Voila! Volvo!

Volvo's long overdue renewal of its rigid distribution range has finally happened. We went to Gothenburg to drive the new 18 and 26-tonners.

As we reported in last month's news pages, Volvo has launched two new truck ranges designed to boost its fortunes in the urban and regional distribution sector.

The FL uses Renault's Midlum chassis cab and driveline and is available at 12, 15 and 18 tonnes. Volvo is leaving the 7.5-tonne market to its Lyons based subsidiary. The heavier FE enters the fray at 18 tonnes and goes up to 26 tonnes as a 6x2 and 6x4. It relies on the same driveline as the FL but is built on an FM chassis and sports the wider Renault-built Premium distribution cab with day, medium and sleeper options. Power for both ranges comes from an AB Volvo Group, Deutz-developed six-cylinder 7.2-litre engine, which is offered by Volvo in the FL with power outputs of 240 and 280hp. This is mirrored in the FE with the additional option of 320 horses. The engine uses SCR to achieve Euro 4 and 5. The FL witrh 280hp is only available at Euro 5. Transmissions on offer include ZF six and nine-speed manual boxes and a six-speed Allison fully automatic transmission. Despite having had the new engine around for some time, Volvo has not brought either of its new distribution ranges to market with an automated manual transmission. It says this will come in 12 months' time.

The FL gets a new cab, which is a reengineered version of the Renault Midlum cab. Volvo has improved cab strength for impact resistance and exterior styling reflects the Volvo brand identity. The cab is available in day, comfort and crew versions. The FE is available as a 4x2, 6x2 and 6x4 with the same transmission offerings as the FL. The FE is also available as a lightweight 4x2 tractor. Chassis weights are slightly heavier than the Renault Midlum and Premium Distribution because of the greater strength built into Volvo's version and the new FL is around 50kg heavier than the FL6 but has a bigger engine and SCR equipment. The FE 6x4 is 700kg heavier than the old FL but is still 500kg lighter than a 6x4 FM and can be specced with Volvo's B-ride suspension for light construction use.

A new CityPro 4x2 12-tonne box-bodied FL rigid with a 4.7m wheelbase, 240hp engine, day cab and six-speed manual transmission is aimed at the off-the-shelf urban distribution market. The body is built by Montex in the Czech Republic and the tail-lift is by Dhollandia. The list price is expected to be £48,500. Oil drain intervals are up to 100,000km across the range and as part of Volvo's reinvention in the medium truck market has introduced a pan-European servicing that features new service contracts, a tyre service and its own truck rental scheme. General UK pricing has yet to be published but right hand-drive production begins at Volvo's Gent plant at the beginning of September and orders can be placed now.

Driving Impressions

Other than its strengthened cab, external appearance and some trim differences, the new Volvo FL and FEs are effectively the same trucks that we drove last month at the Renault Midlum and Premium Distribution launch. We could simply repeat our fairly positive report about the Renault versions, but that would be doing Volvo's efforts a disservice. For starters the Volvo product is assembled at a different plant. Comparing the FL to the Midlum we noticed that the new dash mounted cable gearshift is a lot smoother than the one we tried in the Renault. Its cab is substantially reinforced and despite the weight increase this could pay dividends in the event of a bump.

The new FL takes Volvo into markets it has not been able to enter before and with 240hp as the entry level power offering the truck will satisfy all but the most demanding application. The driveline is superbly matched and there is plenty of torque available from 1000 through to more than 1700rpm. Gearshifts are smooth and driving the FL requires a minimum of effort, which is a prerequisite in the urban delivery application. Most of our praise is directed at the braking system. The feel at the pedal is positive and application is progressive. The 18-tonne example we drove was fitted with the optional engine compression brake. Like Volvo's VEB, the brake is controlled using a steering column mounted stalk and with the EBS+ package it is integrated with Volvo's brake blending package. We were not able to drive the FL on-road but from our test track drive we were impressed by the ride and handling. The optional hill hold will prove popular with stop start town drivers.

Room in the day cab is limited, but the medium cab offers increased space behind the seats and allows a large storage box to be mounted on the back of the engine tunnel. Overall build quality is of a high standard.

Moving up a range we drove a 320hp 6x2 rear-steer 26-tonne FE. With 1200Nm (885ft-lb) of torque on tap from this extremely flexible engine, we hardly noticed that the truck was loaded. The turning circle is excellent and with a 500kg payload advantage over its FM9 sibling, when equipped with the roomy sleeper cab the FE could well be the model of choice for operators on regional distribution work or longer haul applications.

Conclusion

The lack of a two-pedal automated transmission slightly compromises Volvo’s position in terms of how its new product range compares with the competition. This aside, in our opinion Volvo has now got two of the best medium truck ranges on the market.

What is the difference between them and the Renault product? From what we have seen, Volvo has put the package together with a bit more attention to detail and has upgraded the cab structure. Deals are won and lost on pricing so Volvo’s dealer network will be hoping an extra £3500 per truck will not put off customers.  The dealers will probably also be hoping that some of the optional extras, such as engine brakes (£540), will find their way onto the standard list.

But the biggest driver these days is whole life cost, vehicle up time and servicing. Volvo has seriously raised its game in these terms with its pan-European service offerings so its new two-year bumper-to-bumper guarantee could be the decisive edge it needs.