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eXc ON THE ROAD
Page 18
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• CAlls the first 111( magazine to drive Scania's eXc and we did it during a four-hour round-trip made up of motorway and country A-roads, starting and finishing at Scania's Soodertalje plant, just south of Stockholm. The 6x2 tag tractor was coupled to a standard 13.6m curtainsider and weighed round 42 tonnes all up. What's it like to drive? Like any other big sleeper cab. While there was nothing to suggest that car drivers thought they were following anything other than a regular artic, it certainly caught the attention of other liGV drivers.
From the driver's seat forward, everything you see is regular R Topline, while the extra 1.3m of cab hardly shows up at all in the mirrors. indeed the only time you're aware of the extra space behind you is when you stop and turn around. With a 'bigger box' giving more room for sound to resonate you might expect interior levels to be slightly higher—but it's no noisier than a standard Topline.
Does the extra length make any difference? Only on mini roundabouts and tight road junctions where you have to allow for the greater cut in. But it's no big deal and the 6x2's very accurate steering clearly helps. On the return leg on switchback country roads the combination was very stable—we were soon pushing eXc Into corners fairly hard without experiencing any cab roe.
The R-164's 580hp big VB hardly breaks into a sweat at 42 tonnes and while Scania's Opticruise is not our favourite auto box, we're warming to it even if we do have to remember to use the clutch starting and ending.
It's only when you stop, dump the air in the driver's seat, turnaround and walk (yes walk, arid fully upright too) back into the living area that the full impact of eXc hits you. it's astonishing. The sheer pleasure of being able to stand up and swing your arms around the cab after a fourhour driving shift is wonderful. This is how drivers should relax