Cardiff tries green Eagle
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• Newport-based Cardiff Transport is the latest haulier to try out an environmentfriendly version of the Perkins 400Tx Eagle engine in a 12month trial.
Cardiff Transport has the 298kW (400hp) engine fitted in an ERF E14 4x2 tractive unit.
Its fuel economy and performance will be monitored by Cardiff on "intensive operations", running nightly to the North of England, covering about 240,000km a year. Perkins is understood to have seven of the pre-production lowemission engines from the 325 to the 400 on trial in ERFs, Seddon Atkinsons and Fodens. So far Seddon Atkinson and ERF have included the 400Tx engine in their product ranges.
BOC Interbrand of Croydon, Surrey is among the hauliers evaluating the 400Tx; at least one of its engines is a lowerrunission prototype.
BOC took on five Seddon Atkinson Stratos fitted with the 400Tx in November. It had already volunteered to try out one of the first ERFs with the engine installed on a trial for Perkins.
Cardiff Transport, which runs about 15 other ERFs and 30 MANs, took the truck and engine direct from Perkins, paying the same as it would have for an ERF with the 242kW (325hp) version of the Tx.
It will return the vehicle to Perkins for examination at the end of the year's trial when it will be given the chance to swap the engine for a 242kW version. "On first impressions, it is likely we'll
4.4 keep it," says managing director Carleton Hobbs. The truck has a speed limiter and is achieving 37.71it/
1 0 0 km
1 (7.5mpg). "It's a torquey , engine," admits Hobbs. "Our main concern is
fuel economy and I thought it would be thirstier than the 325, but it's not."
dao.