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A twist on tradition
Page 72
Page 73
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Badge engineering started to develop between MAN and ERF with the
latter's EcT. cm tested one in 2003. Here's how it fared.
While we may have expressed serious doubts when ERF harmonised an F2000 chassis and cab with an American engine, we could take heart from the fact that ERF and Cununins had delivered the goods before — and since.
The ECT was the first product from Middkwich, and for the Germans, to set foot into an unforgiving road transport industry. It had a traditional appeal for niche markets like the petro-chemical industry and other lovers of the Cummins driveline. Otherwise it was German all the way apart from a few badges. We tested an ECT which was part of a narrow choice in terms of tractors, perhaps a sign at the time that MAN was clearing the path for its new-lookTGA.The tractor choice consists of 4x2 and 6x2 mid-lift versions, the latter in regular or 'Lite' specification, while the rigids are either 4x2s or 6x2 rear-lifts.
At the time of publication there were four possible cabs, with the first three based on the F2000's narrow cab — the day, sleeper and high roof sleeper. The fourth became the new flagship, a highentry sleeper, based on the fullwidth cab. For 6x2 tractors, the ECT 11.38 and 11.42, the 11-litre Cununins ISMe with power ratings of 385hp and 420hp were available while the third option was the MANsourced ECT 13.46.13-litre 460hp engine.
The transmission continued to be the ZF 16-speed with the thumb-operated clutch system dubbed Comfortshift. Our test was carried out in an ECT 11,42MT, a 6x2 with full-strength 22.5in wheel mid-lift axle, CUMMiliS 420 engine and the high roof sleeper cab.
The results dispelled any initial fears the Middlewich gang might have harboured about fuel economy. Over Commercial Motoir's three-day Scottish route, the ET and Cummins ISMe joindl forces to produce a highly comiiendab1e 7.63mpg overall. A figur only bettered at 44 tonnes by Des CF85 430,which returned an overall figure of 7.69nlipg when we went to press in 2003, using a box trailer rather than a curtainside.
The lowdown
We have to admit to as much cynicism and sadness as anyone at the demise of the last 'true' ERFs, the composite-cabbed ECX, in favour of the badge-engineered ECT.
As it happens, the MAN cab has nearly as much plastic in its construction as the ECX, on the surface at least. Now is the time to take a deep breath and swall w those doubts. Proving that t ere's a lot to be said for tradition, the tradition of economic Cummins-powered ERFs survives intact.
The ECT might not be what ER Foden had in mind in 1932, and the unfortunate events of the past few years certainly weren't, but the end result is a product in which the whole is arguably greater than the sum of the parts.
Blending the highlyefficient Cummins engine with the welldeveloped MAN cab and chassis has created a tractor which should appeal to a wider audience than ERF's traditiionally loyal but specialised customer base. If ERF's brand futu4 is determined by product rathe than politics, then its future is safe for a while yet. •