uch has been said about the next generation of low-emission
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trucks that are heading for our roads, but what will they really be like? Will they use more fuel? How well will they go? And what will they be like to drive?
To answer these questions and more, the third in our series of Eurotests pitches four of Europe's latest high-power tractors against one another. What's special in this case, however, is that for the first time in such a group test every truck in the evaluation is powered by an engine that is cleanrunning enough to meet the stringent Euro 1 exhaust limits: this is the standard that all new heavy trucks must satisfy by October 1993.
All four Eurotest contenders are in the 300kW (400hp) class, which is likely to see some of the fastest growth in the UK during the next few years. Combine the effect of lower speed limits, speed limiters and the potential increase in gross weights, and it's not difficult to see that even fleet machines may need to pack this sort of punch to meet their schedules.
The Eurotest venue was southern Germany, the home of our hosts from the leading German road haulage weekly magazine Verkehrs Rundschau. As before, the French journal L'Officiel des Transports completed the line-up.
We were gathered to evaluate an interesting mix of two vehicles currently available in Euro 1 form (albeit only on the Continent for the time being), and two fitted with Euro 1 engines specially for this test.
Beginning with the pair in production, the first contender came from the recently announced Mercedes-Benz LEV range; in this case the 1838LS tractor featuring the new charge-cooled 12.8-litre vee-eight.
It was joined by the innovative Scania R113/400, boasting the world's first automotive turbo-compound diesel; our test vehicle came complete with the aerodynamic Streamline package.
Though using non-standard engine specifications, the other two contestants were nevertheless well established models. The Daf FT 95.400 has headed up the 95 Series range for over a year now, and although it is about to lose the limelight to the new 95.430, the 400 has shown itself to be an impressive performer in the hands of our testers.
Completing our quartet, the MAN 19.422FLS, is also familiar to UK operators, having formed part of the revised MAN ECU line-up for 1991. Aside from its modified engine, our test truck was also noteworthy for the factory's high-roof cab.