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Testers' choice: Dal CF75 5x2
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Highly commended: ERF ECM 1 8-ionner
Shortlistecl' lye= Eurocargo 75E17 7.5-tanner Volvo FM9 340 26-tanner It's not so long ago CM's archive of distribution trucks, especially those above 7.5 tonnes, was pretty sparse. However, the past couple of years have brought renewed appreciation of the essential nature of the work these vehicles do, which is reflected in their growing presence on the manufacturers press fleets.
The 7.5-tonne sector continues to make a huge contribution to the delivery of the country's essential goods, and the latest version of iveco's contender, the Eurocargo, continues to dominate the sales charts. Good performance and a decent spec earn it a place on our short-list, but traffic problems during our test run stopped it producing the class-leading fuel figures of which iveco reckons it's capable.
Volvo's FM9340 26-tanner came well-specced for the High Street, with I-Shift automated transmission, a nine-tonne front axle and a steering third axle. But ifs not just a town mouse: this package proved equally at home on dainty roads and cruising at maximum speed up and darn motorway hills.
IIIPur runner-up comes from the in-between woild of the 18-tonners, but not from an obvious corner of it. Think ERF and you normally think of tractors pulling petro-chemical tankers, but in the same way that Cummins power gives the heavies their unique selling point, the little ECM provides a viable alternative to MAN'S middleweights.
Daft fuel figures in the distribution sector normally take some beating... but the 217hp Cummins ISBe did just that. In fact it improved on the Daft already impressive figure by an awesome 12.9%, It wasn't an unpleasantly utilitarian experience, either, with the ECM making a surprisingly capable all-rounder despite the advancing years of the underlying MAN product
If Oaf was stung by this ERF trouncing it got its own back a few weeks later when it presented the CF75 26-tonner: We described it as 'middle of the road" but this referred more to its spec than its performance.
Like the Volvo before it, this Oaf came with automated gears; the latest generation of the ZF AS-Tronic — a product which continues to improve to the point that gear-changing is rapidly becoming a futile exercise.
Another record breaking fuel return impressed us (this was the first 26-tanner to beat 10mpg), but what made the Oaf Testers' Choice was its all-round ability to be a nice place to work, and a great truck to own.