T&B News has been given the chance to drive two of Scania’s new Super models, which feature a revised. driveline, with new engines which the Swedish Traton Subsidiary says will be the ‘last new internal combustion engines it will ever develop.
The new engines have been developed across the Triton family and are already being used in trucks from its US Navistar operation in International trucks, and will we imagine likely find their way into MAN models in due time.
The new engine is only part of the deal, along with the powerplant, the transmission and axles have been refined and matched to it foster even better performance from what is an impressive, powerful, low-revving, torquey unit that delivers fuel economy that is up to eight per cent better than similar power plants.
The new Super engines are double-overhead-cam configuration and will be available in a number of variants from 420 to 560hp and delivering up to 2800Nm of torque.
But as mentioned the new iteration of Scania’s Opticruise AMT transmission along with axles that have been refined and reengineered to lower engine revs to ensure the truck stays in best rev band for maximum torque while using minimal fuel.
We got to sample both the 460 P with a single semi trailer and the larger 560 S cab model hauling a B Double rig. We drove both trucks up the demanding Calder Highway from Melbourne to Bendigo and back and in both instances we recorded strong fuel economy and impressive performance as well as a really noticeably quiet tri in both trucks.
The 460 P with. the smaller and lower height cab was specced in the sweet spot for logistics operations, or as some makers are referring to it, the Linfox spec. the 13 litre Super engine was tuned for the less demanding needs of metropolitan and inter urban logistics operations with the 460 horsepower enough to give it strong performance hauling a single with a shade under 40 tonnes gross.
The larger 560 R is an impressive rig and proved that it can easily cope with the rigours of interstate line haul with low fuel consumption aiding the argument for lower cost and lower fuel consumption engines in what sometimes can be an application that attracts a horsepower arms race when it doesn’t need to.
The R cab is the top of the range and ideally suited for interstate line-haul work, with plenty of room for the drive to grab some shut eye and to store their gear while on the road.
The Super 560 was grossing around 60 tonnes with its B Double set.
The first thing that you notice when cruising on the highway with the Super 560 R is its quietness. The new engines and the revised ca insulation means that the power plant is a distant hum, not an obtrusive rumble as it often is with many trucks.
Both trucks tackled the climbs up the ranges to Bendigo with relative ease, powering along and aided by the even faster shifts of the revised Opticruise.
Our drive came just a few days after they completed a major customer and dealer launch event at the Anglesea proving ground south of Melbourne where Scania showed the trucks to customers who apparently are super keen on the new truck. In fact Scania has been taking orders for the new truck since last March and demand has not surprisingly been strengthened by the launch event.
Fuel economy was outstanding on both with the 460 returning just shy of 3 km/litre and the 560 close to 2.3 km/litre, which given the land was absolutely outstanding.
The return leg, ‘downhill’ to Melbourne again showed the benefit of the outstanding and renown Scania retarder which has been boosted further with the addition of Scania’s new Compression Release Brake (CRB), which is a separate system from the retarder, working independently and which has been able to be developed because of the new double overhead cam architecture of the engine.
There is we are told nothing that has been carried-over from the previous engines with everything being redesigned including from the injectors to the fuel pump., to the crank, and of course the twin cam design.
Supply will be Scania’s biggest challenge with these new trucks but we feel sure they will be a huge hit in this market if they can secure enough to satisfy demand. We hope to have a longer drive of the new Super range in the near future.
