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YAl1 I J II t' L Radley got the chance to drive the new-style
Page 9
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lveco Stralis — it was not a match made in heaven
My current allocated Iveco Stralis is due to go off-hire soon, so I was turfed out while it was titivated in preparation, which meant I finally had a proper go in the new model. It a bit bigger, but that's about it on the positive front.
This is a perfect example of how to take an innovative cab concept and screw it up.
All the bits that previously worked have been changed, and all the silly niggles are still there. Except for the carpet — thankfully that's gone.
Trouble began when I drove around the first roundabout, and all three upper lockers sprung open, throwing their contents all over me — it's fair to say the new catch design needs work. This repeated itself regularly over the next five days, regardless of how I rearranged things.
Next, I got the table out to boil some water. I set it up, put the pan on, lit the gas, and walked across to dig out my coffee. At which point the retaining clip gave way and launched the whole lot across the floor. I tried a couple more times, but if I breathed, it collapsed, so that was that.
While I applaud the theory of making the bottom bunk easier to rig, you now can't use it for anything else, because the next 'mishap' was the entire section attacking me when the plastic hinges let go. At 40mph. On the dock road.
And so it went on. The upper bunk has huge gaps at the back; the module for the lights and radio etc is now so complicated, it's impossible to work out how to turn anything off (if you made it come on in the first place). The radio has an attitude problem; the offside outer locker is still held open with a flimsy plastic strut; the mirror heater switches still stick and the night heater can't work out if it should be on or not and flashes up dashboard faults accordingly. I was certainly relieved to get my faithful 56-plate back.
But it's OK, you won't be subjected to three years' whining. I've been told my replacement will be a Volvo. So, in preparation for that, I need to start brushing up on my 'rabbit hutch' analogies, because when it comes to the crunch, I'd still rather live in an Ivaco...