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RETURN OF THE STRATO
Page 66
Page 67
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The launch of the Seddon Atkinson R5 Strato into the four-wheeled specialist tipper market seems set to impress many. Bob Tuck was certainly impressed.
The men at Iveco don't let sentiment get in the way of business.They had no qualms about dropping the Ford from Iveco Ford so you might have thought that the contraction of Seddon Atkinson's activities at Oldham— with all truck production moved to Madrid—marked a step towards the marque's demise.
However, the relaunching of the Strato four-wheeled tipper, the R5. seems to throw that argument out the window. And if our drive over some of the toughest roads in North Yorkshire is anything to go by, the new model is a serious contender.
This new Strato has a 5.9-litre EEA240N Tector engine and the latest Eurocargo-style of Iveco cab,so is this just a new Cargo by another name? Seddon Atkinson's municipal sales manager, Denis Hutchinson, says: "There're a lot of clifferences,but I suppose the key is with the wider track chassis layout and stronger axles."
With Seddon Atkinson offering a frame height of 1,048mm. the combination gives an exceptionally low centre of gravity without an increase in weight."Like for like, the Strato will turn out about 200kg lighter than the Cargo," says Hutchinson.
The test vehicle's Econ Unibody is typical of the type specced by local authorities as a threeway tipper able to split the interior load and to spread road salt. Its eight-tonne front axle capacity would also suit a snowplough.
Our urban/rural/moorland test route was chosen to represent the variety of terrain that these vehicles are likely to encounter. Impressions To say that we were impressed with the R5 Strato would be something of an understatement. A wide door and good steps gave access to a steering-wheel/seat/pedal/mirror set-up that verged on the ideal.The standard of lumbar support alone was worthy of praise.
The 240hp Tector engine, producing 810Nm of torque at 1,25Orpm, is mated loan Eaton 8309A nine-speed, range-change gearbox.We were advised to pull away in first — ignoring the exceptionally low crawler gear— hut the closely matched gearing allowed skip shifts to third and lifth.
Low-down grunt was impressive — the Tector engine would lug down to 80Orpm and spin right round to 2,500rpm in the same gear with minimal noise intrusion.
Hill climbing in general was a doddIe with the air-assisted twin-plate clutch allowing exceptionally quick gearshifts. it helped make this vehicle a joy to drive.
A word of praise for the dash-located speed limiter,which gives the driver control of urban limits, say 30 or 40mph, at the click of a switch. Unlike the cruise control, the Iveco limiter wasn't switched off at the first touch of the brake or clutch. It's a great idea, which we are sure other manufacturers copy.
Our only complaint with the Strato was when we were going downhill.The heavy-duty Mentor axles required drums rather than disc brakes and on long descents they got very hot. There was no perceptible loss of braking effect but we'd certainly recommend the optional engine brake. •