Fergi:
There may be more space in a TGLXGXLXGFDFFRGTERHLXTG
Just been into the MAN dealer, he’s never heard of that model are you sure you’ve spelt it right?
My new toy is a VOLVO FH 420 EEV with all the toys on it A/C pod,fridge,bluetooth stereo,leather seats etc … the only thing wrong with it is the steering wheel is on the left hand side ! 
Okay, I feel I must live up to my reputation of being able to find fault with everything and after driving one for a while now I’ve found some!
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The arm rest for your left arm is brilliant, but what about your right arm? Normally one would use the window ledge, but Renault have really ■■■■■■ up here. The actual ‘rest’ on the window ledge is too low down for your arm (unless of course you like to drive with the seat on its arse with no air in it) and the window ledge itself suddenly curves up at a steep angle at the rearmost end, so that’s no good either. I find the steering wheel is ultra hard and not comfy to hold for longish periods so I find myself swapping hands all the time which gets annoying after a while.
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The CC buttons (+, -, R, O) are in an ‘unnatural’ position and are awkward to use, especially in darkness as you can’t even see them and either have to fumble around to find them or put the light on. This could’ve been easily resolved by back-lighting the letters.
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The wipers and lights control stalks are just WRONG. The wipers ‘lever’ is what should be the exhaust brake lever imho, instead of being on the left side which feels wrong. The lights being on a twist stalk on the left feels wrong too, because I keep turning the lights on and off for the wipers when it’s raining
. Anyone else do that? -
The bunk is still uber comfy like it the 1st gen one, but is it just me that’s got fatter, or is the bunk narrower in the 2nd gen version?
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The ally catwalk overhangs the edge diesel tank too much. Twice this week so far I have gashed my knee on the corner of it when climbing up to do the lines.
All that said, it’s still my favourite truck to drive at the moment.
As you probably remember Rob this was Neils thought of the new Premium !
You can see the nightrider speedo I was on about in that pic too.
And he’s a ■■■■■■■ hypocrite isn’t he!!! Always moaning about drivers with the curtains pulled forward, and look at him!
Rob K:
You can see the nightrider speedo I was on about in that pic too.
And he’s a [zb] hypocrite isn’t he!!! Always moaning about drivers with the curtains pulled forward, and look at him!
In his defense it was me who pulled the curtains across due to the old currant bun shining through !
But he is definitely the first driver to pull his curtains round if he is on a night out !!
Rob K:
The lights being on a twist stalk on the left feels wrong too, because I keep turning the lights on and off for the wipers when it’s raining
No but i often turned the lights of when signaling on a roundabout !!
jimboy124:
Rob K:
The lights being on a twist stalk on the left feels wrong too, because I keep turning the lights on and off for the wipers when it’s rainingNo but i often turned the lights of when signaling on a roundabout !!
How the [zb] have you done that? You need to twist the stalk to do that .
Rob K:
jimboy124:
Rob K:
The lights being on a twist stalk on the left feels wrong too, because I keep turning the lights on and off for the wipers when it’s rainingNo but i often turned the lights of when signaling on a roundabout !!
How the [zb] have you done that? You need to twist the stalk to do that
Its happened to most other Premium drivers i know … I suppose we all have sausage fingers … as you can see Neil has !
I knew i had a picture of my Premium with the Twingo badges on !!
Oh BTW that illegal table is for sale now mate… if your interested !! LOL 
jimboy124:
Rob K:
You can see the nightrider speedo I was on about in that pic too.
And he’s a [zb] hypocrite isn’t he!!! Always moaning about drivers with the curtains pulled forward, and look at him!
In his defense it was me who pulled the curtains across due to the old currant bun shining through !
But he is definitely the first driver to pull his curtains round if he is on a night out !!
Those must be the cleanest truck drivers hands I’ve ever seen 
Big Truck:
jimboy124:
Rob K:
Those must be the cleanest truck drivers hands I’ve ever seen
When he turns them over they are extremely hairy !!
Rob K:
And he’s a [zb] hypocrite isn’t he!!! Always moaning about drivers with the curtains pulled forward, and look at him!
Wasn’t my truck, I never drove that vehicle at all so the selected curtain position is nothing to do with me.
Big Truck:
Those must be the cleanest truck drivers hands I’ve ever seen
Apart from coupling the trailer at the start of the shift and dropping it when we do the swap at Charnock, for which I wear gloves, I only drive during my shift so nothing to dirty them. I don’t even have to open trailer doors. 
