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Power crazy in Paris
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200hp for 14 tons; 320hp for coaches
from a correspondent
BY pragmatic British standards, two Continental manufacturers, Berliet and Daimler-Benz, have gone crazy on power for their new truck and bus ranges introduced at the Paris Motor Show, which is open until Sunday everting and includes three exhibition halls devoted to commercial vehicles.
How would you like a 200hp 14-ton gross truck? Berliet is using an 8.8 litre six-cylinder diesel for every model in its new G190 range, t;overing 14 to 19-ton gross four-wheelers and 21/ 26-ton tractive unit. Even for a 16ton gross truck British operators find powers above 160hp extravagant.
Fancy a 320hp coach? Part with about £50,000 to Mercedes-Benz and you are in business. It is Merc's most 3owerful model of a new range of integral steel -:oaches. Lengths from 8.6 to 12 metres are available with larieties of interior ;pecification, either synchromesh or torque converter/ epicyclic transmission and all with air suspension. This range is called the 0303. It replaces the 0302, of which 30,000 were made.
The 0303 is still rearengined, but instead of the 0302's six-cylinder in-line engine, the ,seplacement model is powered by the vee engines already in quantity production for MercedesBenz trucks. The engine can be a V6, V8 or VIO. "Not one Mercedes-Benz coach will be less than I 92hp," boasted Daimler-Benz representatives. The V6 is the 192hp engine. The V8 delivers 256hp and the VIO 320hp.
The Mercedes-Benz influence in the coach world is considerable. Although most British, and many Continental operators would feel it were crazy to buy coaches of 250hp-plus at present, the Daimler-Benz initiative will produce further softening of attitudes to high-power coaches. Already in Britain there is a trend to more powerful coaches, encouraged by experience of the 230hp Volvo. It is probably not going to be long before Leyland, for example, will be finding a market for coaches powered by the 220/ 260hp turbocharged 500 engine now that the bugs seemed to be out of it.
As for the 200hp Berliet trucks, there is no prospect of these being offered in Britain for at least a year, I was told. "We think our existing TR280 is the right tractor for the 32-ton British market," the Berliet export manager told me. "We were so pleased with its reception at the London Show. At £30,780 it is not too expensive. We sold one only yesterday — our second, I think."
There is still poor understanding of the British truck market. The Continentals almost invariably think in terms of their glamorous heavyweights, whereas the mass market for 32-ton trac tive units lies in the cheap lower-power lightweight: The new Berliet 200h tractor could, if at a gros train weight of 30 tons, b fairly attractive. It weigh only 4.8 tons; *costs abot £9,000, has an 11-spee synchromesh splitter gem box and a hub-reductio back axle. It features roomy tilt cab in which th engine is set back sufficientl to afford across-access.
There is one specialize section of the British mark( which the Continentals seer adept at mopping up, how ever, and that is the road going six-wheeled dumper: At Paris, Berliet joins th Magirus Deutz, MAN an Volvo ranks with a bonnete 6 x 4 six-wheeled dumpe (with a 6 x 6 option). It i powered by a 250hp siy cylinder 12-litre diesel, has 12-speed ZF gearbox an slipper-ended springs. Th double-reduction axles c the twin-spring articulatin bogie are located by top an bottom radius rods. Th chassis frame is deep enoug (350mm, or 133/4in)to be abl to dispense with extra flitcling, and the full depth of th frame is spanned by the en, brackets of the box-sectio cross-members.
There are still Willem lorries being made i France, narrowed to special build jobs. A two-axl tractor with a GM V8 twc stroke engine and Fulle gearbox is one of th Willemes at Paris. The othe Willeme is a hefty four-axl tractor for abnormal low haulage. This is powered b a 400hp V12 Daimler-Ben engine. Both have weldei chassis frames.
The most innovator vehicle at Paris is a Tatr two-axle tractor fror Czechoslovakia. Thi represents the latest exten sion of Tatra's backbon chassis principle. It is packel full of radical thinking. For tart, it is four-wheel drive, vith fat-single tyres all .ound. The gearbox and Thal drive are integral with he tubular backbone, the hive to all wheels being hrough swing axles — so here is independent suspen;ion all round. Air springs ire used at the hack. At the 'ront the springing is done )3.7 double torsion bars. An lir-cooled V12 diesel, Tioderately rated at 315hp at 2,000 rpm, provides the Dower. A triple-plate clutch ind 10-speed synchromesh earbox forms the transnission. The fifth-wheel [(lading is fed into the backbone through two veeihaped pressed-steel crossmembers. Similar crossmembers take the loads from the four air springs at the rear.
