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CHANGE OF PACE
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Just sneaking in before new Euro-3 trucks finally pass into history, Isuzuis latest NQR 7.5-tonner earned a place in our roadtest programme with its unusual automated transmission.
It's not often that something completely different turns up, but the transmission fitted to the latest Isuzu NOR was thought sufficiently interesting to merit a full roadtest, even though we had not planned to test any more Euro-3 trucks.
Gearbox apart, the NOR and its lighter siblings in their recently facelifted form are making a steady contribution to the UK's light CV market. Just how big this contribution is remains an educated guess, as Isuzu Truck (UK) still declines to participate in the SMMT's registration records. But we do know that the NOR in its various guises is a major player on the global stage —in the US, for example, it dominates its class, also selling under the G MC banner, and often equipped with a hefty V8 petrol engine.
Isuzu's appeal in the UK is enhanced by its customer care system which promises, and seems to deliver, a more personal touch than many of its rivals.
N-Series rigids are available at 3.500,5,000, 6,200 and 7,500kg G VW. with a selection of tractor units running up to 11.000kg GCW.The 3,500kg NKR can be supplied with a narrow cab, but the rest come with the full-width job.
Above 5,000kg, there are also the options of a crewcab and the self-changing transmission tested here.lhe Isuzu's chassis is pretty conventional, with leaf springs (parabolic on the rear) and a traditional disc/drum hydraulic brake set-up. Our test truck is an NOR 70L, with the shortest of three wheelbases, day cab and a 5.08m box body from Derek Jones.
The transmission is called Easyshift in the brochure, NEES 2 (and an extra £1,000) in the price list and Smoother in the driver's handbook. Call it what you will, this innovative box combines traditional mechanicals with modern electronics. It's based on a five-speed synchromesh manual gear cluster, with shifts made by an electromagnetic mechanism.
The usual dry-plate clutch used on automated transmissions is replaced in this case by a fluid flywheel,without any torque multiplica11110, tion function. an electronically controlled lock-up clutch and a multi-plate wet clutch pack. Control is via a stubby gear quadrant mounted next to the driver's hip. offering a choice of fully automated or sequential manual gearchanging.
On the road From the neutral position, moving the lever left and forward selects reverse, while a nudge to the right engages auto mode, before returning to the drive position. From here, nudging the stick forwards or back engages manual mode. where it stays until nudged right into auto again.
In auto, the letter A is displayed on the indash LCD panel, and in manual, the currently selected gear is shown. lsuzu designers please note: it would be nice if the selected auto gear was displayed as well.To the right of the quadrant are two more switches. The front one is marked ECON, which toggles between economy and power modes, while the one behind it is labelled 1st START. With ECON mode selected up-shifts are made much earlier, typically at 2,200rpm instead of 2,900rpm, with later downshifts to match.
The effect this has on performance is to make it significantly slower, so we settled on using the default performance mode to reach cruising speed before dropping it into ECON, only switching back out around town or when the going got tougher.
The transmission defaults to starting off in the second of its five ratios, which is fine in most situations. Occasionally, however, a first gear start is called for, and there are two ways to achieve this: you can nudge back into first manually, or you can force a first gear start with theist START button.
Either way, the NQR managed to get under way on the 25% test hill quite happily,but it totally refused to pull away up the 33%.To be fair this was at an ambient temperature of 34°C, and on a few other occasions the clutch protection system's warning buzzer sounded if the clutch was kept depressed for too long.
In front of the gear quadrant is a small cover housing a pair of limp-home over-ride buttons which are there in case of a transmission failure. We found very little need for manual mode, other than to hold on to a gear when circumstances dictated.
With 148hp (110kW) and 404Nm (2981b11) on call acceleration feels brisk,but the automated gear changes are a little leisurely. As it is, the NQR is 7.6 seconds behind the similarly dimensioned Mitsubishi Canter on the 0 to 50mph sprint. Maybe if Isuzu followed the current trend in automated boxes by dispensing with synchromesh and using smarter electronic speed matching, the shifts could be speeded up.The change from second to third was sometimes accompanied by a rather disconcerting judder.
