The latest Scania is a blend of the brandnew and
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the tried-and-true, mating a unit-injected 1 1-litre engine and a "single-driver-concept" interior with the proven 4-Series cab and chassis. Is it just a natural development of the 4-Series theme, or will it find new markets?
Price as tester £69,103 (ex-VAT). Includes Scania Retarder, £3,525; EBS (electronic braking system), £688; traction control, £515.
Engine 10.6 litres, 379hp (283kW). GCW: 40 tonnes. Payload: 25.86 tonnes.
Fuel consumption: 7.63mpg (37.01it/100km). Average speed 68.8km/h. Trucks are like elephants: they go through an extremely protracted gestation period, and they live for an awfully long time. When a manufacturer launches a new range of heavy vehicles, the basic design has to be counted upon to last for as long as 15 years. True, modern design and production methods speed up the development process, but truck life cycles are never likely to be as short as those of cars, which are usually replaced by all-new models every four or five years.
The trouble is that customers can become jaded with the same old models—and all those development engineers have to be kept interested too. So ranges evolve, with improvements every couple of years.
Scania, for example, introduced its 4-Series range back in 1995, and since then they've kept up an admirable pace of change. The trucks look no different from the outside, but this year the 4-Series gets its biggest developments yet two new engines (developed from existing designs), and an alternative cab interior designed for the lone driver.
This "single-driver concept" recognises the inevitable trend away from double-manning-: even with fuel price hikes, the driver remains the largest factor in most fleets' cost equations. And a Scania survey concluded that 4 70% of R-cabs and Topline cabs are only used by one driver. The move should also appeal to Scania's traditional customer base of ownerdrivers, and it will be watched carefully by other manufacturers.
The revised range entered production only a couple of months ago, so to get an idea of how it performs we crossed the Channel to drive an early example, laden to 40 tonnes. Our route—a revised version of a continental run we have used with earlier tractors—took us through the challenging hills and valleys of the Belgian Ardennes, and the seemingly endless (and rather dull) A-roads and motorways of northern France.
• PRODUCT PROFILE Scania introduced two new engines with three power ratings at this year's RAI Show in Amsterdam: both are based on the longestablished 12-litre engine, but they feature unit-pump injectors with individual electronic control, fed from a common low-pressure fuel line but each actuated by a pushrod and rocker from the single camshaft.
The block and and camshaft arrangement are largely unchanged, but the individual cylinder heads have been substantially redesigned.
The 420hp version (the DSC 1205) is a "12litre" unit that retains the older model's cylinder dimensions (127x154mm) for a true capacity of 11,705cc. The 340hp (DC11 01) and 380hp (DC11 02) variants have a shorter (140mm) stroke for a capacity of 10,640cc; nominally 11 litres. This should reduce pumping losses for higher overall efficiency at the lower power ratings.
The new electronic unit-pump engines are designed for optimum fuel economy under part-load conditions: Scania claims that most trucks spend 85% of their running time at less than 80% of maximum torque (in yet another survey). This philosophy of maximising the area of the engine's "sweet spot" has also been adopted by Daf for its latest engines; it's claimed to improve real-world fuel economy, although it may not produce the lowest specific fuel consumption figures. In fact, the lowest SFC (191g/kWh) occurs at 80% of full load, at 1,500rpm. flexibility lost with a reduction in capacity.
Other advantages of the unit-pump setup include redundancy (if one injector fails the engine can still function on its other cylinders) and cruise control, which is a standard fitment.
The rest of the driveline remains unchanged, from the GRS900R gearbox (with 12 forward speeds plus two unsynchronised crawler gears) to the R780 singlereduction drive axle. This example was also fitted with Scania's excellent retarder: a hydrodynamic unit integrated into the gearbox. The extra 125kg and £3,525 are not negligible, but the installation can save a considerable amount of cost and downtime by extending service brake life.
This model can also boast electronically controlled disc brakes. EBS is available on most 4-Series variants now, and standard on some; it promises faster response and more even wear than a conventional setup. The disc brakes are said to be more fade-resistant than drums, and to need less maintenance. But the clincher may be weight: they save 62kg over the all-drum setup. but torrential rain and standing water on the second day made the "easy" autoroute section far from a doddle. Nevertheless, the Scania did the whole section in top gear and with cruise control on.
