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T AIN'T BROKE...
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It's often said, and fairly, that the British truck industry isn't what it was — but in one small corner it still is. We check out the Foden Alpha.
It doesn't seem long since the traditional British truck was still a significant force on the home market, but recent years have seen a gradual dissolution until what remains is but a vestigial rump.
Among the final three bastions of British truck manufacturing,ERF's individuality is almost entirely limited to its use of Cummins engines, while SeddonAtIcinson has become the specialist municipal wing of the Iveco empire. That leaves Foden as Paccar's British heritage brand. and even here most models share lots of components with the corresponding Dd.
But one important section of its range remains true to the tradition of bought-in (usually American) engines and driveline components, mounted in a custom chassis: the construction line-up.Tippermen can choose between the Caterpillar C12 and the Cummins ISMe, with the former getting the majority vote. Between them they provide five ratings from 345 to 450hp, and if this is too much you can also have 280 or 305hp worth of 7.2-litre Cat 3126E in a 6x4. But this week's test truck is an 8x4 driven by 385 Cummins horses.
It came with the 16-speed ZF box which was an option during our test but has since become standard issue in place of the 12-speeder.
The buyer gets to make more choices when it comes to speceing the suspension too. Our example had the standard set-up of dropbeam front axles with steel parabolic springs, and Foden's own rubber suspension on the Mentor rear bogie. Options are straight-beam front axles, and either raised rubber or twospring steel rear suspension. In any case, the suspension carries Foden's unique chassis with its high-tensile steel side-rails and bolted aluminium cross-members.
Paccar provides the accommodation in the shape of a restyled Daf CFcab.The Foden's principal styling cue is the grille panel,centred on a version of Foden's traditional kite-shaped badge.The cab doors and side panels are basically flat, being devoid of the Dafs flares — apparently the Foden design was used to disguise prototype CFs until shortly before the launch.
Most of the option list is aimed at weight reduction, including alloy wheels and aluminium air tanks to complement the ally fuel tank.
The result of this no-compromise approach is a clarity of purpose rarely approached by the competition. lf, after all this,there is no payback in productivity, someone's maths has gone badly wrong, Productivity As it happens.,the sums stack up nicely. With the aforementioned options on board, together with a full 340-litre tank and a 75kg driver, the Foden chassis weighs in at a sylph-like 9,060kg, giving a body/payload allowance of a whisker under 23 tonnes.The body on our test truck is a Wilcox Wikolite insulated tipper with Edbro CX15 front-end gear weighing in at 2250kg complete with sheeting system, putting it within reach of the magic 21-tonne payload.
With no doubt over the Foden's payload ability, our attention turned to its dynamic qualities. The longish 3.91:1 final drive ratio allows the Foden to reach the speed limiter with a full gear to spare; in top gear the Cummins is turning at a leisurely 1,475rprri, just above the middle of the green band.
Overall fuel economy was 8.14mpg,in a sector where anything over eight is good. Only the recently tested Renault Kerax Highway with a Euro-3 lump has achieved this With its relaxed gearing and torquey engine it should be in its element at steady speed running, and indeed the Foden produced an outstanding 9.52mpg on the motorway section.A spell of stormy but gradually improving weather knocked the A-road figure back to a middling 7.42nipg.Average joumey times revealed no surprises in either direction.
No one takes too much notice of list prices nowadays, but the Foden's basic figure of i62,010 seems a sensible place to start negotiations.
On the road
The first thing that comes to your attention as you begin to drive it is the way the Cummins' brain provides the torque required to move off.The second is the bollocking you get from the Road Relay unit when you don't change up soon enough for its satisfaction!
You soon learn that the Cummins' lazy characteristics repay keeping it below the top of the 1200-1,600rpm green band, although it does no harm to let it lug down to 1,000rpm for short spells instead of making a downshift.The gear change is smooth and precise, even if it does take a suitably manly amount of effort (the ServoShift fitted to other ZF applications will not fit some right-hookers).
In conditions of less-than-ideal road grip, a degree of understeer makes itself known rather too easily, not helped by the fairly light steering. Nonetheless, in dry conditions the steering is precise enough to hustle neatly through the many roundabouts, or should that be islands,on our Midlands route.The cab is suspended on four coil springs, which are well tied down and limit roll in corners quite effectively.
Resurfacing at the proving ground prevented full testing of the disc-and-drum braking system, but there was no question of their efficiency on the road.The only downside was the corporate Paccar foot valve, which we found difficult to modulate: it needed a fairly hefty initial pressure to get it moving, then we had to back off to avoid over-braking.
The standard Jake brake is controlled in two stages each bringing three of the six cylinders into play. It produces more than enough retardation to keep service brake use to a minimum. A tipper, even a lightweight aggregates tipper,is no good if it can't take a hit of offroading in its stride.The Foden's off-road traction is aided by a full set of inter and crossaxle diff-locks, and by the high-profile rear tyres. Our only reservations in this department are the vulnerable looking brake chambers behind the rear axle, with the negligible rear overhang.
Cab comfort
Naturally enough, the cab interior owes a lot to the Daf CF. In fact, it owes it practically everything short of the kite badge in the middle of the steering wheel and a smaller one on the face of the rev counter.The optional luxury trim package brings comfort levels which are high by traditional tipper standards, with a -walnut" dash and velour soft furnishings.The current health and safety trend for drivers not to get out into the danger zone means they also get to stay cleaner, and why not? Any muck that does get in is easily removed from the moulded floor covering which is largely free of dirt traps.
We were treated to an optional pair of upmarket air-suspended seats.At the suggestion of the man from Foden, most of the time we left the driving seat suspension locked out to improve feel, but very few adverse effects were transmitted to the CM nether regions, even on the challengingly surfaced road from Brackley to Buckingham. A wide range of adjustment made an ideal driving position easy to find.The only criticism was that we found the PTO lever a bitclose to our elbow for comfort.
The other controls are pure Daf CF, and none the worse for that.The fit and finish is often described as car-like and this example does nothing to harm that reputation.An otherwise high level of refinement was only marred by an unidentified rattle from within the driver's door.
It wouldn't be a Cummins-powered demonstrator without its Road Relayunit,which sits below the impressive VDO Dayton CD-radio unit in the central dash panel.
Between the Road Relay and the standard Daf driver information display, just about the only information kept from the driver is the MD's salary The longer-than-average day cab provides a useful bit of space behind the seats for coats, safety kit and lunch bags. By the way, do tipper drivers still carry their lunch in army surplus gas mask bags?
The daily paraphernalia is mostly accommodated in the central storage unit.There's a recess in the top which is large enough to take a full-sized road atlas; the lid lifts to reveal enough space for all the usual paperwork; while a couple of circular recesses at the front are ideal for drinks and phones and whatever else you can think of.
Shallow net-fronted shelving mounted above the screen extends across threequarters of the width and provides useful storage space, with the remaining quarter occupied by a panel housing the tachograph and a few minor switches. •