In recent years the number of trucking operators looking for fuel savings has multiplied and truck manufacturers have come to the party with new offerings which take fuel consumption down to levels never seen before. Scania have entered the market with the Super models and Tim Giles took a couple of examples out on the road to see how the magic happens.
The European truck makers have been leading the charge in the race to bring fuel consumption down for Australian operators. Mercedes Benz got the ball rolling with the new Actros in 2016, Volvo developed the iSave concept, then Freightliner used the Daimler driveline to bring the idea to the US truck sector. Now Scania have taken the idea to the next stage, developing a new engine and transmission to further reduce fuel consumption.
Over the years, Australian truck operators have paid lip service to the idea of saving fuel, without putting fuel use top of the list when it comes to the criteria for buying a truck. However, with the level of savings now available with these modern frugal trucks, the rationality of prioritising fuel burn has taken hold and is yielding tangible results.
In this truck test, PowerTorque took two Scania Super models out for a quick run. There was a Scania 460P Super pulling a single trailer and a Scania 560R Super pulling a fully loaded B-double set. For some reason the Swedish truck maker has swapped the the cab classification from before to after the horsepower number, but only on the 13 litre engines and below, not for the trucks with V8 engines, why?
The return of the Super name is a logical choice, it has been used historically by the brand when new engines were introduced and was often written somewhere on the front of the truck, in the past. The 13 litre engine in the two trucks tested is an all-new engine for Scania. This test drive included the 460hp version and the 560hp version, which taking the 13 litre into unknown territory.
“This is a new engine and it has changed from the bottom end to the top,” says Benjamin Nye, Director of Truck Sales at Scania Australia. “With a 23 to one compression ratio, this reduces inefficiencies in combustion from a gas exchange perspective. An interesting fact about this engine is that it has cracked 50 per cent brake thermal efficiency.
“That’s how far we’ve had to push diesel to get to this level. Double overhead cams is a big departure for Scania. Normally, we have used pushrods in the individual heads in the past. Everything’s had to be strengthened to cope with the new compression ratio. Hence the all new engine.”
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