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IJUDGMENTS

17th December 1998
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Iveco's EuroTech has a good track record, with satisfactory fuel returns and good payload capacity. Early problems seem to be sorted out and used, they have an attractive price tag.

• In 1993 the new Iveco EuroTech was voted "Truck of the Year" by a section of the European press corps. This accolade was followed by teething troubles that included cracked windscreens, cracked brake discs and general poor build quality With the advent of the Euro-2 engine we tested the MP400E34 a second time and reckoned that the truck was far better than its reputation would have had us believe.

• EVOLUTION

EuroTech followed lveco's TEC range of tractive units with turbocharged and chargecooled versions of the 9.5-litre engine rated at 345 and 375hp while more power was on hand with a larger 13.8-litre six cylinder engine rated at 420hp.

Both 340 and 380 versions weighed about 6.9 tonnes equipped with Eaton's 12-speed Twin Splitter transmission and steel parabolic springs front and rear. Disc brakes were

Four years after our first test of the 400E34 we might have expected a 380hp version. But even as late as August 1997 the 340 was accounting for about one-third of EuroTech sales. It wasn't the usual run-of-the-mil however. It had single air-bag suspension on the front axle and a double-bunk slee. With a large 600-litre tank compensated to an extent by alloy wheels, the unit UM lean 6.9 tonnes On payload Euro Tech sits in the middle of its rivals_ Euro-2 was si to impose higher fuel consumption but our 340hp unit proved the theory wrong overall figure of 782mpg; a 3% improvement aided Perhaps by conscientious us extra splitter gears while maintaining engine revs within the 1,400 to 1,60Orp, spot. The truck trundled along easily enough motorway sections, achieving up to 9.0mpg at tir■ the engine needed to be kept busy to make progn harder terrain. The ride was smooth and it corner out the wallow we might have expected from air sus on the steer axle In fact, we liked the light, precise ; gained with a larger-than-average steering wheo changes were slick and

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quick with acceptable shift loads. Low cab mounting compounds the difficulty of movement inside. The seat squab is thinner than some but not uncomfortable. The trim is sombre but fleet-friendly. espite twin bunks, the cab stowage capacity is adequate, but more would be desirable on long hauls. The cab is relatively rattle-free and no more plasticky than those in its rivals. At 340hP its appeal must be with loads below 36 tonnes. Heavy discounting on the expensive list price must detract from the eventual residual value

standard on the front axle and four-bag air-sus pension was available for the rear of the chassis.

By 1997 the Eaton box had given way to the ZF 16-speed Ecosplit box and the mechanical fuel injection 9.5-litre engine design now included higher injection pressures and reshaped combustion chambers without loss in power or torque. Air-suspended drive axles became standard across the range, electrics were upgraded, hub seals improved and cab trim improved.

This year saw the introduction of a lighter model to the EuroTech range, fitted with a 7.8litre engine. Electronically controlled variable geometry turbocharging gives the Cursor tractive unit the option of 310 or 352hp at 1,920rpm and up to 1,2801bft of torque between 1,080 and 1,920rpm, combined with enhanced engine braking. Optimised combustion is said to reduce hydrocarbon particulate emissions, allowing the interval between oil changes to be extended to 80,000km using semi-synthetic oil. The technology is soon to be available in larger 10-litre units with similarly increased levels of output and savings in weight.

• OPERATORS Price was the main attraction for owner-driver Dennis Young, of D and A Transport, of Doddington, Cambridgeshire, who bought his EuroTech 400E38 five years ago. "At the time the EuroTech was lower on cost than almost anything else. It was £18,500 less than the Scania 3 Series 380 tractive unit I had been looking at," he says. "I have been in road transport for 14 years and this is the second Iveco I have had. My last truck was a TurboStar 420. I mainly subcontract for a local firm and for much of the time 1 only run at about 28 tonnes gross or less. The vehicle is plated at 33 tonnes because there aren't enough return loads to this part of the country to justify paying the higher tax rate.

"I have been keeping a close check on fuel consumption recently hoping to justify whether it is the right time to exchange it. It is doing 8.95mpg which is not bad bearing in mind that I run with a 16ft-high curtainsided trailer which is like pulling a sail into the wind. On a windy day it can really kill me on the diesel.

