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Nino and Scania have a lot in common, not least

14th January 2010
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Page 34, 14th January 2010 — Nino and Scania have a lot in common, not least
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being subsidiaries of two of the largest automotive groups in the world. Toyota and Volkswagen, respectively.

Ask the occupants of the Clapham omnibus to identify the word Scania, and its a fair bet that a decent proportion will say "trucks-. Change the word to Hino, though, and it's equally likely that of the few that respond, they will say "heavy duty 8x4 tippers".

Although Hino's production numbers are around half of Scania's, its relative perception is a much smaller fraction.

To increase its market penetration. Hino needs to increase its public awareness and extend its product offering. There's no doubt that the Toyota link is finally being played up. For example, the Hino logo on this truck's curtains is sub-titled "A Toyota Group Company".

The traditional arrangement. whereby trucks for Europe, read UK, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta. are assembled by Harris Assemblers in Dublin. continues, but Hino does now have a small advance party in the shape of a small office in Slough. Berkshire.

There are reported sightings of lightweight 8x4 tippers around Naas. Ireland, but the official range expansion began with the launch of the 7.5-tonne 300-Series, essentially part of the same range as Toyota's 3.5-tonne Dyna. Although well received, this has to fight off stiff competition from similar Orientals from Isuzu. Mitsubishi Fuso, Nissan and Renault. not to mention the familiar European rivals.

The next phase in the assault is this 18-tonne GVW 500-Series, with versions aimed squarely at the distribution and skip-loader sectors, It will explain many of the results if we mention now that the test vehicle, kindly supplied by the Peterborough branch of Imperial Commercials, was effectively brand new, with just 5,000 easy kilometres on its odometer at the start of the test.

We could tell they had been easy, because stopping at roadworks at the foot of the first serious hill descent in Herefordshire, we were surrounded by smoke as the virgin

paint burned off the brake drums. Drums? Yes, but more on that later.

The Hino 5-Series is a relatively unsophisticated device, which we know is a virtue to those operators. particularly small fleets, that carry out their maintenance in-house.

Inevitably, the in-house Euro-4 straight-six overhead cam engine with EGR has electronic fuel injection, in this case of the commonrail variety, but that's about as far as the computers go. The frequent clicking of relays behind the dash gives away the absence of fancy CAN-bus wiring.

The 7.7-litre engine comes at a single rating — 257hp and 794Nm — but there is a choice of transmissions, although no auto option yet. As standard, Hinds own six-speeder is offered, but we'd heartily recommend the optional ninespeed Eaton FS6109. Not only does it eke out the available torque more effectively, it's also 60kg lighter. Front suspension is basic steel leaf, but the distribution model has rear air suspension as standard.

For distribution, there's only one chassis dimension on offer, a 6,200mm wheelbase with 2,950mm rear overhang. which allows the fitting of a 27ft body. However, as Imperial has done, the overhang can be trimmed locally, as indeed could the wheelbase if required:This example is fitted with a 24ft curtainsider from Kurt Hobbs Coachworks with Dhollandia foldaway tail-lift.The skip-loader has a similar driveline on a 4,260mm wheelbase and all-steel suspension, but without the Eaton option.

On the road

The Hinds first impression is that it is more refined than you may expect, with noise levels that are good but without threatening Scania's figures. As mentioned earlier, the drivel ine is very new and it felt it. The tight engine not only felt down on power, but this had the knock-on effect of needing more gear changes than you'd expect. Although

18,000 the available torque reserve was obviously less than hoped 21,500 for, it did dig in to a certain extent, and in a strangely quiet 7,500 way with none of the growl you'd get on a Cummins11,500 powered rival.

The Eaton nine-speed gearbox, which features a widely spaced H with a front-mounted range toggle switch and a crawler opposite reverse on the left, had a decent shift once 7,570 it had warmed up, although going into the first (or 10,430 fifth) main ratio remained occasionally

tricky all day.

Firm but well-controlled suspension never crashed out on had surfaces, and handled the M4's tramlines with ease.

The steering felt just right, with reassuring feel even on slippery leafcovered lanes, but the below-par 18m turning circle could prove a pain qe\.

in the High Street.

And so on to the brakes. We were rather shocked to see the once familiar shape of drums hiding behind the steel rims. However, in use, smoking paint notwithstanding, the S-cam design coped well enough with the treatment we handed out on the road. Sadly, a snow shower at the test track meant measured stops would have only proved that the ABS was working. The parking effect of the drums was stretched to the limit on the 1-in-3 test hill, only holding to the extent that a runaway shopping trolley would have sent it on its way. On the more sensible 1-in-4, it had plenty in reserve. The simple exhaust brake proved better than average for the type, and without making too much noise.

