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Out of the comfort zone
Page 9
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LGV driver L Radley has unwillingly swapped her 12-speed Stralis 430 for a 16--speed 480, and is gearing up for an interesting conclusion...
My allocated wagon failed lts annual test this week, then broke down half an hour after finally passing. To say I wasn't particularly impressed is something of an understatement. The problem with inhabiting the same vehicle week in, week out, is that you become unable to make a judgement about any other truckexcept that its not what you're used to and therefore not as good.
In my case this is made worse by my continuing affection for lvecos. My long-suffering fleet manager finally gave up trying to persuade me to take a 'better' truck, so I'm the proud driver of the only fully liveried second-hand Stralis on our otherwise mixed but under-three-year-old fleet. And out of a perfectly reasonable desire to save his eardrums, the fleet manager gave me another driver's lveco as a temporary measure.
My regular unit is a 430 12-speed of rather dubious history: our other Italians are 16-speed 480s which mine outpulls. My previous motor was also a 16-speed 480, so it was nice to have another chance to compare the two.
I came to the conclusion that the 480s are nippier but have two too many gears, while the 430 has more stamina but two too few gears.
Which brings me to the point of this offering. Take any make or model you like and, despite my best efforts, I've been shoehorned into quite a few over the years and you come back to the same niggle. Twelve-speed Scania? Could do with two more; the last few changes are just too far apart. Sixteenspeed ERF? Sore left shoulder from faffing about at the bottom end because it doesn't need that many. Twelve-speed Volvo? Sixteen-speed Daf? Sameproblems. As for the nine-speed Axor (eight plus crawler) let's not go there.
So here's a heartfelt plea to those clever men at ZF who are responsible for the EuroTronic that graces my favourite marque. Can I have one with 14 gears please? In yellow...
"The problem with inhabiting the same yehide week in, week out is that you become unable to make a judgement about any other bud"