TESTERS'
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CHOICE
1994
Recession? What recession?
Looking at the vehicles launched in 1993, anyone could be forgiven for thinking that the economic downturn hadn't affected manufacturers design teams. But it takes more than five years from the drawing board to a new truck hitting the road. Development of last year's new vehicles kicked off well before the slump hit development budgets. Just don't expect to see too many new models in the next few years.
Commercial Motor tested 10 4x2 tractive units under 400hp. Most of these were concentrated in the prime fleet territory around 350hp. The big budget launches included the Iveco Ford EuroTech, Leyland Daf 75/85 and Volvo FH. We'll have to wait another couple of months before a UK test of the Volvo, but the others all passed through our hands last year.
ERF also showed what could be done with fewer pennies to spend when it launched the new EC range. Is it a match for the multi-million pound products from Italy and the Netherlands? Read on for our verdict We tested three 500hp trucks during the year, drivers' dreams all, but is all that power necessary at 38 tonnes? Some would say yes, including lain Munro, who's Foden 4500 we tested in July.
It's not often we can make comparisons between 6x2 tractive units. We tested three similarly powered three-axle tractors in 1993, including the new Scania lift/steer axle R113. With restricted use of 44-tonners on UK roads, some operators might be looking at six-wheelers more seriously in future.
Coming down the weight range, tippers and rigids were a bit thin on the ground for us last year. Our European Group Test in February was of 8x4 tippers at 32 tonnes. Without our usual fuel testing —the test was organised by our colleagues from L'Officiel des Transports in France—we couldn't include them in Testers' Choice 1994. However, we did test three UK 32-tonners, but keenly awaited 6x4 26-tonners like the Mercedes-Benz 2527 have yet to make a showing. Scania had the 17-tonne rigid category all to itself with the P93 220 in our Christmas issue. Impressive though it was, we've had to give it a miss in Testers' Choice 1994 for want of competitors.
The same is true of car-derived vans. Although a good number made it on to our fortnightly vans pages, there was only one model launched in 1993. The Vauxhall Combo proved to be a worthy competitor for the Ford Courier and Nissan Sunny van with pricing to frighten Ford. Expect to see a price "revision" on the facelifted Courier due in the Spring.
We'll have to wait till Testers' Choice 1995 before we can comment on the latest batch of panel vans, but 1993 saw a new cab for the Nissan Cabstar, as well as revisions to the Ford Transit and long-serving Volkswagen LT.
We probably drove more 4x4 light CVs in 1993 than at any time in the past few years, extending to passenger-carrying models for our site vehicle group test. Even without those, there were plenty of 4)(4 commercials to choose from, including an exclusive test of the VW LT45 4x4, Land Rover finally introduced a commercial version of the acclaimed Discovery to complement the old faithful Defender— was it worth the wait?
CM tests commercial vehicles more frequently and rigorously than any other magazine. Using consistent test routes, we can make meaningful comparisons between different vehicles. Testers' Choice ratings are all based on results recorded during testing, so if you want to know which trucks performed best on the road rather than the show stand, read on...