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Support network
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Driver Support, a driving performance software system in the new Scania R-Series, offers a twist on the older generation of point-and-steer trucks.
Words: Kevm Swallow / Images; Tom Cunningham ONCE UPON A TIME, driving trucks resented a challenge. There was a lutch and a gearstick, and you had to have a sense of timing to use both in order to get the best from the engine.
The new R-Series from Scania now with just two pedals thanks to its automated transmission is the latest truck :o seemingly dilute the art of driving.
In between getting in and setting off, :he toughest test is installing the digital card into a barely open cardholder that :omes out of the digital tachograph.
Thankfully, the rest of the R440 is far )etter designed. It has a Topline 12-speed Opticruise and Scania Hydraulic Retarder (an optional extra).
Subtle evolutionary design changes :o the Topline interior certainly make 'or a car-like feel. The Scania's threeluarter-cab width dashboard nowcomes uith a new soft-touch top, the fresh instrument cluster available in basic, colour (which we have) and colour-plus is contemporary, the steering wheel new, and there is also an additional auxiliary socket for an MP3 player.
Console makeover
The central console has been revamped and now comes with six cup holders, a separate light and a pull-out drawer.
Out of the top of the dash, in front of the passenger seat, which boasts new upholstery and trim, is a fold-out table.
Above the windscreen, there are three storage cubicles with removable shelves beneath them and additional open storage above the doors. There is a new, slightly over-engineered ladder for access to the top bunk. Its design unclip and slide the ladder towards you and down suggests the bottom bunk would block the legs if a simple swing hinge were employed. Either way, it all seems very 'Swedish: Behind the driver's right shoulder is a smoke alarm; there is also a vanity mirror, and a document folder just below the digital tachograph.
Externally, the changes are again subtle. The slats on the front grille are narrower in order to help the cooling process; there are new side skirts with an aerodynamic theme; and small rubber add-ons for the deflectors.
To improve its fuel-carrying capacity, the batteries, if needs he, can be shifted to the back end of the chassis, and the diesel tanks are deeper and wider.
Quarter-elliptic rear suspension is now two-bag, and a little lighter than previous designs, the manufacturer claims. In addition, Scania has also included a three-second hill start assist device, which will hold you on a hill, whether facing up or down.
Perhaps the most important addition, however, is the Driver Support system, a real-time in-cab driver coaching software program. It monitors a driver's performance through any situation.
Driver Support remains unobtrusive when you are trundling along, but comes alive when you are negotiating A-roads, traffic lights or roundabouts. It zeros when the engine is switched off.
The device measures gear selection, hill climbing and descent, your use of brakes and retarder, and acceleration. It delivers a live-star system of reward, which contributes to a percentage score for the trip. For example, if you are approaching a roundabout, and you drive into it, switching quickly from accelerator to brake pedal to slow your pace, it will likely flash up anything from half a star to two stars.
Move your foot off the accelerator early, allowing the weight to slow your progress to the roundabout before introducing the retarder for a coup de grace as you arrive and check for traffic. the chances are that you'll receive the full five stars.
It's currently in real-time and doesn't have a download facility, but that will change come April because downloads from the CANbus will be available for the transport manager.
Scoring well
By the time we got to take the truck out onto the road, the anticipation of the stars and percentage-scoring system exceeded the anticipation of driving the R440, with its 2,300Nm — impressive with a 434hp engine and 12-speed overdrive Opticruise transmission, At the first roundabout, the accelerator was lifted early, we coasted into the approach of the roundabout allowing gravity to exert itself and applied the retarder: five stars.
Since this is Milton Keynes, we soon approached yet another roundabout. Off the accelerator early, coast, apply
retarder — five stars. By the time W4 netted our third 'five-star' performanc( in the space of a mile — the task o actually driving started to appear easy. However, our PlayStation-inspirec instant gratification was curtailed witl sterner challenges out on the road. Cruise control was set at 64kin/h,3kn overrun in place, which, if exceeded employs the retarder. We dropped int( a small valley on the AS and found short dip in the road, so the retarde deactivated. We briefly rolled befori gravity and then the engine kicked it to take us back up the other side. Driver Support didn't like this mow In defence, the truck was in auto am we'd touched nothing. It awarded itsel 2.5 stars. The system recommended tha we release the accelerator sooner. Other advice includes telling you tc change gear if you are in manual, am outside the economy band. •