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The truck with the most unique design in the group
Page 48
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has to be Renault's Kerax 370. Heavy duty; big, powerful engine; over-specced... this one has it all. To be fair, the French have been busy realigning their construction and multi-axle line-up with the much-vaunted aggregates and tractor-based Premium-esque Lander, leaving the Kerax to pick up the slack in the heavy-duty markets.
This leaves it pretty much in a league of its own for this test. Plenty of operators run muckaway but this vehicle is a little specific. The enlarged Global cab boasts an 6.3m3 interior, the facility for a bunk on the rear wall, and a lounge option for those 45-minute breaks.
This would suit a drawbar operation. but muckaway doesn't really cater for trucks pulling A-frames into quarries a skip-loader perhaps? It's a platform for some of the whistles and bells you could spec if you were flashing your cheque book.
If you want to level out the roads and maintain the national speed at all times, this is the engine for you -with 14.2hp/tonne on tap it makes light work of smaller hill climbs. At 40mph in 8L the rev counter lands right in the middle of the green band, allowing top gear running for dual carriageways and motorways. It comes with cruise control and Hill Assist, though with 370hp underfoot the last place you'd get stuck is on a hill.
The steering wheel is oversized for legislative reasons so the cruise control is fitted to the top left of the dashboard.
More interesting was the 'Fast Idling on Difficult Terrain Control Switch'. which reduces revs on site. Get the revs over 900rpm, press the switch, take your foot off the accelerator and the revs will drop to 900rpm and maintain momentum, no matter which gear you choose. It saves your right foot bouncing up and down with the terrain, potentially stalling or speeding in a restricted area. It also improves safety awareness, allowing the right foot to hover over the brake pedal in case a ravine looks too deep to simply ride over. This is a standard option that should be fitted across the industry.
Fitted to the rear was a robust Charlton Bodies steel Superlite body on a 5.56m outer-axle spread. That's a long body for a 6x4 but the low height means some weight is regained for an extended design. The price reflects the power, engine and Global cab; this bad boy would set you back £77,260 for the chassis-cab alone.
Without the Charlton body the truck weighed in at 8,742kg, making it the heaviest of the all the trucks on show.
While it stands out from the crowd, it shouldn't be dismissed as the oddball of the group. lveco's Trakker possesses a robust chassis and most examples are sold into the muckaway and utility sectors so the Kerax did enjoy some competition at Tipper 2007.