"The truck has covered 650,000km over the five years and the residual value is not very good. But, say it's worth £5,000 now. That would mean I would be looking for £23,000 for that Scania. That's a lot to pay for a fiveyear-old truck. The other big consideration is the repayments. I was quoted £450 more a month to buy on lease purchase the Scania against the £32,000 I borrowed for the Iveco over four years.

"Everyone knows that Iveco had trouble with the front discs. I had three sets replaced under warranty I had a water pump pack up at Newport one day out of warranty. I limped into the local Seddon Atkinson dealer who stripped it down and just before they closed they told me they couldn't get a replacement. I phoned TC Harris in Peterborough who dispatched a pump by courier and I got a knock on the cab at 11 o'clock that night. The Seddon fitters were gobsmacked when I presented them with the pump when they arrived the next morning. We had a bit of an argument about paying for the part but in the end the warranty covered it. All I have had to pay for is £450 for a front caliper last year and an air dryer the year before cost about £120.

"The Eaton Twin Splitter box has been brilliant. All lorries should have one. You don't need the clutch if you know how to drive it and I'm still on the original one. Unless they are abused, modern clutches do last a long time. My TurboStar, which was used for different work, also had its original clutch when I sold it after five and a half years.

"Although the 9.5-litre engine is rated at 380hp, the torque is not as high as you might think. A Volvo FH 340 at the same weight will just leave it for dead on a hill but that is something you learn to put up with.

"We live in the middle of sugar beet country and the roads can get quite mucky. On foggy days the EuroTech cab with its little wings sticking out tends to suck the dirt up the sides on to the body work and the windows. Full. width cabs don't seem to suffer to the same extent.

1 have had to replace a couple of door locks because they seized up after water got in when we used the pressure washer. The plastic surround to the driver's seat is starting to break up. Some parts that you might think

won't cost much often do and others that look a lot to replace work out less expensive. A very small plastic air valve for the seat cost £72 while a much more substantial pressure reducing valve for the back of the chassis cost only £60.

"I run fat tyres on the front axle which is the best investment on a truck that I have ever made. The savings are unreal. They have done about 200,000km and are good for another four months yet. The ride tends to be better on rough surfaces as the tyre doesn't drop into pot-holes so readily.

"I would like to see the cab with a wraparound dash to bring the controls a bit nearer to the driving position. The stowage in the cab has already been improved on later models."

Mark Crofton-Sleigh runs a bulk tipping fleet of 10 Iveco trucks out of Harleston, Norfolk. "We've got one TurboStar and seven EuroStars plus two EuroTech tractive units. We have had one of them for about three years and the other for six months which really brings us up to date in renewing the whole fleet. We have kept them longer in the past but we are anticipating future renewals after three to four years," he says.

"We have always had good service from Iveco so we have never had a reason to change. We had problems with the old TurboStar which we kept for more than eight years but they always sorted it out. There is no point changing if you are happy with the product "New prices are very good at the moment and the EuroTech is competitive with anything with the same amount of power. At the other end, residual prices are relative to what you have to pay to start with but if the vehicle is traded in against another Iveco the residual is fairly good.

"Our trucks run all over the country and cover up to 120,000km a year. We hired in the first EuroTech 400E340 because we needed a truck quickly. The driver said he quite liked it so we bought it—and I have just sold it, actually. At 340hp they are a little bit under-powered but they area light truck and give a very good payload. We get a comfortable 25 tonnes and more with some of the trailers.

"Fuel consumption averages about 8.0mpg. More would be nice and some of the EuroStar 380s do return more than 9.0mpg.

"We get six to seven months out of brake pads on the front axle but the lining on the drum brakes at the rear lasts a lot longer. We got only 60-70,000km on the standard tyres before their shoulders became worn so now we fit wide singles on the front axle throughout the fleet and the mileage has almost doubled.

"The older EuroTech has the 16 speed ZF box but the later one, which was a cancelled order and offered to us at the right price, has the Twin Splitter.

