Easy road ahead for Daf?
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• Daf could become the first heavy truck manufacturer in Europe to fit ZF's Easy Shift semi-automated gearbox in its leftand right-hand-drive 95 Series vehicles, if evaluation trials currently being carried out prove successful.
The Dutch manufacturer is sufficiently confident in the gearchange system, that it has already fitted Easy Shift units to both of its new TurboTwin trucks which will be competing in the gruelling 1988 ParisDakar rally.
ZF's Easy Shift is similar in concept to Daimler-Benz's Electronic Power Shift (EPS) gear-change system, fitted as standard on Mercedes 1635 and 1644 trucks. In place of a conventional gear lever and mechanical linkage between the cab and the normal ZF Ecosplit gearbox, however, there is an electro-pneumatic coupling.
To change gear the driver uses a short, stubby gear stick as with EPS. It has a built-in detent which indicates when a gear is engaged, and when the driver can release the clutch. A normal gear change pattern is retained and each lever movement actuates the electropneumatic link via a microswitch.
Easy Shift also allows a driver to pre-select a gear which is then engaged when the clutch is depressed. Unlike EPS, however, it cannot choose a gear for a driver.
The main advantage of Easy Slat over a typical mechanical linkage is that it allows more flexible driveline installations, particularly on midand rearengined vehicles. It also provides for more relaxed gearchanges with minimal driver effort.
Dal's manager of marketing services John Hondebrink, says that the company is currently running a number of 95 Series trucks fitted with Easy Shift on in-house trials and "it is quite possible we could use it, but we will see how it behaves".
Hondebrink maintains, however, that Daf will not fol low Daimler-Benz's example of specifying a semi-automated gearbox as standard on its premium trucks. He asserts that "it will be an option. We would just like to offer it to those who want it" Daf says that there is sufficiently good customer reaction to the existing ZF manual, syn chromesh Ecosplit box in the 95 Series to make any stronger moves towards semiautomation unnecessary.
Each of the two TurboTwin Paris-Dakar trucks have two nine-speed range change gearboxes with alloy casings and Easy Shift.
0 While a number of its rivals are now offering truck engines with outputs of more than 298kW (400hp) Daf seems likely, at least in the short term, to stick with its current 287kW (385hp) 11.6-litre chargecooled ATi engine as its most powerful engine in the 95 Series.
According to the Dutch manufacturer, some 90% of all truck operators are buying vehicles in the 231-287kW sector. It prefers to sell in a "realistic market" — although a more powerful Daf "could be a development for the future".