Although, in magazines like PowerTorque, we often talk about a truck and highlight the horsepower rating of the engine, it is actually the torque rating which gives us that feeling of being able to get the vehicle to behave as it should and respond appropriately to the right foot of the driver.
This kind of really useful torque is what this particular engine does deliver with full torque available all the way from 900rpm through to 1320rpm. This type of performance provides the vehicle with flexibility to make it a more useful tool.
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In fact, it was a Scania executive in the UK who once had one of his major national corporate clients ask him if the trucks could be delivered, not with the horsepower rating on the door, but with the torque rating. The logic of this was that it was the torque available to the driver which was the attractive aspect of a truck’s performance and would keep the fleet’s drivers happy.
On the 500 P, this higher torque rating, combined with the fact that this is the Scania Super engine, means that the operator is getting much improved performance but is unlikely to be spending much more at the fuel bowser than they would be with the lower horsepower prime movers.
The other factor which makes this vehicle extremely easy to drive is the fact that, with the flat top torque curve, the AMT has plenty of flexibility to make changes in the transmission which will help fuel consumption without any compromise in the way that the power and torque are reaching the drive wheels.
This kind of drivability, combined with fuel efficiency and the smooth transmission changes which are possible, makes for a very pleasant driving experience and leaves the driver confident that in any situation the automatic systems will be in the right gear at the right time with the right amount of power, or torque, to do the job required.
When it comes to the latest safety systems, which are now becoming mandated, and will be appearing on all of the trucks this magazine will be reviewing in the future, it will be possible to start differentiating between them, finding out exactly where the sweet spots are for each variant being used in real conditions.
At the moment, as the new technology arrives in every truck coming to market, we will start to see the difference between not only the basic technology being put in place, but also the interface which the truck manufacturers develop to make it easier, or sometimes harder, to use effectively as a safety system.
It may be the case that, as the systems become more and more common and are found throughout the truck fleet, we will see different preferences appear for operators as they get used to all of these new systems.
As these changes come through, the way that the European truck manufacturers are able to integrate all of these systems within the basic infrastructure of the truck may well be an advantage for them
On the other side of the coin, the fact that there is European truck manufacturer involvement in trucks coming out of North America and Japan means that a global technology will become common throughout most of the trucks coming into our market here in Australia. This is where the interface with the driver may become the differentiating factor.
For now, we are seeing a 500 hp engine in a small heavy duty prime mover, which seems to be quite a useful addition to the Scania range. It will enable the Swedish truck maker to fill a few gaps in the market in where it has not been a player in the past.
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