BIRMINGHAM OVERTUR
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The NEC Motor Show will be packed with launches and innovations. Here is a taste of what some of the manufacturers have on offer.
ASQUITH
• The Mascot, a new 1920s replica 12seater coach from the Asquith stable, is based on the latest Ford Transit chassis.
Brass, leather, mahogany and burr walnut, long-discarded by most manufacturers, play a prominent role in these vehicles, each of which takes over 1,000 hours to produce.
CUMMINS
• Cummins' answer to the high-powered engines in Continental and Scandinavian premium trucks makes its show debut at Birmingham. At 347kW (465hp), the E465 is the most powerful 14-litre engine ever built by Cummins for European operation and includes several design features new to the Super E-series.
Optimised after-cooling (OAC), which is said to be simpler than air-to-air chargecooling, provides inlet air at the optimum temperature for all conditions from high loads/high ambient to extreme cold — one good reason for Finnish truck builder Sisu to install it in its SM/SR 340 range.
The Super E465 also has step timing control (STC): a fully-automatic, hydraulic timing control that gives high efficiency from cold start to full power.
DENNIS
• The 39-seater Dennis Dart midibus is designed to fill a niche between minibuses and high-capacity single-deckers. It features a low frame and step height and ; wide load platform with provision for 15 standing passengers.
Measuring 8.97x2.3m, the Dart incorporates big-bus technology, using high-volume production components designed for stage-carriage operation, and is said to have a service life expectancy ol at least 12 years.
Cummins' 6BT turbocharged engine, rated at 97kW (130hp), drives through a fully automatic four-speed Allison AT 545 transmission to an Eaton rear axle. A G10,1 front axle is specified with full air brakes fitted all round.
ERF
• ERF has plenty of new models this year, having only recently announced its ES6 17-tonne rigid chassis, with a new steel cab bought in from Steyr, and the heavier E8 range of multi-wheelers and tractive units.
While mechanically similar to the earliei E6 model, the ES6 has a no-cost option c Eaton's 6109 synchromesh gearbox in place of the standard six-speed 4106 unit. Cummins' six-cylinder B-series engine, with an installed rating of 125kW (168hp), provides the power.
Even with a steel cab the ES6 is some 220kg lighter than its E6 stablemate.
Moving further up in the weight range, the E8 takes the Cummins 8.3-litre 6CTAA engine with an installed power of 183kW (245hp).
Its compact dimensions leave room to spare beneath the revised GRP SP4A cab it is coupled to a standard 6109 gearbox.
Show models include a 6x2 chassis on air suspension with a lifting rear axle; an 8x 4 without its cab for exhibition purposes, and a 3.2m-wheelbase tractive unit for operation at 32.5 tonnes. • Iveco Ford come to the show with five new models.
There are two 17-tonners, an eightwheeler, a maximum-weight 6x 2 tractive unit, and a limited edition of the 0815 7.5-tonner.
In December the long-serving Cummins vee-eight engine gives way to the Cummins 6BTA 5.9-litre in the Cargo 1718. Despite its smaller capacity it gives 3.7% more power and 15.6% more torque. Turbocharging and charge-cooling help the 6BTA to develop 126kW (170hp) at 2,500rpm, and 602Nm (444lbft) of torque at 1,500rpm. The engine will also be used in a range of Cargos at 12 tonnes and above.
All will be available with day or sleeper cabs, except for two short-wheelbase tippers at 16.8 and 17 tonnes.
Eaton's new family of 4106 six-speed all-synchromesh gearboxes is specified throught the range, along with the Cargo's first ceramic clutch.
The Cummins 6CT 8.3-litre engine, rated at 150.6kW (202hp) at 2,400rpm with torque of 748Nm (552lbft) at 1,500rpm, is already used in the Cargo six-wheeler. Early in the new year it will be extended down the range for the 4 x 2 1721 rigid chassis.
Eaton's 6109 nine-speed synchromesh transmission gives a gear spread of 12.6:1 in almost equal increments, and a singlereduction Rockwell R160 axle is available in a range of ratios.
The chassis frame is the same as is used for Continental 19-tanners. Of the five wheelbases offered for haulage operations (from 3.52 to 6.20m) all but the shortest are available with a sleepercab option.
The 12.76-litre vee-eight engine used in maximum-weight rigid chassis has been redesigned to incorporate a rear-mounted power take-off. As with the Cargo 2420 it provides the 300.25 and 300.30 with a simple but rugged drive for a mixer drum. Other changes include anti-roll bars for the front steered axles and hollow rubber helper springs.
In the maximum-weight sector 6x2 tractive units now out-sell 4 x2s. Iveco Ford is well represented in this sector, by the Cargo 3828 and 220.36, but now it is introducing its lifting third-axle design on the 260.36 Turbostar for the UK, with mechanical suspension and an hydraulic lifting ram.
Cab and drivetrain are common with the 4x 2 190.36 Turbostar tractive unit.
Early this month Iveco Ford celebrated the production of its 100,000th Cargo. To mark this achievement the company is to produce a limited edition of the latest 7.5tonne 0815 Cargo with a sleeper cab, disc brakes all round and other special
features. • Johnkheere's show exhibit is its latest 12m luxury coach, the P599 Deauville, which was introduced to the UK market last month.
It is based on the Daf SB3000 chassis with its 212kW DKV charge-cooled engin and ZF 6S-150C seven-speed synchromesh gearbox. The restyled coad body has 51 Vogel Quatro 3000 reclining seats, full soft interior trim, a centre sunken toilet with wash facility and tinted double glazing throughout.
Outside the exhibition hall Yorkshire Rider's Jonkheere-based Jetrider, which won the Coach of the Year award at the Brighton rally, is also on show.
LAND ROVER
• All Range Rover models are now fine with a Borg Warner transfer gearbox which replaces the two-speed helical gearbox, introduced in 1982.
The Morse-chain-and-sprocket drive system and planetary drive set gives smoother changes between high and low ratios and is said to be quieter in operation.
In slippery conditions a viscous control unit (VCU) connected to the differential automatically compensates for wheel slip. The driver no longer has to make the choice of when to engage the differential lock.
The VCU consists of a sealed drum containing multiple slotted discs, alternately coupled to an input shaft and the drum itself, and filled with a highviscosity silicone fluid.
If traction is lost the shearing action between the discs instantly transfers the drive to the wheels that still have grip. Under extreme conditions a temperature rise in the fluid causes the discs to virtually lock and so provide equal drive I the two output shafts. After traction is restored the VCU automatically disengages.