Volvo I-Shift
The box that proved automated manuals belonged in linehaul, and still the smoothest of them. Available with crawler gears for heavy haul, which lets a truck start on a grade at 220,000 pounds gross.
Torque rating
1650-2320
pound-feet at the input
Weight
690 lb
50 lb over the lightest, which is payload
Shifting
Actuated
software decides the gear
Maker
Volvo
What it does to fuel
Excellent, particularly with the D13 turbo compound and a downsped axle. Volvo sells the drivetrain as one product because that is where the number comes from.
What this type is
The same gearbox with the clutch and the shifting actuated. It is NOT an automatic, it has no torque converter, and it fails and gets repaired like a manual. This is now the default in new linehaul, because software shifts more consistently than a person and consistency is fuel.
Known issues
Clutch and actuator wear as with any automated manual, and Volvo-specific diagnostics that independent shops handle less readily.
Verdict
The benchmark for refinement. The dealer dependence is the real cost, not the gearbox.