On The Road
Combining a relatively large engine and lightly stressed engine with a transmission that ensures the right gear is used at any time should be a recipe for harmonious mixture, and the Daf didn’t disappoint.
The latest incarnation of the ZF’s AS-Tronic 12-speeder has been made even easier to operate. Its primary control is a simple rotary knob to the left of the driving seat, marked R-N-D with a tortoise symbol at each end. This is backed up by a secondary function lever in the conventional gearstick position. Nudging the lever to the left cycles between the self-explanatory A and M modules; to the right there’s a position marked S. This stands for Search, and it’s used in manual mode to find the optimum gear in a hurry. For example, if you approach a roundabout without down-shifting, nudging S will put you in the correct gear to accelerate away.
Nudging the lever forward or back to the first detent will shift up or down by one ratio, while nudging all the way will give you two gears. The cruise control, operated by the right column stalk, stays engaged through gearshifts, whether manual or automatic.
Gear shifts are generally very smooth and well-timed; the only time the transmission got slightly flustered was around walking pace, which is presumably why the “tortoise” manoeuvring mode is fitted.
A-road progress in auto is a bit frustrating, as 40mph equates to the top of the green band in 11th and the bottom in 12th, so there’s a tendency to shift down at the first hint of a hill. We found it best to pop it into manual and let it slog a touch more than it wanted to.
The Daf’s test track acceleration had the edge on the more powerful Volvo, but on the open road hills, honours were shared. For example, the Volvo had a six-second advantage on the A40 climb north out of Monmouth, but on the much tougher A338 drag from Wantage, the Daf had the same margin of victory over the Swede.
The engine brake is operated by your otherwise redundant left foot; in automatic mode it’s linked to the transmission, down-shifting is possible to optimise engine speed. The ease of downshifting with the AS-Tronic encourages more use of the engine brake, which has to be a good thing for running costs.
It’s almost taken for granted now that all modern trucks can stop on a sixpence, and the Daf’s half dozen electronically controlled brakes are well up to par which must be reassuring for Daf given its reluctance to give up drums. A hill start was easily achievable on the 33% (1-in-3) test slope, although on our first attempt, the ZF tried to change up immediately, stopping progress and highlighting another situation where it’s better to use manual.
When stopping on a slope the computer remembers and selects a suitably lower ratio for the restart.
The lifting rear-steer axle is hydraulically operated at a ratio of around one third of front wheel movement, and is automatically locked in the straight-ahead position at 30km/h. Ride is good, with only the worst bumps (we counted one bad motorway trench and three potholes) causing the suspension to crash out.
The steering is very precise, allowing accurate motoring through the narrow lanes east of Hereford. Road and most mechanical noise were well suppressed off the power, which only highlighted the engine’s contribution when the throttle was pressed.
Cab Comfort
At its introduction in 2001 the latest Daf CF’s cab interior was praised as the last word in driver appeal, bringing levels of design and materials previously unseen in the fleet truck world. The intervening years have not been unkind to the CF, which still looks fresh. Only the wrap-around dash layout, which seems to be falling out of fashion in favour of more spacious flat-dash designs, gives the game away; one man’s cosy is another man’s claustrophobic. And that side door window-within-a-window design always looked a bit of a lash-up.
Although our test truck’s cab is billed as the day cab, it features some Tardis-like qualities. There’s just enough space behind the seats to keep them clear of clutter such as overnight bags and coats. From outside the slim roof panel looks a forlorn hope for storage, but clever packaging has created a couple of net fronted storage bins and a spacious audio and switch panel out of nothing.
The interior is pale blue and light grey, with dark colours restricted to the dashboard.
Materials are all soft-feel of a quality that could grace a twenty-grand car. We were pampered by a £930 pair of luxury air-suspended seats with all the adjustments you could want, coupled to a fully adjustable steering column.
The oval instrument panel contains easy to read dials and the central information display. All of the switchgear lives up to the car-quality theme, with most functions controlled from the column stalks.
The parking brake is easily reached on the dash. The central area of the highish engine hump houses a very useful lockable storage unit, with cupholders and an elasticated document holder built into the lid.
