AHEAD OF TH CONTINENTAL1
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At lost, Leyland has produced a Roadtrain which can surpass the best Continental tractive units. UK operators will have to wait for it, however
• The French market for premium tractive units is every bit as competitive as our own. Any manufacturer that hopes to break into it must at least match its many rivals, not only Franc for Franc, but also specification for specification.
The latest Roadtrain model being sold by Leyland Vehicules Industriels, the French Leyland subsidiary established at Gonesse, near Paris, in 1983 is designed to do just this. Whether it succeeds is what we intended to find out when the Opportunity arose recently to test a French Roadtrain demonstrator over the Hill climbing, rick and handling, and braking are the I7.34's great strengths. CM Scottish route at 38 tonnes GCW.
Just a glance at this vehicle's specification reveals key areas in which the standard UK Roadtrain has been tailored to suit French operators' requirements. The 245kW engine, 3.5m wheelbase, optional air suspension on the drive axle, and wide, low-profile 315/80R 22.5 tyres are the most obvious examples.
At present, a right-hand-drive Roadtrain to precisely this specification is unavailable, but it will not be long before the Leyland option list is expanded so that British operators will be able to purchase a very similar model. As we reported last week, the Terberg air suspension is about to
become available here. 'lite Perkins (1 Rolls-Royce) Eagle 340Li engine is ready offered as an alternative to t standard Roadtrain Cummins E290 or gle 300Li power unit, and another of ti demonstrator's new components, the I ton Twin Splitter gearbox, will soon more widely available as a Roadtrain tion. Full production of the Twin Splitt began only last week at Eaton's St zaire plant.
Although the French share our tonne gross combination weight limit, th have more generous axle and grc vehicle weight limits: 13 tonnes for t drive axle and 19 tonnes GVW for a tv6 axle tractive unit. Apparently they a also rather less modest than the British deriving model designations from engi power outputs. In France, the 340Li F gle engine is designated the 350Li,