SibLING Rivalry
TESTED
Kenworth now offers a PACCAR MX13-litre along with Cummins power for the Australian market. Dave Whyte takes a first drive around Melbourne
THE
Australian road transport industry is in an almost unique position, where we have a choice of trucks from around the world available to new truck buyers. We even have some unique combinations, mixing and matching components from different manufacturers, or even continents, to keep the customer happy.
options. This situation has encouraged manufacturers to go in search of their own power, and has brought about some interesting, if not surprising, results.
Over the last few years, however, with CAT withdrawing from the open market and the Daimler takeover of Detroit Diesel, some manufacturers have been limited as to engine
The latest manufacturer to announce its “group engine�, the engine to be fitted to all brands under the corporate banner, is PACCAR. With only one brand in the PACCAR
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SIBLING RIVALRY
stable that produces its own engine, it was fairly obvious as to where they would look for inspiration. The DAF brand has enjoyed a strong following throughout Europe for many years, and has built a good reputation around the performance and economy of its engines. As far as engine development goes, this would seem to be a good place to start. The introduction of the updated DAF XF and CF models last year gave Australian operators their first look at the latest PACCAR MX13 engine. Based on the DAF engine platform, the MX13 is a 12.9-litre powerplant with outputs ranging from 360 hp (265 kW) and 1775 Nm of torque to 510 hp (375 kW) and 2500 Nm. Using selective catalytic reduction (SCR and AdBlue/DEF), the MX13 complies with the current Euro 5 emissions standard without the extra heat associated with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). This is an important factor in this engine’s suitability for the Aussie market, where cooling can be a deal breaker. In recent times, if you were in the market for a new Kenworth, you could have any engine you like, as long as it was red. With no other option available, Cummins became the staple engine at the Kenworth factory. One would imagine this would make Kenworth a little less competitive in an already tough market – but no, at the time of writing they are still pumping out around twelve trucks a day. This is a real testament to the strength of the Kenworth brand. The introduction of the MX13 into the T4 model range will give buyers another option, and, PACCAR would hope, another reason to buy the KW brand. After months of engineering development, Kenworth sent a few MX powered T403 and T409 models out into the field to be trialled by operators in their regular fleets. While the feedback from these operators has been good, when the offer came to drive a T403 with the MX13 matched to the latest incarnation of the Eaton UltraShift AMT, it was too good to refuse. Having experienced the MX in 510 hp trim, and driven through the 16sp ZF AMT, I was interested to see how it would perform at 460 hp with the Roadranger AMT. The Kenworth T403 is aimed at the single trailer and 19-metre B-double intrastate and interstate market. In a market with plenty of options for the prospective buyer, the T4 models have enjoyed good sales over the years. From the original T400 through to the current T403 and T409, with the
The MX 13 -litre engine slots in neatly under the bonnet of the T403 as discussed by Dave Whyte and Jon Penrose of Kenworth.
familiar cab layout and various sleeper options, these units have proven popular among both operators and drivers. The only difference with these new models is the European power. Some people, however, still believe Euro horses aren’t real horses. As mentioned, our test unit was a T403 with the MX13 under the bonnet rated at 460 hp (340 kW) delivering 2300 Nm of torque, and driven through the Eaton 18sp UltraShift Plus transmission. Pulling a single trailer, and grossing just over 36 t, we took a run east from Bayswater, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, to Yea, then across to the Hume Freeway at Tallarook. We then headed back towards Melbourne, through some suburban traffic and back to Bayswater. This route took us about 240 km through the Victorian countryside, with a good combination of freeways, rural, and urban roads, and some good hills to test an engine along the way. It’s worth mentioning that on the day of our drive the weather was very cold, causing ice to form on the bumper, grab rails and even the exhaust shrouds during our drive. Not the ideal environment to test engine cooling capability! On leaving the Kenworth factory, we were straight into the traffic. The MX and UltraShift Plus made light work of the traffic lights and roundabouts, with crisp and accurate gear changes keeping the engine in its comfort zone. There was no sign of the confusion suffered by the early Eaton AutoShift, causing it to jump gears or neutralise while negotiating roundabouts. There has obviously been some hard work done by Eaton to improve the communication and reaction time between engine and gearbox. On the country roads, the wide torque band of the MX (1000-1400 rpm) was evident, with the hills providing a good demonstration of its pulling power. The MX was quite happy to pull down to 1050 rpm without any shuddering or struggling, before either grabbing another gear or pulling away if conditions allowed. When accelerating, the engine very rarely went over 1600 rpm, keeping noise levels low inside the cab while using the power band to fill its full potential. PowerTorque ISSUE 54
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The ADBlue/DEF tank is neatly hidden under the checkerplate cover.
A tall final drive ratio of 3.49:1 meant that at cruising speed, 100 km/h, the engine was only working at 1300 rpm. This made for a quiet environment inside the cab, and very little whine from the gearbox. At such a low speed, one would have to assume the pressure on the driveline is reduced immensely. When the hills called for some effort, the engine was happy to pull, being already in the peak torque zone, without needing to change a gear. When a gear change was needed, it came with little fuss. Up hill, down hill, in heavy traffic, even when rolling to a standstill, every gear change made on this drive was the right one. Dare I say it, the Eaton proved to be on a par with the ZF, widely regarded as the sweetest shifting AMT available. Without doing a proper fuel test run (hopefully in the near future), I can only assume that the low engine speed, made possible by the MX13’s ample torque at low revs, would be a fuel saver. This engine in America, where it is already fitted to various Kenworth models, has proven to be a great asset to the brand, with customers raving about fuel economy and reliability. Having shoe-horned it into the Australian chassis, the only thing that remains to do is convince Aussie operators that Euro horses are, in fact, real horses. Based on the performance of this engine, it would seem they are.
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