Introduction
Renault will be using the 1st October launch of Euro-3 engines to introduce common-rail technology for its entire fleet from 2.8 tonnes upwards (apart from the mighty Magnum, which will keep its Mack engine for the foreseeable future).
However, common rail fuelling is already available on the Premium dCi. If this venture proves successful other manufacturers are bound to follow suite, which would certainly be a feather in Renault’s cap. The early signs are encouraging: major fleet operators such as City have been buying Premium 420 dCi tractors by the score.
Fuel Economy is top of the wish list for every fleet operator, and if you are buying vehicles outright, longevity and residual values are added to these concerns. When it comes to service life and residuals time will tell, but after three days of mixed weather and plenty of congestion on our test route, operators need have no doubts about common-rail fuel economy.
Our Premium 420 dCi’s common-rail engine was in Euro-2 guise (though Renault says it is “already technologically able to satisfy Euro-3 standards”). Many operators and engine manufacturers have expressed doubts that Euro-3 engines will be able to match, let alone beat, Euro-2 fuel figures. But Renault says it has figures proving that engines with common-rail injection and electronic control are out-performing their non-common-rail equivalents.
Product Profile
As the sun sets on Euro-2 engines you might wonder why we are still testing the vehicles they power. In fact, manufacturers will be permitted to sell pre-registered Euro-2 trucks unto 01 October 2002, so this won’t be the last Euro-2 test you’ll see in CM.
The Premium 420 dCi tractor is available as a 4x2 or 6x2, powered by Renault’s 11.1-litre, six-cylinder, charge-cooled DI turbodiesel with V-MAC III electronic engine management. It produces 406hp (303kW) at 1,900rpm with 1,870Nm (1,379lbft) of torque at 1,200rpm.
The gearbox is a synchromesh ZF direct-drive 16-speed unit complete with ZF ServoShift – a cable operated, air assisted shift mechanism designed to reduce shift effort and the throw between gears. Like every other HGV on our Renault press fleet, our Premium came equipped with the optional Jacobs engine brake’ it also sported the flat-floor Single cab complete with a sofa bed.
Productivity
For both the week before and the week after our three-day drive in the Premium the nation was bathed in brilliant sunshine, but our run around the north of England and southern Scotland was marred by rain and high winds. Typical. We’re not just whingeing for the sake of it, though, as the driving conditions inevitably had an adverse affect on our speed and fuel figures.
With this in mind, we reckon the Premium’s overall average of 8.07mpg is pretty good. It eclipses the performance of its nearest rival round our Scottish route, the MA 4x2 TG-A 410, which recorded 7.95mpg in similar conditions.
Underlining the Premium’s “long-distance” tag is its impressive 9.13mpg on the first day of our run, travelling north on the M6 to Gretna Green. Fleet trucks tend to spend a lot of their time on the motorways and dual carriageways, so its figures are a persuasive factor; the Premium comfortably surpassed the MAN 410’s 8.83mpg on the same route. From then on, the weather took its toll; day two produced 7.55mpg and day three 7.36mpg, both figures worse than those recorded for the MAN.
