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Failing to live up to its potential
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Volvo's FL complete with I-Sync automated gearbox leaves a lot to be desired, in our opinion at least. But it isn't all doom and gloom...
Words: Cotin Barnett
BEFORE LEAVING Volvo's UK base in Warwick after our drive in the latest FM-430 (Polished performance', CM 23 October), we took the opportunity for a second opinion of the FL.
The FM had seriously impressed us, with little of note to criticise — a genuinely hard act to follow. However, our last experience with the FL, a 240 18-tormer, left some room for improvement This time, the FL on the menu was another 18-tonner — but with a 280 rating and the latest ZF-sourced I-Sync automated manual transmission.
"The cab's suspension is entirely separated from the chassis for best comfort," declares the Volvo website confidently. Sadly. it's still not separated enough. The front springs appear to be tilled with concrete instead of oil or gas. Every road imperfection is felt with absolute precision, leaving us to wonder bow the Swedes managed to calibrate the settings so badly.
On this occasion, the other dynamics didn't fare much better. Much like the latest Iveco Eurocargo, the steering is so low-geared that the average roundabout sees more arm-twirling than practice night with the Dagenham Girl Pipers.
But it was the new 1-Sync that was the 'star' attraction. With ZF providing the basic hardware and the individual manufacturer developing its own operating software, the AS-Tronic family produces significantly different experiences according to the badge on the grille.
In CMS. experience. Daf has the edge in the operating stakes, but on this showing. Volvo is trying hard for the wooden spoon. Although the actual runof-the-mill gearshift is perfectly acceptable and the 280 pulls enthusiastically, asking it to get back on the power in a hurry results in well not much for a while.
Much worse, though, was the box's intelligence on the move. While backing off the throttle under light loads should encourage an upshift to help economy, this example proved extremely reluctant. In fact, there were only two ways to make it change up. Either floor the pedal and wait for a full power upshift, or give up and do it manually.
The latter is easy enough to do, but that's not the point. Pending a drive in another example, we'll accept that this is a rogue but if it can make it to the press fleet, what chance has an operator whose driver may lack our knowledge of how good it could be?
All this is a shame, because the FL is a fine truck in many ways. Access for multi-drop work could hardly be better. and many cab features are an object lesson in ergonomics looking beyond the distinctly un-Volvo switehgear, which works well, just differently.
The large medium day cab via Renault's Midlum, offers exceptional space, in fact without a bunk there's so much room behind the seats that you could probably store the contents of an extra pallet inside.
The rather sizeable multi-purpose container in the centre, together with a plethora of less dramatic storage facilities, should cover most of the needs of any driver.
Like the FM, the FL gets up-to-date audio facilities, although we failed to establish a Bluetooth connection without recourse to the book of words. But the AUX and USB ports beneath the radio are user-friendly. •