Renault plans range revamp
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by John Kendall • Renault will unveil its replacement for the Manager and Major range, tagged H100, next year says Elias Pascual, senior executive vice-president of RV1. No date has been given but it is likely that the models will be launched in the spring.
The H100 will be the first in a series of new heavy trucks from RVI. Speaking at the Paris Show, RVI chairman and chief executive officer Shemaya Levy promised that apart from the Magnum, the entire RVI truck range would be replaced in the next three years.
The five-year-old Magnum will also receive a facelift.
Renault will collaborate with its US subsidiary Mack to develop a new range of engines which will be fitted to both Renault and Mack trucks. Pascual confirmed that the V-MAC U electronic engine management system developed by Mack will be used in Renault trucks: it is likely to appear first on the 16.4-litre veeeight Mack engine powering the Magnum 520 . The system will also be used by both Renault and MAN on the seven-litre engine currently under joint development.
Higher power from the 16.4litre Mack engine is also in the pipeline. According to Pascual, the engine is already producing 600hp on the test bench.
We were the first to produce a 500hp truck and we will not be the last to fit 600hp," he says. But the engine will reach 600hp in stages.
With higher power in the offing, RVI is working on uprated braking systems. The electronic braking (EBS) system fitted with carbon disc brakes displayed at Paris (CM 21-27 September) will be fitted to future truck models says Pascual, as will all-round disc brakes.
Carbon offers a number of advantages. It hardens at very high temperatures and offers exceptionally high friction characteristics. The result is greatly reduced braking distances and high resistance to brake fade.