The 500 comes with 'Easy Smooth', Hino's take on hill start assistance. Press the button, with selectable hard or soft take-up, and the brakes stay on until the clutch is released. This, and the crawler gear, made easy work of a 1-in-4 restart, and would probably cope with the steeper slope if your life depended on it.

Productivity

There's a reason why the leading manufacturers spend months putting miles on their press test vehicles. No truck is anywhere near its optimum performance until at least 50,000km have passed, so we were expecting to have to make some allowance for the brand-new dealer-supplied Hino, especially when it was fitted with a curta insider body, normally less aerodynamic than a nice rigid box.

Our easiest benchmark for the Hino is the recently tested Istizu Forward (CM 13 August 2009) with the same power and 30 fewer Nm, but with a box body. Performance-wise. there was little between the two, the Hino maintaining motorway speed a bit more effectively. On the timed hill climbs, the Hino had a one-second deficit, but the tough climb out of Wantage saw this widen to 17 seconds after needing more down-shifts than the lsuzu six-speeder.

So far, so predictable. Given the

circumstances, we expected the economy to he down on the Isuzu and weren't surprised. The Hino's 10.9mpg was maybe a bit further away from Isuzu's 12.6mpg than we expected, the A-road figures of 1 I. I mpg and 11.4mpg being no surprise. Normally the motorway section, nearly 75 miles of easy M4 traversed at our self-imposed limit of 85km/h, shows a better return than the stop-start A-roads, hence the Isuzu's 16.5mpg. Rarely. if ever, is the figure worse, but the I lino only managed 10.4mpg, and this with near perfect weather. The tall body certainly didn't help.

Payload is competitive, with a chassis/cab weight of 5,280kg,143kg lighter than the Isuzu. giving a body/payload allowance of I 2,720kg, or 10,430kg net with the body and tail-lift fitted. Most daily checks are accessed behind the lift-up grille panel, while oil is checked by a traditional dipstick located adjacent to the cab tilt unit, an electric pump with manual back-up.

Cab comfort

One of the few criticisms of the cab comes before you even get aboard. The set-forward stagger of the door steps makes it tricky to climb in (or out) without a certain amount of leg twisting. Once aboard. by comparison with the 700-Series tippers, the 500's cab interior actually looks like it was designed by a team who communicated. tastefully trimmed in subdued blues and greys. Only the diff-lock switch looks like an afterthought.

The cab is nominally described as a -day rest cab': but the bunk area is adequate for the occasional night out, but you would probably want the optional mattress and curtains to complement the standard padded board.

The driver gets a mechanically-suspended seat, while the passenger has a fixed item. Neither had any noteworthy comfort issues. Normally, there's a useful bit of storage space beneath the passenger seat, but this demonstrator had the space filled by a Webasto night heater.

The space between the seats is well used. Nearest the driver is a console for the short cable-controlling gear lever and park brake. This deserves a mention because, at first glance. it's straight out of a Toyota Yaris. But if you slide the grip section forward, instead of pressing what looks like an obvious button, you discover it operates a conventional aui valve. The console has some minor oddment space and the switches for mirror heat and adjustment. Overscreen is a pair of wide but shallow lockers.

The remainder of the gap is filled by a 100mmdeep lidded storage box, with an A4-plus tray, two more drinks holders and a storage bin on top. The arrangement means it's not quite a walk-through cab, more squeeze through without too much hardship.

The dash is gimmick-free, with large, clearly marked speedo and rev-counter flanking four smaller dials for fuel, temperature and air pressure. Hino's obviously trying to beat Mercedes-Benz to the prize for most functions on a single column stalk, with wipers. washers, exhaust brake and even the hazard lights worked from the left stalk.

In that annoying, but thankfully disappearing. Japanese fashion, the right stalk controls indicators, dip and cruise control. The horn is operated by the steering wheel centre pad, totally unbothered by air bag options, although the column itself is fully adjustable.

The central dash area is effectively an adjacent pair of triple-DIN stacks. The right houses the radio/CD, VDO tachograph and the heater controls, with two blank trays and a pop-out cupholder next door.

Unusually for a truck, the lower central provides a curry hook to hang-up your takeaway,next to the hill start button and cigar lighter, then switches for suspension air dump and diff lock. On the right of the column are switches for front and rear fogs, main lights, headlamp levelling and a hand throttle.

Visibility is good all round, helped by well-sited mirrors, while 'clap-hand' wipers provide coverage right up to both screen pillars. •


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