11 minute read
A TALE OF TWO TRUCKS
Road Test
A TALE OF TWO TRUCKS
IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES AND IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES, TO BORROW A LINE FROM OLD MATE CHICKA DICKENS, BUT WE FELT A BIT THAT WAY AS WE SQUEEZED IN DRIVES IN BOTH VOLVO’S NEW FH13 WITH TURBO COMPOUNDING AND ITS NIMBLE AND AGILE FM 460 LOGISTICS TRUCK. THAT WAS THE BEST OF IT, THE WORST OF IT WAS THAT WE WERE PLUNGED BACK INTO LOCKDOWN HOURS AFTER OUR DRIVES.
Sometimes during this incessant, annoying, frustrating ongoing pandemic, it feels as though the doors are slammed behind you.
So it was as we boarded a Qantas 737 to head home from Brisbane after driving Volvo’s more intra-state targeted FH13 500 13 litre and the FM 460. Virtually the next day the Queensland border slammed shut yet again, which meant that fortunately we completed our tests of the major new trucks in Volvo’s refreshed line up before we were plunged back into shutdown.
As you may have read in our other Volvo road test story in this issue, where we tested the new flagship FH16 XXL Globetrotter, the Swedish truck maker has updated its entire range and while the big banger 700 horse FH16 is the rock star of the line-up, these trucks are the working bees, the volume sellers of the range, working hard day in day out, hauling the essentials to keep the economy moving in and around our big cities.
The FH13 with its turbo compound technology and smaller 13 litre donk, is designed to deliver strong performance and fuel efficiency from a smaller engine and is part of an industry wide move for smaller engines, improved electronic control tech and overall downsizing to deliver those efficiencies. In other words why use a 15 or 16 litre if you are likely to be mostly hauling high volume/lower GVM loads either in B-Double or single trailer operations, when you could do the job better with a 13 litre.
If you look across the heavy truck landscape there is a growing crop of smaller, lighter, more fuel efficient, but impressively torquey and powerful 13 litre engines. Whether it’s at Scania with its R540, Kenworth and DAF with the PACCAR MX-13, or Mercedes, Freightliner and Fuso with the Daimler 13 litre engine, there is a growing focus on this engine size for the bulk of everyday transport needs.
So it was that we found ourselves at Volvo HQ at Wacol in Brisbane’s West with Volvo’s strategic projects and communications manager, Matt Wood, for a day of driving the FH13 and the FM 460. Our day was being spent not in the adventurous and captivating scenery of the Pilbara, where we tested the ‘Rockstar’ FH16 but in and around the Queensland capital, where the worker bees would be expected to earn their keep.
For the FH 13 TC our route would take us west along the motorway to Ipswich and then out along the Cunningham Highway to the foot of Cunninghams Gap at Aratula, where we would turn around and head back for an all up run of 150 kms.
Turbo Compound technology has both detractors and fans, but it is a technology that Volvo has embraced. It has also been embraced by Formula One motor racing, in a manner at least, but not surprisingly, in a different way to that deployed in trucks.
The basic description of turbo compounding if you believe the fans, is a bit like the Dire Straights song, ‘ Money for Nothing’. In basic terms the Volvo technology is a means for recovering energy from the exhaust gas, with a secondary turbine further down the exhaust to provide added torque at the crankshaft. In the past that exhaust gas was not harnessed, so in a way it is energy for free.
The energy is harvested as we say via a turbine and then added torque is fed to the crank via a gear train and viscous coupling.
What it does is deliver better torque as a result of that added ‘thrust’. It stirs the smaller 13 litre along down low in the rev band when you really need the torque.
It has to be said that Volvo along with other manufacturers, walked away from Turbo Compound technology some time ago but it seems that better electronic engine management systems and the ability to better utilise that compound power as a result, is why the TC concept has made a comeback.
We found it interesting that some of our counterparts in the truck trade press have derided the TC concept and virtually written it off based on that perceived historic fail. However in speaking with engineers you quickly realise that it is silly to reject old concepts when they are revived using new technology and ideas that can iron out the former problems. To our way of thinking that is very much the case with the ‘new’ Turbo Compounding.
The 13 litre engine features a number of features that also help to improve the overall performance from the smaller donk. This includes new patented wave top pistons with uniquely designed ridged piston crowns, which enables the air/fuel charge to burn more efficiently by moving the mix to the centre of the combustion chamber for ignition.
Volvo engineers have also increased the compression ratio from 17:1 to 18:1, which is another factor in enabling the engine, to burn the fuel more completely and as a result to be more fuel efficient.
Volvo claims the improvements aren’t all inside the engine and about performance. They have clearly also had a focus on ensuring the smaller engine can do the heavy lifting for longer and more reliably and they have seated the reliable fixed geometry ‘main’ turbocharger in ball bearings to extend service life and to deliver reliable power under load.
Speaking of that power, the D13TC delivers maximum power of 500hp between 1,250rpm and 1,600rpm, with maximum torque of 2,800Nm coming on stream from just 900rpm continuing all the way up to 1,300rpm. As we say that strong torque delivery comes in low and strong, just where you need it, particularly with a 50 tonne plus load on board
The D13TC actually delivers an additional 300Nm of torque over the previous non TC versions and because it is delivered at low revs means that drivers can use less throttle, and as a result less fuel. It is very apparent that the engine seems strong and for want of a better term, relaxed when tracking down the highway. It doesn’t matter if driving with your right foot or utilising the adaptive cruise control the truck is very capable of maintaining strong average speeds and consistent performance. This was something very obvious to us as we
navigated the rolling hills heading out and back from Aratula.