No four-pot engine with 1.3 litres per cylinder is going to set especially high standards of smoothness, but the Isuzu motor does a pretty good job in this respect. Noise levels are generally good, especially given the movable engine cover, but there was some annoying resonance from underneath as we accelerated through 2,000rpm.
Ride is firm and free from roll; only the worst bumps cause it to lose composure.The handing is fine in the dry, although there's enough of a hint of understeer to suggest that care might be needed on lower grip surfaces. Steering is via a fully adjustable column; the system does its job efficiently with no noticeable viccs.The relatively narrow track only reveals itself when negotiating motorway ruts.
We didn't carry out a full brake test as the load wasn't totally secure during the track routine, although it was securely fixed before venturing onto the road. In general use, however, the all-hydraulic ABS system gave no cause for concern.The transmission brake was able to handle our steepest test hills, although, as with all systems of its type, there was a fair degree of backlash Lobe taken up. The exhaust brake, operated by the left column stalk, was quiet and reasonably efficient, helped by the ease of downshifting to increase engine speed.
productivity
Given that the transmission design allows a certain degree of slippage, we weren't expecting the NQR to produce record breaking figures Overall it worked out at 1.6mpg behind the Daf LF45, but beat-the old model Mitsubishi Canter 75 on both motorways and A-roads.
Overall average speeds were on a par with both the Daf and the Mitsubishi an excellent showing on the A-road section being dragged back by the run down the M4, where it lost some pace on the hillier sections.As might be expected for the type, the Isuzu's body/ payload allowance is similar to the Mitsubishi Canter, and a clear half tonne better than the more truck-like Daf.
The Isuzu warranty cover varies according the deliver,,, package you buy.The £500 Economy package includes two years' unlimited warranty and RAC cover, labour for the first service and driver training, although this has had a disappointingly low take-up rate. The
5-Star package, costing another 070, extends these periods by another year; while the £1,070 Grafter Plus option extends cover to four yearsi120,000 miles (but is only available on 3,500kg NKR models).
Service intervals are set at 25,000km and daily service items are generally easy to access. with brake fluid and screen wash fillers on the ends of the dash The coolant reservoir is easily visible just behind the driver's door, but the engine oil dipstick takes a bit more effort to reach.The cab can be tilted (not a huge job) or the passenger seat base can be lifted up.
Cab comfort
Despite its recent up-date, the cab is probably the most disappointing part of the NQR story. Although it's fairly spacious, it generally fails to make the best use of that space .There's a shallow full-width shelf above the windscreen, a glovebox — which is effectively filled by the handbook and fusebox— two tiny door pockets and some small bins behind the gear quadrant.Apart from a spare DIN radio housing, that's your lot.The dash has a largely wasted flat top, incorporating a removable panel for access to the relays. Double pop-out eupholders reside beneath the Clarion RDS radio/single-disc CD player.
Cab access is easy through the wide opening doors; the downside is that they are hard to reach if belted in. Cross-cab access is equally handy, unless you've had to leave your overnight hag on the floor because there's nowhere else for it.
Interior trim is predominantly grey, with two-tone grey checked seat material of a suitably durable looking nature.The driver's seat is mechanically suspended by what appears to be a medieval torture device behind the backrest —all springs and levers —but it works well enough.With a dual passenger seat, the central backrest seat folds down to create a small table top but annoyingly, its recess is smaller than M.The outer seats have non-adjustable threepoint set-belts, while there is just a lap belt on the central seat.
The instrument panel is dominated by a traditional Lucas Kienzle analogue tachograph with a small semi-circular rev-counter, red-lined at 3,600rpm. Fuel and temperature gauges are mounted to its right. Switches to the left of the panel control hazard lights and ASR traction control over-ride, while those to the right are for rear fog light, body interior light, engine cold start preheat and hand throttle. Another switch provides fine control of the clutch take-up point.The remaining functions are operated by a pair of column stalks, with the indicators on the right (ie wrong) side. Four fresh air vents with four-speed fan and a hi-directional roof vent keep the cab reasonably well ventilated in the absence of air-con.
Good all-round visibility is helped by side window cut-outs Mirrors are simple but effective, but the arm on the left could be set slightly further out to give a better view down the body side. Electric windows have one-touch operation downwards for the driver's side and you get key operated central locking •