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N THE ROAD
Page 24
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had a brief drive through the crowded nets of Oxford, and were glad to find that Daf is exceptionally easy to drive: the 9.2n engine revs willingly but delivers plenty orque from low down (Daf is more aware than most of the importance of a flexible power delivery), and the eight-speed ZF box is light and quick to shift.
Visibility is good, and though the cab is far from huge the accommodation is fine, with surprisingly good ride quality and—most importantly—a couple of cup-holders. The chassis works well too, with quick steering and decent brakes.
Handling was never an issue, but Waters assured us that "this truck is quite stable; even with a full drum it's quite stable round corners". At the same time, ground clearance is excellent.
As Waters says: "It's surprising where you can go and where you can get out of—it does manoeuvre easily. We were doing a job in one of the Oxford colleges... it was on a steep slope and all the brakes were locking up. I thought it wouldn't go but I put the duff-locks in and it came out straight away."
He proved how easy the Daf is to manoeuvre by skilfully shoehorning it into the front garden of a sizeable North Oxford house— and then had to unload 3m3 of concrete into a mini-dumper a quarter of a cubic metre at a time. This is the sort of thing that could give a driver apoplexy, but Waters stayed cool and took the opportunity to make some calls. An hour or so later we finally set off back to the Hanson depot.
"Round here there are more of these than any other type," he reports. "That says it all, I think. I'm well pleased with this truck—I thought I'd be a Volvo man for the rest of my life."