It’s quite clear that the added torque down low enables you to maintain a better point-to-point average speed, largely because the truck can spend more time in higher gears, particularly when tackling ascents, short or long.
A new I-Shift controller for the Volvo AMT is now positioned right next to the left hand side of the driver’s seat making makes it much easier for drivers to switch between drive modes. The updated transmission has a new line up of modes that have been tailored to take better advantage of the turbo compound engine.
Just as we experienced in the larger FH16 in our test in North-West WA recently (see other story in this edition), the I-Shift now has three modes, starting with economy’ which clearly targets fuel efficiency. While the economy mode does sacrifice some power it does deliver in terms of fuel consumption.
Standard mode is the ‘Goldilocks’ position delivering good fuel economy without sacrificing any power or driveability, while performance mode brings full power and less focus on fuel consumption.
Two modes we didn’t sample, and had no reason to in our drive out into the foothills of the Great Divide were ‘Off Road’, which clearly enhances performance off the tarmac, and ‘Heavy Duty’ which is designed to enhance driveability with bigger loads above 85 tonnes GVM if needed.
The new shift controller is really well-designed and we liked both its functionality and its positioning.
Really the nub of the engine downsizing/turbo compounding concept ,and how Volvo engineers make all this work is the packaging with the I-Shift and the integration of the entire driveline.
The best results for this engine come with the intention that it operates below 1600rpm and the electronically controlled I-Shift is how they make this possible.
Part of the equation also is its standard tall 2.83:1 final drive, which coupled with the intelligence written into the programming of the I-Shift and that really strong, low down torque, almost becomes an algorithm to crack the fuel efficiency/ performance equation.
This means the engine is always striving to be up a gear and operating in the highest ratio possible with the engine turning over at relatively low rpm. At just under the legal limit of 100km/h the 13 litre is turning over at just 1200rpm, slotted into 12th and sipping fuel at a rate that would make Mahatma Ghandi seem like a glutton.
Our test truck was hauling a B-Double grossing 58 tonnes, so it wasn’t shirking. It had no issues doing the job and did the work with an impressive turn of efficiency
and performance. By the time we arrived back in Wacol after our morning run to Aratula and back, we had bettered 2.1 km/ litre, which was in our view, extremely strong.
It was time now to slip off the lead trailer and couple the main trailer up to the FM460, Volvo’s smaller cab metro and intra state specialist prime mover. If ever there was a Linfox/Camerons/ Toll logistics spec this would be it.
The FM is really a scaled down version of the FH with a lower overall profile while still retaining a roomy cab with a lower access and not so much of a climb up for the driver and passenger, something which would be valued for a logistics run with the need to climb up and down a lot during a day’s work. There are in fact only two steps up from the ground
Like the other new Volvo models, the FM sports a new dash with 12-inch digital instrument display and 9-inch side infotainment display, putting a lot of information in the driver’s view.
The exterior styling has been revised with a more modern, and very purposeful look with repositioned LED headlights, and new side lines, and a changed front grille.
Climb aboard the FM and there is a strong family likeness with the FH and for one brand fleets it would be an easy interchange for drivers switching from the metro FM up to a linehaul FH.
Heading out on a run looping around Brisbane, our drive was very much the sort of route a logistics truck would be on every day of the week, from warehouses in the south-west around the Logan Motorway, up over the Gateway, tacking in through the Northern suburbs, negotiating Gympie Rd and some local back streets and back across the Storey Bridge and Ipswich Rd toward our Wacol starting point.
With the single trailer and grossing 40 tonnes the FM felt nimble and capable powering up the hills and away from the lights with ease.
At cruise on the motorways the FM is every bit as quiet and comfortable as its bigger siblings and while some might consider this a fleet spec logistics truck there is no compromise on comfort.
It’s really quite a surprise package and it is quiet, with excellent visibility from the large windscreen and it handles very sweetly indeed.
Perhaps it handles so well because of the lower centre of gravity that makes it feel more nimble and agile than the big, taller FH models and obviously it gives it a really good feel in its targeted city traffic environment.
From dead starts at traffic lights the FM shifts up efficiently through the 12 speed I-Shift with the Volvo 11 litre Euro 6 engine delivering maximum power of 460 hp at between 1700 and 1800 rpm, but more importantly again that strong low down torque. The FM 460 has maximum pulling power of 2200Nm from 1050 rpm through to 1400 rpm.
With 40 tonnes the FM460 felt every bit as muscular as its big brother earlier in the day and just seemed totally at home and capable on city roads and in traffic. The final drive was exactly the same as its big brother from earlier in the day with a 2.83:1 ratio, so it wasn’t a short gearing making it feel so strong and athletic it was all down to the excellent engine and driveline.
Arriving back at Wacol it was obvious that a lot of effort and thought has gone into the overhauled Volvo range, with trucks that are much more than just fit for purpose but excel in everything they do and in the tasks they are designed for.
After our city run the fuel economy was remarkable with a return of 2.4 km/litre, a figure that would please any fleet manager or accountant. Apart from that, after a day at the wheel of two different trucks on near country and busy city roads, we were still as fresh as a daisy and ready for more.
None of this should be a surprise for Volvo fans and should help win over operators of other brands. The big Swede doesn’t always get it right, but we reckon its got it right this time with a new range that ticks all the boxes.
