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a timely fashion to suggest I had an urgent appointment with an RDC. Motoring up to 50mph on the dual carriageway was done with ease, and all the while reminiscing. Deploying the engine brake for descents required a four-gear block-change to force up the revs, and there were times that lugging down to 1,000rpm on the climbs felt like it was too much. It’s easy to forget that yesterday’s engines focused on using power
more than torque.
I rediscovered that the lane departure
warning system is the sound of leaves and branches brushing (not hitting) the nearside mirrors when getting too close to the edge of the road.
Out of the old...
By the time I’d nished driving the DAF 3300, part of me was glad it wasn’t my
truck ve days a week. It required effort, forethought and concentration to drive it;
it drained me mentally just keeping on the road. I also must acknowledge that this truck, with its SpaceCab, was, at least for a while, one of the best money could buy. And it’s in that light that I want to remember it.
After being reluctantly hauled out of the cab to let someone else have a go, I was ushered into an XF530 6x2 tractor. There are some tenuous links between the pair. The ‘SpaceCab’ lives on, this one is a Super SpaceCab, the transmission is a ZF, albeit the TraXon 12-speed, it came with an engine brake and electric windows, and it uses diesel.
In truth there is no comparison, today’s trucks are mechanical masterpieces
that allow the driver to work in a safe environment with all the modern conveniences at the touch of a nger. It has adaptive cruise control, EBS and ABS to name just three. It’s effortless to drive.
Yet the XF lacks the one thing the 3300 can give a driver and that is chance to learn the skills required to master their craft. That sense of perspective in terms of hauling weight, lateral movement and the centre of gravity, judging distances and how to brake safely, and how to work through the gears in a way that protects the components (especially if you had to pay to replace them).
These are the skills luddites sought to protect, but which are increasingly dealt with by technology. ■
DAF 3300 vs New XF
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