Added dash for Volvo
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• Volvo Trucks has finally revised the long-serving interiors of its F10, F12 and F16 heavy tractors and has adopted a heated air-suspended seat across its entire range from the F L6 upwards.
It is all part of a programme of product improvements which the company says will appeal to both drivers and operators, and is due to hit the UK at the end of this month.
Following the style of the existing FL10 tractor fascia, the facelifted dash has been curved to give the driver a better view of the instruments and will put controls and buttons within easier reach.
The revised F cab interior is being shown for the first time at the Paris Motor Show this week (a full report will appear in the next issue of Commercial Motor), with an electronic driver information system (ED(S). An alternative to con
ventional instruments, the EDIS automatically monitors 10 of the truck's most important functions enabling the driver to concentrate on the road. If there is any malfunction in the instruments or controls the driver is given a clear warning.
Right-hand-drive F tractors get the new dash, but Volvo Trucks (Great Britain) has yet to decide if it will take the EDIS in the UK. The latest Volvo airsuspended and heated truck seat has an air-adjustment lumbar support and a wide range of adjustments. Volvo had previously held that the FL10's suspension was too good to need an air seat.
The new Volvo seat is offered in a leather and plush luxury version.
Other cab changes include the adoption of central locking on all heavy-duty forwardcontrol Volvo trucks and a thicker (125mm) mattress in sleeper cabs.
The FL6 also gains re-sited front direction indicators.
The latest all-wheel-driveNL bonneted range will make its debut at Paris, but it will not be sold in Britain.
D A full road test on Volvo's premium flagship, the F16.485, will be published in next week's edition of Commercial Motor.