is nothing special about Leyland Daf's latest 17-tonner. Like its lower powered stablemate, the FA 60.180, it's driven by Daf's long-serving 6.2-litre straight-six diesel.
The difference is that while the 60.180's turbocharged NT engine pumps out a modest 134kW (180hp), the FA 60.210's charge-cooled NS version provides 17% more power and 11% more torque.
The decision to uprate the Freighter (sorry, 60 Series) makes obvious sense; not least because an increasing number of operators want more grunt in a 17-tonner. After all, the 156kW (212hp) NS engine has long been available in the Daf 1900 rigid, so its arrival has been something of an anticlimax. Middleweight buyers might be for
given for asking Leyland Daf: "What took you so long?"
Behind the NS diesel there is a singleplate clutch and the familiar ZF S6-36 synchro box with an overdrive top ratio (the lower-powered 60.180 has a direct-top transmission) linked to an 11-tonne 11R 11/24 hub-reduction drive axle, courtesy of the old Albion plant in Glasgow. With the front axle plated at seven tonnes there should be enough loading latitude for most operators.
Shove that little lot in the tried and tested Freighter chassis with the facelifted Freighter cab now sporting the Daf family three-stripe grille and you've got yourself an FA 60.210.
MI FUEL ECONOMY
Until last month CM's 17-tonne economy honours were held by the Iveco Ford Cargo 1721. It established its record 21.661it/100km (13.04mpg) back in 1989, thanks to its thrifty 8.27-litre Cummins C Series engine and slippery Windfoil body.
Based on past form we didn't think the 60.210 would beat it. When CM tested the 60.180, also in 1989, its mediocre 24.081k/100km (11.73mpg) inspired the headline "Thirsty for work". When we started out from Chievely Services we weren't expecting much, but five and a half hours and 360km later the 60.210 had rewritten the records with a 21.1lit/100km (13.37mpg). So what went right?
Charge-cooling the 6.2-litre Daf diesel is part of the answer, and there is also the little matter of Leyland Daf's optional 60 Series air management kit. Whether the kit can deliver the 13% fuel savings promised by the glossy 60 Series brochure remains to be seen, but if our results are anything to go by, long-distance operators who ignore aerodynamic aids must have money to burn.
• PERFORMANCE
Aerodynamics help performance as well as economy. On gentle hills, and against the That, followed by a brisk run around the A-road section of our route, edged out the Foden 2200 and left the 60.210 at the top of our performance league with an average speed of 65.2km/h.