"We had very little trouble with the electrics but there was a small problem with several of the LED side marker lights on the latest one. We thought they should have been more reliable than bulbs but perhaps they were just a bad batch. The local dealer is not far away at Norwich. We do all of our own t) servicing but they have always got Ql1/44 behind us if we lbhave had trouble. N. to The latest one had discs that were out of balance. This became apparent under light braking and they were changed without a fuss. A lot of our trucks are covered by the millennium warranty so if anything does break they put it right. We buy filters etc from them and the prices are fine. "The vehicles are quite robust and the drivers seem to like them for the cab environment. The cab has improved. It is much better than the TurboStar cab we had a few years ago. It is more spacious and the EttroStar cab is even better."

Twenty years ago Gordon Brocklehurst started his transport business in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, with a single Transit van. Three years ago he moved the business on to a 1.8ha site with 6,100m2 of warehousing where he runs 40 trucks on a 24-hour operation. The fleet consists of Daf and Iveco models, including eight EuroTech 400E340s and 380s. The oldest is now five years old and has covered 500,0001un mainly in the UK.

Operations director Dave Webster says: "We think a five-year replacement cycle is the optimum on costing& It avoids repairs becoming necessary on major components and there is still some value left in the vehicle. At the moment we are of expanding which may mean that we keep them a little bit longer. We have added on four vehicles this year."

Brocklehurst says: "The disc brake problem lasted about two years. We have a service contract with the main dealer. They are trained up on the vehicles and can often head off a problem before it occurs. They operate a 24-hour service and we take full advantage of it. It is not unusual to drop off a vehicle at lOpm and collect it to start work six hours later. "We usually cube out before we reach maximum weight. The EuroTechs have a slight weight advantage over our Daf 85s but we rarely go beyond a 23-tonne payload. We run on five axles with curtainsided trailers so we can only go to 40 tonnes next year. We will wait and see what the YE]) is before making any changes. We are more likely to stay at 38 tonnes if there is a tax advantage. We don't find there is a lot of difference between the 340 and 380. The work is a mixture of motorway and multi-drop deliveries and we are returning about 8.2mpg, the same as the Dais. We signed up for Iveco's millennium warranty package which covers everything so we don't get quite the same feedback from the dealer as if we were paying bills for repairs. Knock-off items like mirrors appear to be cheaper than with the Dais.

"The driveline is good. We haven't had a major repair with the ZF 16-speed gearbox. We get 150,000Icm or 18 months out of a clutch. There is a lot of town work. With a recut the rear tyres last at about 140,000km. We don't mix tyre sizes and one spare covers the whole truck. Drivers complained about the position of the exhaust brake button at first so we had it moved. But they didn't like that either so we moved it back again. The EDC warning lamp is renowned for coming on. The driver always phones in with the fault but it has never been anything serious that has stopped us getting home."

Webster says: "The drivers like the high roof cab with the double bunks and electric windows. They spend three to four nights out a week. It is bigger than our Daf 85s.

"The one thing I would like New to change is the colour of the chassis. Orange doesn't fit in with our livery. When we come to paint it the lacquered finish is very difficult to flatten off. The result is that the black paint doesn't stick. It would be better for us if they just primed it.

Brocklehurst adds: "We had the Cursor on demo. We thought the diff ratio was wrong but the concept of a light truck with a wide power/economy band looks right and might suit us next year with the speed limiting being set even lower. We will have another look at it."

• DEALERS

About five years ago Northern Commercials at Brighouse was subject to a management buyout. With Daf looking for a buyer at the time it became necessary to look for another franchise, and the company turned to lveco. This year Northern Commercials will turn over nearly 1,000 new and used trucks It has a strong used truck department and carries a mixed stock of both makes and sizes of 50 to 60 vehicles from light vans to maximum weight trucks.

Area sales manager Brian Tuxford says: "EuroTech tractive units are very popular. When we get one in it doesn't stay on the books for long. The 400E380 is naturally more desirable than the 340 at 38 tonnes. The 340 with mechanical injection is better suited at 34 to 36 tonnes. Power comes at a price, so the 380 with EDC is more expensive. Both have the same choice of cab specification and in the used market operators ask for the more popular add-ons such as an air management kit, sliding fifth wheel and headlamp protectors. Most now come with the 16-speed ZF box which is often preferred to the Twin Splitter for fleet use. We haven't been asked to fit large section tyres to the front axle yet but it is an option we can provide."The EuroTech is aimed primarily at our domestic market Availability is split evenly between the 340 and 380 models and we can customise warranty cover to suit the purchaser.

