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SI LVER LINING law
Page 42
Page 44
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This Volvo FH 12 may not hold fond memories for its first
owner — the truck was repossessed. But it's good enough
to save as an ambassador for Volvo's Selected+ scheme.
The fact that the odometer of this week's 05-registered test truck read just 140,000km was a clue that it hadn't been overworked during its first two years. And. given that a truck's wheels must be turning before the owner starts earning, it came as no surprise to discover that this FH12 had been repossessed by Volvo's finance company.
But it's an ill wind that blows no good, so they say, and this low-mileage tractor unit should certainly do some lucky operator a bit of good when it finds a new home.
Its overall condition is so good that Volvo plucked it out of the used sales system to act as an ambassador for its Selected + Used'Ituck scheme. It appeared at the CV Show and will be displayed at other events until it goes back on sale in mid 2005 July. With this in mind Volvo isn't naming a price yet,but CAP is currently quoting a retail value of £42,500. In fact, with its low mileage, excellent condition and the Selected + support package, we wouldn't expect too much change from fifty grand.
The only sign that corners might have been cut is that when we drove it, no-one had spotted the non-E-marked Chinese tyres on the front axle (we understand these were replaced as soon as the truck got back to Volvo's Warwick HQ).As it was on a full Volvo repair and maintenance contract from new, its mechanical condition should give no cause for concern and its service history reveals no major incidents or replacements.
The work required to bring it up to show standard was largely cosmetic:a respray and a selection of accessories from the Volvo Roadcrew range.As we don't want to identify the first owner we won't dwell on the fairly lurid colour that was originally specified, although if you look hard behind the interior trim you can find traces. In any case it's been repainted rather more subtly in standard Volvo metallic grey.
To be precise this week's subject is an FH12 460 pusher-axle 6x2 sporting the Globetrotter XL cab complete with the Comfort and Double Occupancy packages.Transmission is the 12-speed 1-Shift, complete with the full set of software options.The accessories include Kelm lightbars top and bottom, a 15in Veba LCD DVD player mounted at the foot of the lower bunk and a generously sized Waeco fridge in the driver's side external locker.
Although this FH12 was originally supplied with the standard Volvo air-con system, an additional Waeco roof-mounted unit has been fitted in place of the roof hatch, allowing its use with the engine turned off.
Productivity
This is only our second lap of CMSslightly revised used truck test route, which has the same overall length as before but with slightly more A-roads and slightly less motorway running. As a result, comparisons with earlier tests aren't wholly valid.
The overall fuel figure of 6.36mpg might look poor in the grand scheme of things, but this simply reflects the demanding terrain we've included; not least the A-roads of midWales and Herefordshire. In any case, it does mark a 0.4mpg improvement on a similar FH12 tested in 2006. Looked at in detail, the Volvo's 8.44mpg on the motorway section is perfectly respectable; its average was dragged down by the 5.62mpg recorded on the A-roads.
None of these figures would have been helped by the aerodynamic penalty of all those lights and the air-con box.
On the road
This tester having been roped in to drive the Volvo without time for a proper briefing, it was a relief to open the door and see the familiar I-Shift controller.
With the seat (surprisingly low spec, compared with the rest of the truck) and steering column satisfactorily adjusted, an easy snick into Drive mode had us on our way. It's been around for a few years now, but I-Shift still manages to impress. It's rare to even contemplate trying to out-think the electronics; virtually every gear change was left to the magic box under the floor.
On the stop-start bits of AS running parallel to the M6 Toll, and on the hills and bends of Wales, the automation effectively removed a large part of the driver's workload and stress. By today's standards,460hp at 44 tonnes can't be described as over-powered but our example pulled strongly in all situations.To illustrate the benefits of having enough power, this 460 completed the 5.5km hillclimb from Newtown to Dolfor 40 seconds faster than the 380 version we tested two years ago.
As mentioned, the 1-Shift installation had all the boxes ticked, including EcoRoll which disconnects the drive when not needed. It also offered the kickdown feature which makes the Power mode pretty redundant—simply floor the pedal when needed and economy gives way to maximum power in the toughest going.
However, the twisty bits showed up the one shortcoming of this example: those tyres that originated in Yin Yang city in China. They gave poor feel on the swervery with more understeer than expected,especially on damp roads.
The brakes were excellent, although they were rarely used thanks to the highly effective Volvo Engine Brake. In Auto mode it blends neatly into the first bit of brake pedal travel, and with the lever pulled fully back I-Shift will change down enough to give maximum retardation. However, the Volvo engineers might care to equip the VEB lever with a detent in the second A' position to prevent accidental switching to Off after using it manually.
When cruising, the FH12 was quiet enough for us to hear the analogue tachograph ticking away the seconds, but under power and using the VEB there was a sporty growl that might not be to every driver's taste.The stalk-mounted cruise control was easy to operate, but it lacks the now nearly universal feature of retaining a setting after the service brakes have been used to control over-speeding.
Cab comfort
There can be few more space-efficient cabs than the double-occupancy Globetrotter XL. With two bunks and arrays of lockers at the front and rear of the roof space, virtually every litre of volume at high level is utilised.The only downside is that anyone sleeping upstairs might feel a hit claustrophobic.
As well as the lockers there's a large drawer with integrated table top beneath the centre of the lower bunk. In fact an unaccompanied driver who can use the upper bunk for even more storage space would seem to have little need to ever go home.
The dashboard has a useful amount of oddment space, although any of those oddments left on the lower central shelf tend to find a way over its low wall during enthusiastic cornering. By way of compensation, just above this shelf is a huge recess that will happily swallow an A3 clipboard.
The interior is finished in Volvo's typically restrained light blue and grey style, highlighting a couple of embarrassing stains on both seat cushions that evaded or defeated the cleaners.
While on the subject, given the spec of the rest of the truck, the seats were disappointing. The driver's seat had plenty of adjustability, but came with a rather thin cushion — two hours in the saddle was enough to give a seriously numb bum, although this might have been the result of your tester's recent successful diet (nof that successful— Ed).The fixed fold-up passenger perch was no better.
The built-in phone with separate handset and steering-wheel controls is another useful extra, but the plethora of blank dash switches indicate that there are still more toys available.
This FH16 came with the latest front blindspot mirror. Now that Volvo is changing its mirror design we won't goon about the blindspot issue with the current mirrors,except to say it's a pity the latest models can't be retrofitted. • 00.