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WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH...
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The jury is within three weeks of announcing the Interna tional Truck of the Year 2004. In an exclusive first UK test we check out a leading contender — Ivecois Eurocargo.
It's not by accident the Cargo has taken on the mantle of generic name for a lightweight 7.5-tonner. Since its launch in 1991 Weer, has sold almost 68,000 examples of the marque in the UK and up until last year it was the top selling truck in this country. Age, though, had finally caught up with the lightweight Iveco and it has now been surpassed in market figures by Des LF at 7.5 tonnes.
Something clearly had to be done and earlier this year Iveco took the wraps off its heavily facelifted Cargo, now called. in line with the rest of the continent, Eurocargo.The truck went on sale in the UK this summer and judging by the numbers we've seen out on the roads it has been a bit slow to take off. Iveco's UK spin doctors say differently, however, and claim to be -very pleased with the feedback and reaction from the market so far". By the end of the year Eurocargo will no doubt have asserted itself toward the head of affairs once again.
Billed as being a fairly radical revamp, the new Eurocargo is changed inside and out.The exterior changes consist of new panelling on the existing frame, while the interior is slightly more extensive with new dash and fascia panels and reworking of the trim and upholstery levels.
The International Truck of the Year is presented each year to the truck launched in the preceding year that is deemed to have contributed most to the efficient carriage of goods by road.The jury comprises a 20-strong panel of commercial vehicle journalists from around Europe and CM'S editor Andy Salter is the UK member of the panel.This year's award looks like being a three-way shootout between the Iveco Eurocargo. Mercedes Actros and the Volvo FH16.1his test will establish the credentials of the former...
On the road
A 2 10hp engine in a 12-tonner was always going to make for a swift trip round the route and with all that power and torque to play with the engine was never going to be stretched. Indeed,such is the performance offering that two gear changes took us to top cog in the six-speed box 2nd,4th,6th and, once there, it took severe conditions or low speed limits to force a downchange.
The six-cylinder version of the Tector has the edge over its four-pot brother when it comes to flexibility and we found the engine just as happy labouring away at 1,200rpm as it is pushing hard on the hill climbs with the rev needle at 2,400rpm.Below 1,20Orpm the engine gives up the ghost alarmingly quickly. however, and there is nothing to be gained in letting this engine lug.
While there's plenty to like about the engine in our test truck, the gearbox installation was a good deal less impressive.We found all the gear changes a little notchy, but particularly poor was the change into second which needed firm handling to stop it popping out of gear with a resultant graunching of cogs. It was possibly a bad installation in this particular case, though we'd be interested to hear if anyone else has come across the same.
Braking is now by full air discs all-round and, while they work effectively, they take a bit of getting used to.An initial feathering of the brakes brings about the desired effect to clip a couple of km off the speed, but anything more dramatic requires a firm dig on the centre pedal to bring about response. Had we not known better we'd have thought the Eurocargo still relied on drums for its braking. An exhaust brake supplements the service brakes and, while it will give some retardation if the rev counter is swung to 2.500rpm and above, don't expect it to put the driver's nose against the windscreen.
We've long been fans of the ride quality in the lightweight Iveco product and those comments are still valid with the new one lndeed.the engineers have made some genuine improvements which will be noticed by any drivers of old Cargo. For starters, the cab suspension has been attended to and is now a little tighter, reducing the roll from the cab through the comers.The resulting ride is alittic harder than before, though the general cab comfort has not been compromised.
In addition the steering feels a little more responsive and the new steering wheel contributes to an all-round improvement in handling.The Welsh route takes in some fairly uneven roads and we were pleased to find the Eurocargo showing excellent composure even when pushed very hard.
Our only criticism on the handling front was out on the motorway where the test truck was very susceptible to tramlines in the motorway. The narrow wheel track meant we were badly thrown aroundto the point of being dangerous. In a 7.5-tonner you'd rarely notice this as the higher speed limit means drivers will spend most of their time in lanes two and threeone good reason why light trucks and vans should not be restricted to the same lanes as their heavy commercial counterparts.
Productivity
There were some bold statements regarding fuel economy being bandied around at the launch of Eurocargo earlier this year including,among other things, a claim that it would give "absolutely the lowest fuel consumption of any Euro-3.7.5-tonne truck". Clearly we're not testing a 7.5-tonner here, yet on the basis of what's good for the goose and all that, we had very high expectations of our little 12-tonne truck when it came to fuel economy. We were not disappointed.The overall return of a fraction under 16mpg for the 367km test run is the best we've had from an admittedly limited number of 12-tonners tested.What's more its not a great way behind the sort of fuel economy we'd expect from an average 7.5-tonner around the route.
Compare the unladen weight of our 120EL with that of a standard Cargo 75E 7.5-tonner and you can see that with a shift to 12 tonnes you can virtually double your payload,for not much loss in fuel economy.Any test which would appear to show two trucks for the price of one has to be interrogated further and,while you would undoubtedly be more efficient operating a 12-tonner. don't forget you won't be as quick on the motorway as a 7.5-tonner, you'll be restricted by weight limits and will need a Category 'C' licensed driver.
As we've already said. with 210hp on tap the Eurocargo was never going to be struggling around our test route and as a result we were able to post a very swift overall journey time. The bOmph motorway limit —12-tonners don't have to be limited to 56mph —meant the journey time would never match the 75tonners, hut it was nonetheless impressive, particularly when the going got tough.
Cab comfort The arrival of theTector engine in the old Cargo a couple of years ago was generally considered to be a good thing from a performance point of view. But it did nothing for in-cab comfort as both four and sixcylinder versions created a lot of vibration, particularly at tickover, which resonated around the cab.Thankfully this has been addressed in Eurocargo and our roadtest was carried out in an environment altogether more pleasing on the ears.That said. the Eurocargo still remains a rather noisy truck to drive. Both at idle and at speed there's quite a lot of noise intrusion from the engine and.to make matters worse, there were a couple of niggling trim rattles, particularly from the window blind on the driver's door —not good!
Although all the switch gear is robust and easy to use. Iveco still can't get the location of the electric window switch right — put it in the door panel where we'd expect it! Still, at least the cab retains its fresh airy feel as before and the new dash arrangement gives the interior a new lease of life. Designed by Italian style house Bertone — the same crowd that did the Scania 4 Series — the interior has a very modern appearance. although the dash seems to consist of three modular pods which are stuck onto the old fascia:The result is a varied mix of plastics and finish, undermining what could be a high quality result.
Cab entry has long been a strong point of the Cargo and in the sort of environment where drivers could be in and out of the cab 30 or more times a day, simple access is crucial. We're pleased to report that has been retained, possibly even improved upon. with the driver's route from ground to seat a very simple one.•