My co-driver closes them at the start of the shift after he pulls off the bay while I am collecting the papers and signing the security log and then he opens them when we get back before I stick it on the bay. He also likes working with vehicles so he leaps into action and does stuff like changing bulbs and topping up oil. He also does all the fuelling while I take the card into the cashier as I know all the PIN numbers and he keeps forgetting them. I have taught him the 2p trigger latch trick to make his life easier though. The other night he had to borrow the 2p from me, which took a lot of paperwork and loan agreements with me being Scottish an all.
It’s a hard life I tell you.
jimboy124:
Big Truck:
jimboy124:
Rob K:
Those must be the cleanest truck drivers hands I’ve ever seen
When he turns them over they are extremely hairy !!
No hair, it’s all gone thanks to my chronic ■■■■■■■■■■■■ issue.
Coffeeholic:
Rob K:
And he’s a [zb] hypocrite isn’t he!!! Always moaning about drivers with the curtains pulled forward, and look at him!Wasn’t my truck, I never drove that vehicle at all so the selected curtain position is nothing to do with me.
Big Truck:
Those must be the cleanest truck drivers hands I’ve ever seenApart from coupling the trailer at the start of the shift and dropping it when we do the swap at Charnock, for which I wear gloves, I only drive during my shift so nothing to dirty them. I don’t even have to open trailer doors.
It’s a hard life I tell you.
Somethings never change … you lazy sod ! LOL
Coffeeholic:
jimboy124:
Big Truck:
jimboy124:
Rob K:
No hair, it’s all gone thanks to my chronic ■■■■■■■■■■■■ issue.
jimboy124:
Coffeeholic:
Rob K:
And he’s a [zb] hypocrite isn’t he!!! Always moaning about drivers with the curtains pulled forward, and look at him!Wasn’t my truck, I never drove that vehicle at all so the selected curtain position is nothing to do with me.
Big Truck:
Those must be the cleanest truck drivers hands I’ve ever seenApart from coupling the trailer at the start of the shift and dropping it when we do the swap at Charnock, for which I wear gloves, I only drive during my shift so nothing to dirty them. I don’t even have to open trailer doors.
It’s a hard life I tell you.
Somethings never change … you lazy sod ! LOL
Indeed, I just trained him the same way I trained you, even down to the 2p trick.
Coffeeholic:
jimboy124:
Indeed, I just trained him the same way I trained you, even down to the 2p trick.
Which i have passed on to every body who will listen to me !! LOL
Coffeeholic:
The other night he had to borrow the 2p from me, which took a lot of paperwork and loan agreements with me being Scottish an all.It’s a hard life I tell you.
I love that
I never thought the day would come when I praise a RENAULT PREMIUM.
These new second generation ones are fantastic. They’re far from aesthetically pleasing to look at in comparison to other marques and the quality of the interior switches and levers would have a very hard time standing up to any heavy-handedness, but they are beautiful to drive. In fact - and coming from the world’s biggest Renault Premium hater - they are nicer to drive than the Volvo FHs, and that’s something I don’t say lightly as I’m a lover of the FH.
The auto box in them is faultless. I couldn’t find one single thing to complain about with it. It chooses exactly the gear you want when you want it and will change up early on if you are driving steady, but will hold on to the gears longer if you give it a heavy foot. Also the manual mode by pulling the stalk towards you is equally faultless.
Empty and loaded it performed brilliantly. Seems to have the same hill hold function as the Volvo’s as it held at +3 above CC going down Windy with 26 tonne on and pulled back up at 46mph going back the other way with about 25 tonne on. Quite impressive for an auto and no input from me. I think it had a 460 lump in it iirc. Very smooth and damped ride too, without losing any feel from what’s going on under the tyres. Seat is ultra comfy as well, as is the bunk . They’ve addressed one of my major gripes with the first generation one - storage. There are now trays and compartments to stash your phone, pens, notes etc although storage space for trampers is still not brilliant, and of course doesn’t have a full width cab like the XF for example, but still enough space to be perfectly comfortable imho.
I can find fault with things that don’t even have any, but tbh I struggled to find anything wrong with it. At best they are minor gripes : I’m not keen on the mirrors. For some reason they seem ‘far away’, either because they are or the type of mirror glass used makes stuff seem further away; can’t really put my finger on it. Other thing I’m not keen on is the Night Rider speed read out . It’s like something from the 80s with the huge digital numbers and I prefer a speedo dial personally. And last, but by no means least, they still haven’t fixed the rattling steps!!! I chuckled to myself as I started it up from cold and that oh-so familiar noise filled my lug holes!
Other than that, really nice truck. I’d quite happily drive one full time if I was an employed driver.
Axor tomorrow! Will it result in a Thing of Beauty III ? ? ?