Innovation is thriving on the Continent at the moment. Some important developments are reaching the production stage. One clear example is disc brakes, of which there are three separate designs to be seen at different places around the Paris show. The Perrot disc brakes are hydraulically operated. One model has a thin disc 16in dial Another has a thick disc (23/sin, or 58mm) with ventilating slots. Indeed, the German coachbuilder, Kassbohrer, now fits ventilated disc brakes at all wheels of its larger Setra integral coaches. Two French trailer-axle makers show disc-braked designs, both cam operated. That by Essieux R.D. has a plain disc 30mm (nearly 1V4in) thick. But Colaert axles are being offered with a new Bendix-France brake with a 60mm thick ventilated disc, "for people to experiment," a salesman said. The interest in disc brakes is intensifying because the French say they are reaching the limitations of drum brakes at 38 tons .and for high-speed operation.
Another braking problem is arising from the growing popularity of drop-deck semi-trailer on 15in wheels. These small wheels leave insufficient room for proper brake cooling, So Essieux R.D. has introduced an axle with special hubs having l6'/in dia brakes inboardhung. A drop-deck trailer with these axles is shown by J. Castera.
The favourite way of attaining 38 tons gross train weight in France is now with a tri-axle trailer coupled to a tractive unit having an 11.57 tonne drive axle. This saves the scorching axle-weight tax introduced last year by the French Government. York Trailer is going great guns with tri-axles and, overall, is the third biggest trailer-seller in France. The worry for 1976 is Common Market regulations governing trailer cut-in round corners. So there are more and more self-tracking rearmost axles. The Italian builder, Viberti, goes one better and makes both the leading and trailing axles self-tracking.
Centralizing self-steer axles can be a nuisance, so air-pressure centring is creeping in. A Scort tri-axle trailer has a manual valve at the back, admitting air to two transverse diaphragm units, thrusting on the stubaxles to align them so that the lock can be dropped in for reversing.
With traetive units now becoming so heavy (some nudging 7 tons) there is pressure on the trailer builders to save weight. Mainly they have so far limited themselves to glassfibre bodywork simplifying TIR tilt-frame bodies and .thinning-down chassis frames. A prime example of current French thinking on TIR bodies is on the Viberti tri-axle. This body, by Cretinon, has foam-filled reinforced-plastic dropsides, detachable top-hung aluminium side frames above them, and a plain ridge-pole roof without timber battens. In line with French practice, there are van-style double hinged doors at the back. The whole body weighs only a ton, including sheet.
Extension of aluminium applications to chassis is getting beyond the novelty stage. One French trailermaker, Benalu, is already Well-established in this field. The trailers are very expensive, but Benalu claims to sell 700 a year. A 12.6metre Kangaroo flat weighs 3.9 tons. An 18 cu metre aluminium tipper weighs only 4.3 tons. The most versatile trailer in the Paris show is a Benalu. It is a double-dropside tipper with a tilt-top, able to do ordinary cargo TIR work as well as be used as a tipper or open truck. Tippers at Paris are distinctly stylish and have some novel features. Just by raked ribbing or slanted intermediate side rails. C.I.P. and Decauville get a panache into the appearance which utterly changes a tipper from the rather mundane vehicle it usually is. Both these makes of tipper have a forwardhinged tailgate raised hydraulically. The forward hinge point raises the tailgate several feet upwards, well clear of a load or any obstruction behind the vehicle. On the Decauville the tipping ram is integrated with the stabilizing linkage.
To reduce the centre-ofgravity of big articulated tippers, S.T.A.S., of Belgium, shows a semi-dropdeck aluminium tipper. The main floor height is only .a shade over 4ft and the whole trailer, rated at 32 tons gross, weighs 5.6 tons. A neat practical construction for the chassis construction is the use of threaded tubular cross-members, 6in dia. The protruding ends carry the spring brackets and at the back, form very stout pivots for the tipping body.
Demountable bodies seem to be catching on in France. Nearly all those at Paris are Ackermann allied ramp systems but many do not have rollers to support the front of the body; they just skid the body on, giving the impression that a swop could be done only with an empty body.
In buses the main interest is being captured by Saviem with some fresh ideas in interior-layout in a bid to gel the public back on buses. The aim is to create an "intimacy bus" (very French). A prototype foi Toulouse municipality has its interior split into three communicating compartments with high-backed cloth-upholstered seats, many in facing pairs. There are also tip-up seats in the aisle for occasional use. Passengers buy tickets in advance and punch the tickets themselves in a small machine on , a centre stanchion in each compartment. The whole floor is covered with cord carpet and a cheerful tan and orange decor is ued.
Another Saviem intimacy-bus has raised seating on a carpeted floor, with a moulded-rubber gangway. This has face-to-face double seats again cloth-covered. There is a large luggage deck near the front. This bus has air-conditioned equipment.
There is a 24-seat midi intimacy-bus for an experimental Dial-a-Ride system. This has a lounger-style rear compartment with deeply upholstered, facing bench seats. The bus is based on a Saviem front-wheel-drive van chassis.
Front-wheel-drive vans are a favourite way of getting low-floor minibuses and midibuses in France. The only disturbing feature of them is their extremely long wheelbase, which must make them awkward to drive around congested streets.