Volvo launches revised FE and FL By David Wilcox ALL-NEW
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Euro-6 engines are the core revisions to Volvo's revised range of FL and FE middleweight trucks, revealed this week. As expected, the current 7.15-litre D7 Euro-5 engine, built by Deutz and jointly developed by Volvo/Renault Trucks and Deutz, is replaced by two Euro-6 engines.
The new six-cylinder D8K is a 7.7-litre unit, featuring Denso common-rail fuel injection and variable geometry turbocharging, and using a combination of EGR and SCR.
It was developed in Europe but is believed to be derived from an engine made by UD Trucks (formerly Nissan Diesel), another Volvo Group subsidiary.
The engine block is cast in India and shipped to Renault Trucks' engine plant near Lyons for assembly and installation in both Volvo and Renault models, including the replacement for the Midlum, which will be unveiled next month.
There will be three nominal ratings of the D8K: 250hp/ 950Nm; 280hp/1,050Nm and 320hp/ 1,200Nm. These are the same as Renault's ratings for its version of the engine, called the DTI 8.
The other major change for the Eh range, which covers the 18to 26-tonne GVVV sector, is that the 12-speed automated I-Shift gearbox can be specified, a more attractive auto option than the six-speed ZF AS-Tronic lite, which Volvo rebrands as I-Sync in current FE and FL. Apart from a new instrument cluster and cosmetic details, the rest appears unchanged.
The lighter, narrow-cabbed FL range, from 12to 18-tonne GVVV, will use the same D8K, but Volvo is offering a four-cylinder engine in the 12-tonner for the first time. The new D5K uses the same architecture as the D8K, downsized to four cylinders and 5.1 litres. It comes in nominal ratings of 210hp/800Nm and 240hp/900Nm. Volvo's FL is widely regarded as too heavy for a 12-tonner: the four-cylinder engine will address that issue.