Average speeds were also affected by the weather, despite the Continent's lower traffic densities. We'll only know the full story on the 11-litre's speed and fuel consumption when we take it round CM'S regular Scottish route with our own trailer—but we're optimistic.
The overall tractor weight of 7,140kg with a full (300-litre) tank is pretty fair, but of course an all-up weight of 40 tonnes will do a lot more for your productivity than alloy wheels...
• ON THE ROAD The new engine is certainly more eager to rev than the 12-litre unit, as you would expect with a shorter stroke, and it has a very smooth torque curve, but it can lull the driver into a false sense of capacity. When we first hit some of those long, punishing Ardennes motorway hills it was tempting to leave it in cruise control, stay in top and see if the truck would lug, when in fact it needed a swift downchange or two to get into the zone of maximum power.
Stay in 12th for too long and you would be doomed to a crawl up the hill at seriously unproductive speeds—torque levels drop off quite dramatically below 1,050rpm. This isn't some 15-litre monster but an engine that's optimised for more everyday conditions—and don't forget we were running it at 40 tonnes. It will cope with UK weights and normal motorways without a qualm, and in fact Scania's head of driveline development has said: "For domestic UK operation I'd be disappointed if the 340 were not the obvious choice."
When it comes to changing down, the 12speed is not the fastest gearbox on the planet: in fact, it can prove frustratingly slow, and occasionally we wished for the slightly closer ratios of a 16-speeder. If you're really hamfisted you can miss the range-change collar and reach the "gear lever flattening" collar. Not a good idea...
The other controls are straightforward, and a welcome option was the rear-axle load indicator.
Handling is generally good, though the steering is a little vague around the straightahead (no fun on French D-roads) and the four-point cab suspension seemed more prone to roll than previous Scanias.
The brakes are excellent, sharp and power • ful, though the trailer had conventionally actuated drum brakes. The real difference was made by the retarder, which, coupled with the cruise control, has a really effective "speed-hold" function.
After a couple of hours in the hills of the Ardennes, the front wheels were still cool to the touch: a testament to the value of secondary braking.
• CAB COMFORT The first thing to do is adjust the Scania's steering wheel, using a double-ended lever beside the steering column. This is far from obvious in operation, but it works; after a while you forget that there was ever another way of doing the job. After adjusting the wheel, there's the seat: in this case, the standard "medium" driver's seat rather than the luxury option, but there's still quite enough adjustment for most bodies—and a heated base, to boot.
The driver's "office" curves snugly round in typical Scania fashion, but push the seat back, flatten the gear lever and cross-cab access becomes pretty easy.
Once in the armchair passenger seat you should be comfy enough; there's more than enough leg and headroom for lofty drivers. Then you can take advantage of the nifty table that folds and slides out of the central locker—very civilised. Mind you, CM has less faith in the etiquette of the average driver than Scania, whose brochure shows a resting _driver drinking tea (doubtless Earl Grey) and eating nicely arranged biscuits from a china plate.
Oh, yes: there are a couple of decent cup-holders too, and a useful document tray.
Another welcome feature is the night heater timer/alarm clock; a self-contained unit that can be set on its own then plugged into a wall socket at either end of the bunk. The final refinement is the (optional) remote-control central locking and alarm, which saves muckingabout at the end of a long day. Why don't all trucks have this?
• SUMMARY All right, so 380hp is hardly pathetic, but the 11-litre engine didn't quite shine in the Ardennes. However, we reckon that under typical UK conditions and weights it would hold its own: the engine's rapid throttle response and flexibility are impressive, and the design promises good fuel consumption. Sadly we couldn't verify that on this route. The single-driver concept is easier to assess. The Solo cab is a logical design which should be a winner for the majority of drivers, offering masses more practical living room at the expense of a little storage space. The only question is whether you would want to go for the larger R cab in the first place, rather than saving money and weight by opting for the slightly lower, smaller P cab.
Overall, however, this truck should further cement Scania's reputation as the average driver's favourite home-from-home.
El by Toby Clark