The P-series 18-tonne chassis cab is Scania’s entry level truck.
Page 33
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
It comes with a choice of short, day and sleeper cab, and wheelbases up to 6.3m. Like its competitors, the truck has the entry level 226hp engine as standard, with 266hp and 305hp options.
Scania offers a six-speed transmission with the 226hp, 8.9-litre engine, but its owners chose the GR875 eight-speed (four-over-four) range change, which only comes as standard on the 305hp engine. With the most conventional transmission of the three trucks, we found ourselves starting out in second and block-changing into fourth before entering the upper range and progressing in single gears to the top.
When rolling into traffic lights anticipating a change or at a roundabout timing a gap, we found third the ideal take-off gear. A lot is made of automated transmissions and it is clearly the future, but conventional eightand 16-speed boxes remain second nature for drivers, and a good driver can more than match automation using this box.
On the motorway the truck cruised happily at 85km/h at 1,450rpm. The truck handled well on the motorway and A-roads, and only Sun Rising Hill caused the driver to use the lower half of the gear range to navigate the switch back half-way up.
It could be argued that the eight-speed is a little too much for 18 tonnes, but of the three it appeared to be just right. By using two blockchanges early on the driver uses only six gears to get up to cruising speed, which is certainly no more than Renault and one less than the gears used in the TGM to do the same thing.
With 241,000km on the clock the cab looked fairly clean, albeit with a few scuffs and scratches you’d find on any truck, perhaps more importantly there were no wobbles or rattles.