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ON THE ROAD
Page 56
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With a shortage of 7.5-tanners in lveco's test fleet, we had to restrict our test of the new Eurocargo to two 300hp 18-tonners both loaded to around 15 tonnes. One was a short-wheelbase, steel-sprung day-cab chassis with the ZF auto, while the other was a long-wheelbase sleeper cab with air on the back.
Climbing into either Eurocargo cab is simple, aided by decent 'layered' steps. Iveco's build quality continues to improve, and the Eurocargo is no exception. The light and dark grey trim is sombre, although enlivened by the Maori-style patterns on the seat covers. Either way, it won't show the dirt too readily.
The artic-spec lsri seat, which comes with extra lumbar adjustment, is good and it's easy to achieve a good drying position, not least due to the mechanically adiustable steering wheel, but the locking lever on the new models is a bit stiff, and we'd like more room around the brake and throttle pedals.
The position of the push-button controls for Eurotronic is fine, we only wish we could say the same for the heater controls. You have to stretch across the dash to get to the furthest dial. And we still think the parking brake should be relocated to the dash. The revised arm rest on the door works well and the revamped main instrument panel is easy to read thanks to big dials and gauges.
Being three tonnes short of their maximum weight and with 300hp, both test trucks proved lively enough. The Eurotronic auto box seems well-matched to the six-cylinder Tector engine, atthough we'd have liked to try it in a 7.5-tonner with the four-pot. The short-wheelbase steel sprung chassis had a lively ride, enough for us to occasionally lock out the suspension seat. But the longer-wheelbase sleeper cab on rear air showed what can be done in terms of decent ride quality.
Our one gripe with the new Eurocargo concerns its steering. While we can fault the feedback from the larger steering wheel, its just far too low-geared. On right-angle bends and T-junctions, you have to work overtime winding the steering on then off again. We can't knock its turning circle... it's just too much work to make the most of it. Iveco needs to sort that.
Perhaps the most ironic aspect of our / Eurocargo drive was that the sleepercab chassis had an eight-speed ZF manual box, which proved very slick. But as the man from lveco's UK HO in Watford said: "Make the most of I! it... you won't be seeing it in the UK!"