Driving the new Scanias

Transport Operator’s Richard Simpson gets behind the wheel of Scania’s new cab launches

After Scania launched what it described as its most important new trucks ever, a select group of journalists from the UK, Australia and Scandinavia were among the first people from outside the company itself to drive the trucks.

Scania provided a selection of vehicles in widely different configurations with engines ranging from 450 to 750 horsepower, gross weights from 29.5 to 61 tonnes and lengths from 16.5 to 25.25 metres.

Most of these vehicles were in configurations which would not currently be allowed on UK roads. However, the questions which were most relevant to the UK were still there to be answered: would the new 500 hp rating of the 13-litre straight-six SCR-only engine be an acceptable alternative to Scania’s signature big V8; would the reworked automated transmission finally put any doubts about two-pedal transmissions to bed; and (most important), would the two new cab designs be sufficiently improved to put Scania back at the top of the pile in terms of driver appeal?

Pretty much all those questions were answered by a drive in an R-cab 6×2 timber prime-mover, hauling a five-axle trailer with a total length of 24 metres and a gross weight of well over 53 tonnes. It featured the 500 hp 13-litre engine which has SCR-only emissions control and a fixed-geometry Honeywell turbocharger.

Significantly, this put the power-to-weight ratio of the outfit at below the 10bhp/tonne ratio which most British operators have regarded as the minimum for decades, but you wouldn’t have noticed.

The latest rendition of the Scania GRSO905 gearbox (which is also going to find its way into the new heavy trucks from Scania’s VW Group stablemate MAN) features enhanced software and a layshaft brake which looks and functions a bit like the hydraulically-actuated wet multiplate clutches you find on modern motorcycles to give slicker ratio changes via the Opticruise two-pedal automated shift system.

The layshaft brake operates during upshifts, and reduces gearshift time to 0.4 seconds: about half what it was before.

Unlike some automated ‘boxes, Scania’s retains synchromesh: this adds weight but reduces noise and fuel consumption on downshifts. A manual shift option will eventually appear for some new R-cab models, but the flat-floored S flagship cab is only ever going to have Opticruise, Scania says.

Driving through the Opticruise transmission, 500 horses (and, more significantly 2,550 Nm of torque spread over 300 rpm from 1,000 rpm) can more than handle the 53-tonne timber truck with its eight axles, so it should be perfectly adequate for all normal UK operations.

Such is the perfect match between engine and transmission that, for the first time ever, I found myself behind the wheel of a truck not ever knowing or caring what gear it was in. It didn’t matter: the truck would always sort things out faster than I could. Significantly, the green band has been deleted from the rev-counter, as left to its own devices the truck will always be in the right gear.

Some UK operators will still want the (unchanged) V8, of course: these include heavy haulers, Scottish fish transporters and those for whom the sound is worth the extra cost, weight and thirst of the hefty 16-litre lump. The latter will also be delighted with the exclusive V8 cab trim package.

But the V8 comes with complex baggage, including an exhaust gas recirculation system and variable-geometry Cummins Holset turbo: operators tell us that it works best when worked hard, but is less efficient at low gross weights.

The R-badged cab is no longer top of the Scania range, but unless you’ve actually driven the new flat-floor S version, you’d never know.

There are a variety of trim and storage options, which Scania UK is likely to group into packages incorporating varying qualities and quantities of seating, sleeping and storage to suit differing operational needs (single or double manned, for instance), but at the core is an exceptionally well thought out working environment which has been designed from the ground up to comfortably accommodate humans of all sizes from 1.5 to two metres tall.

A small example is the shape of the new cab A pillars: these present the narrowest possible cross-section to the driver’s eye-line, cutting blind-spots to a minimum in co-operation with the new mirrors.

Drivers will feel less cocooned in the new trucks than the current models: previous Scanias wrapped themselves around the driver with a closeness that some found comforting and others claustrophobic: these are more spacious.

Next up was a V8-engined S-cab. This one was a bulk-haul 6×2 drawbar with a five-axle trailer, loaded to 58.3 tonnes. It had the lowliest-spec of the V-engines: offering 520 hp at 1,900 rpm and 2,700 Nm of torque from 1,000 to 1300 rpm: giving a power-to-weight ratio a little better than that of the timber truck.

The engine actually felt as though it was working slightly harder than the straight six: Scania deliberately engineers a bit more ‘soul’ into the V8s as the expense of a slight increase in noise, vibration and harshness.

The huge flat-floor S cab feels as firmly anchored to the chassis as its R counterpart did, and the increased headroom is obviously not noticeable when driving. What is noticeable is the luxury. The words ‘VW Group’ didn’t cross the lips of any Scania employee during the truck’s launch, but comparisons with the parent company’s car products are unavoidable.

The R cab interior feels like an Audi’s: it’s comfortable, practical, well-built and will probably still look as good as new in 100,000 miles. In contrast (and I’m not making this up), the S with V8 trim is more like a Bentley.  You could while away a 45-minute break just exploring the textures and finishes of the various materials trimming the cab interior.

And the doors on both the R and the S close with the kind of precision previously only found on Crewe’s finest too – they really are that good. In fact, Scania admits that Porsche Engineering (also part of the VW Group) did have a hand in the design of the cab shells.

Overnight comfort is taken care of by an optional integrated cab cooling and heating system that can maintain a comfortable interior temperature for about 12 hours without running the engine.

So far, so unrepresentative of most trucks that will be used by UK operators. A 6×2 R 450 tractor attached to a container trailer and grossing at 40 tonnes was more like the average British truck. The lighter gross weight more than made up for any deficiencies in the powerplant, which produces a maximum of 2350 Nm of torque at 1000 – 1300 rpm.

Lower gross weight and the tractor-semitrailer configuration made for a slightly livelier ride over bumps than its longer, heavier drawbar counterparts though, and the whole rig felt slightly less ‘planted.’

The new Scania’s braking system is worthy of particular mention. The front axle is now 50mm further forward and with bigger brake chambers, which alone would give more bite and less dive on braking, but the integration of the foundation brakes with the transmission retarder and engine exhaust brake, which is carried over from previous models, is more significant.

The hydraulic retarder can be manually operated via a five-position steering column lever, with the final increment bringing the exhaust brake into play. On the 13-litre engine, the exhaust brake alone yields a maximum of 256 kW of braking effort, with the 16-litre giving 320 kW.

There’s an intake throttle flap on the six-cylinder too, but the primary purpose of this is to maintain exhaust temperature (and hence catalyst efficiency) when the engine is in over-run condition.

The Scania 4100D retarder, which now mechanically ‘clutches out’ when not in use to minimise parasitic drag, can generate a maximum 4,100 Nm of braking. The braking system can be set to hold speed on downhills like a cruise control at a press of the pedal, and it autonomously blends foundation brakes with the retarder and exhaust brakes to achieve maximum efficiency and safety.

At lower speeds, a ‘manoeuvre’ setting on the Opticruise stalk enables the truck to be positioned with precision and the Automated Cruise Control now functions even at walking space, taking much of the stress out of traffic jams.

No information on pricing for the UK was available when Transport Operator went to press, and the various packages of extras had yet to be finalised too. A short ‘day’ version of the R cab, and other engine options will follow, and then the new cab design will be down-sized to replace the existing P and G cabs.