Roadrunner revamped
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• Leyland Dots soon-to-beunveiled revamped Roadrunner is expected to be up to 15kW (20hp) more powerful.
The Roadrunner name — one of the last vestiges of Leyland — will go. The range is being rebadged as the 45 Series 600, 800 and 1000, like the left-hand drive versions sold in Europe.
It is believed that Leyland Daf will offer the Cummins BSeries engine up to 127kW (170hp): the most powerful Roadrunner is currently the 8.15 with a 112kW (150hp) Cummins unit.
Operators may get sight of the new 45 Series at the Barcelona Show in May, with a UK debut expected at the Institute of Waste Management exhibition in Torquay this June.
Other changes to the model include the adoption of the Daf three-bar "family" grille, recently added to the 80 Series tractive unit (formerly the Roadtrain). The Daf front, already featured on Daf-badged Roadrunners exported to the Continent, means that the Roadrunner's distinctive front panel window will disappear.
The changes are another step in the rationalisation of the Leyland and Daf product ranges, following the merger of the two companies in 1987. Many in the industry now believe that the Leyland name could eventually be dropped in the UK.
Terry Waterfall of Sherwood Leyland Daf, chairman of the dealer association, dismisses talk of dropping the Leyland name as "a rumour you should ignore. I'll comment on it when it happens."
Leyland Daf has already moved towards a fully integrated range with the adoption of 11.6-litre Daf engines in the former Roadtrain (CM 6-12 September 1990), as well as the six and eight-legger tipper chassis, and the 6.24-litre DNT engine in the 60 Series (nee Freighter) rigids. The company will not comment on the proposed revisions, but says an announcement is likely "within weeks".