"Uncertainty about future VED rates is killing sales while operators hold off buying until they can decide whether they should run on five or six axles. It is a ridiculous situation for the Government to introduce heavier operational weights without telling the industry how much it is going to cost "Prices for EuroTech are keen. A 1995 M reg 400E340 will retail at about £13,500, while a fully refurbished 380 model with about 325,000km on the clock will fetch £17,000."

• SUMMARY

Upfront price is still a major reason for purchase of new lveco EuroTechs. Monthly payment can work out a lot less than for some other makes which are perhaps perceived as having more prestige.

The driveline appears solid and any faults with the vehicle as a whole that do crop up are usually minor. The disc brake problem was apparently solved years ago but some of the cab trim may bear closer inspection. Operators we spoke to were satisfied with their fuel returns and spoke well of the payload capacity. The cab is not full width so both 380 and 340 models are aimed at the UK's domestic market.

Residual values are naturally not so high but this makes for attractive purchases in the used truck market.

0 by Bill Brock

ERF MAIN DEALERS

Aberdeen, Alperton, Barking, Belfast, Billinghom, Blackwell, Blaydon, Brighouse, Bristol, Canterbury, Carlisle, Chester, Coventry, Dunstable, Enfield, Forfar, Glasgow, Gloucester, Guernsey, Guildford, Hayes, Hildenlaorough, Hull, Immingham, Jersey, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Maidstone, Morecombe, Norwich, Peterborough, Preston, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, St Austell, Swansea, Telford, Warrington, West Bromwich.

SPECIFICA S Model: lveco EuroTech MP400E34 T/P 4x2 medium roof twin bunk sleeper cab tractive unit.

Design GTW: 40.0 tonnes.

Design GVW: 18 0 tonnes.

Manufacturer: lveco Ford Truck, lveco Ford House, Station Road, Watford. WD1 1SR.

ENGINE: lveco 84601CA, Euro-2, turbocharged and air-to-air charge cooled diesel with mechanical fuel management system.

Cylinders: Six in line.

Capacity: 9.5 litres.

Maximum net power: 340hp (254kW) at 2,200rpm. Maximum net torque: 1,069 Ibit (1,450Nm) at I ,20Orpm TRANSMISSION: ZF 1651 51 16-speed range change and splitter synchromesh gearbox Single dry plate clutch 406mm diameter. Final drive: 3.42:1 as standard.

BRAKING SYSTEM: Dual circuit, full air system with ventilated front and drums at rear. Wabco Cat 1 ABS, heated air dryer and alloy tc Parking: Spring brake actuators on drive axle.

STEERING: ZF 8098 hydraulic power assistance.

CHASSIS: Ladder construction with riveted and bolted cross memlot Suspension: Optional front two air bag with locating paiabolic spr front and Full four bag air-suspension at the rear. Anti-roll bars fron rear. Overall wheelbase: 5.58m. to 7.2m.

Wheels and tyres: 22.5 rims with 295/80 R 22.5 tyres.

Fuel tank: 600 litres.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 24V, 2 110Ah batteries with 55A olternator.

WORKSHOP TIMES

Manufacturer's standard workshop hoe Remove and replace clutch assembly Remove and replace one iniector Replace head gasket Replace brake shoes/pads, front and re Remove and replace engine Remove and replace gearbox Renew engine oil filter(s)

ROADTESTS Iveco EuroTech 400E340 4.( PARTS PRICES

Manufacturer's prices {retail ex-VAT).

Laminated windscreen £152.40 Injector set (six. service exchange) £394.62 Piston liner set (six) £828.84 Rear brake chamber ( exchange) £277.18 Complete headlamp unitl £52.95 Wiper blades (complete set) £17.53 Engine oil filter £10.17 Complete clutch assembly (exchange) £491.42 Door mirror £113.79


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