1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192 
Driving n G or the first time shod be a nerve-racking experience
Page 72
Page 73
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
— but as Julian 'Wines 4,
found out, modern technology takes away
much of the strain. 9 There comes a time in the life of every CM roadtester when he has to park up the vans and look further afield to larger machinery and that time had arisen for yours truly. The way it works is that once a roadtester has earned his van wings (with minimal fatalities), the magazine will sponsor him to take his LG V test so as to broaden his testing abilities. And it is down to that person to pass: "First time or don't come back," as our editor always jokes (that's not u jokeEd).
Stage one in license acquisition is the procurement of the forms. Picking pension day at the post office is never a good move after listening to piped-in soft disco for 10 minutes. visions of a certain scene from Full Monty were going through my mind-this time with the blue rinse crowd shuffling back and forth.
The forms were duly sent away to the DVLA and my provisional licence arrived within the week surprisingly efficient for a government agency.The plan was to wait until after the Christmas rush to get down to the serious business of taking lessons. But then Volvo called to say they were having an open day at the Qinet i() test track, j ust down the road from CM, near Chertsey,Surrey.
As it happened, there would be two trucks of particular interest at the event a pair of Volvo FH16,s, one of which was the all-powerful flagship complete with 660 horses.This tractor would be hooked up to a King long-bed low-load trailer complete with Extec brick crusher, adding up to a GCW of 90 tonnes (about the same weight as Wales).
Lo and behold, those nice people at Volvo said they would be delighted to have a completely inexperienced driver on board to navigate their premium 90-tonner round a wet test track in darkest November.
Fact and figures if you don't know about Volvo's top-of-therange tractor, here are a few figures to fill you in:16 litres, 660hp, 3.100Nm, four valves per cylinder. If that isn't enough to have you nodding with respect then according to the brochure,"90% of the maximum torque area" is available within about two seconds.
So far,so good. But now I know there's enough power underfoot, how am I going to transfer it to the wheels without crunching the wrong gear at the wrong time especially when! still need reminding now and again that some vans now have six gears? Have no fear. Volvo's acclaimed automatic I-Shift is designed to replace the thought process completely, enabling all the driver's powers of concentration to be channelled into where to point the thing.
And so the big day arrived. Luckily it had been raining all morning and slimy leaves were strewn across the track. Coupled up to the vast trailer, my steed was looking every inch the daunting task.The headline for the article was now becoming clear in the mind: CM tester crashes Volvo truck'. flopping aboard, the accommodating cabin eased some of the tension that was building up. Its mixture of good quality fittings and decent fabrics went well with what is, after all, a top-rated tractor. Furthermore, the instructor (from Volvo's demonstration department) seemed relaxed enough was there something he knew that I didn't?
Leave it to the I-Shift
A quick briefing then took place.We would start the engine and move I-Shift to automatic, release the handbrake, feather the gas and er, that was it. Oh yes, we should also stay in something called the green band on the rev counter, for the benefit of the trees or something. So instead of tackling a 12-speed range-change and splitter, our biggest concern was protecting the environment.
This box came with more technology than a PlayStation 3.11 eschews the traditional mechanical synchromesh: instead the engine and transmission are synchronised electronically via the engine management system. it bases its gearchanges on several parameters including road gradient, gross weight and throttle opening. It can also skip one or more ratios during acceleration or retardation to aid efficiency clever stuff Considering there was a small country over my shoulder, the big Volvo pulled away with surprising urge.We're not talking spinning wheels here, but there was enough gusto to avoid it being a chore.The build-up of noise down below was the first indication that we were about to shift but once that torque kicked, in it was wagons roll.
And for such a powerful engine it remained surprisingly cultured, with its exhaust not never noticeably intruding into the well insulated cabin.
Now that we were up and running, it w time to start steering the thing. As the Vol approached the barriers leading onto the test track, our instructor advised that a wi sweep would be best to allow enough roc the trailer to cut in without crunching ow objects to the left.
'Ibis advice was duly obeyed and we wi now surging down the track at what must have been 25mph though time and spa( were seeming to converge into one, givin impression that we were an immovable fo heading in only one direction.
Corners were approached with cautiot turning was delayed to allow for the load if you want an honest opinion, once I'd se down and realised that the truck was doh work for me, my confidence started to gn What also impressed was the engine's a to decelerate this behemoth as well as get moving. Following instructions [switched manual and downshifted at 40mph.Withit couple of hundred metres the Volvo had c to a near halt:most impressive.
To sum up, the experience of driving a modern truck for the first time was, in a s( an anti-climax.Th at's not to say it wasn't enjoyable. But the technology involved took away a large part of the traditional s involved and allowed yours truly to take reins in a matter of minutes.
Throw in some pedestrians, roundabou cyclists, traffic signs,congestion and the od traffic camera, and I might gain a different perspective... I'll get hack to you. to