A SHORT DAF XF REVIEW

DAF Review

So, one of most common questions I'm asked lately is what I think of the DAF. Obviously for a long time time I've mostly driven Volvos and Scanias and before this job it was well over a decade since I last tramped full time in a DAF (for HSF). As you know though I had driven later models and hated the body XF with a passion! 

When the current version came out DAF seemed very confidant it would change my mind about them in our Twitter exchanges but I thought how different can it be? The answer? A lot. In some ways its like a completely different truck despite being almost identical in looks.

Firstly- the gearbox. The auto on previous DAFs was a fupping disaster and everyone knew it! Show, jerky and just generally rubbish in a way no auto should be this late in the day. That's completely changed, for the vast majority of the time it's indistinguishable from an iShift (that having long been the good standard). Yes it has its odd moments but they are very rare and it has charged the whole driving experience for the better.

They've also improved ecoroll. That was crap before to the point where if you were wanting to push on you had to keep your foot on the throttle the whole time as it would just randomly cut power and slow right down on the tiniest of descents EVERY TIME! Thankfully like the gearbox that's much improved.

Adaptive cruise control is fairly well implemented apart from one thing, it brakes far far too late causing heavy breaking in a way that you don't get in a Volvo or Scania. So much so that I often have to step in and take control which sort of defeats the object. One thing that is great and I've not seen on other trucks is on dash you can show the distance to the vehicle in front AND how fast it is going. Very handy to help you to decide whether to overtake a truck in front on a busy motorway.

Thirdly there are less warning noises. They used to drive me nuts with the way that bloody dadang dadang dadang noise went off for the most trivial of reasons! Not many companies would even realize it was a problem let alone change it so well done DAF for that. 

One thing that hasn't changed because it's always been their strongest feature is the cab and interior. Yes the dash is looking a little dated but to live in the Super Space is fantastic. Somehow it manages to combine having the most space of any truck with also being the cosiest. It's a lovely space to live in and the bed is magnificent (it always was in these). An old but great feature is the pullout table in the middle. Why no one else has middle tables is beyond me. It makes relaxing and eating so much better. Yes some have passenger side tables but for many of us the passenger footwell is another storage area (for my food boxes and cooker) and even if it wasn't most of us sit on the bed at the end of the day not the passenger seat. 

Finally another feature I like is two Bluetooth connections. I can connect my phone to the truck for handsfree and my iPad to the radio for everything else. This is great because I consume all media via my iPad. On other trucks I've driven its one or the other so it's a nifty little feature I think.

Bad points? Well it's still like driving a house but you get used to that. As said the dash is looking rather dated at this stage. No radio speakers on the back of cab means audio isn't as good as it could be. Controls at one end of bed are a pain and they don't control enough. Volvo excels at this being about to open and close windows, do everything with radio etc with their bed controls. It also goes through interior light bulbs at an alarming rate! Every single one has blown in this month's old lorry so far! Lots of nooks and crannies round base of seat make cleaning a gaff, constantly fills with dust and crap. 

But overall I'm very happy with Doris my Broughtons DAF. Just goes to show what approaching every vehicle with an open mind will do. If you want to hate something you will.