Arctic Truck Test 2009: Introduction

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First published in Commercial Motor, 12/03/09
First published in Commercial Motor, 12/03/09

Global warming has spread as far as northern Finland. While it used to be a given that temperatures would reach well below freezing, Finnish operators are now having to get used to a different kind of climate that provides temperatures somewhere around the freezing point, which turns the usually fairly grippy ice-roads into very slippery ones – conditions that many other European operators are also having to put up with.

In this year’s Arctic Truck Test, three popular 480hp trucks went up against each other to see which would cope best with these tricky conditions. The recently crowned Truck of The Year 2009 Mercedes-Benz Actros 1848 made its way up to Helsinki to compete against the Scandinavian giants Scania and Volvo. Waiting in the Finnish capital were a Scania R480 and, from arch-rival Volvo, an FH480. None of the three tractors was completely new, but all were technologically up to date.

Last year, Mercedes gave its Actros a makeover, as Volvo did with its FH cab. Scania’s changes were slightly more subtle, and it was powered with the first Euro-5 engine that doesn’t require AdBlue. EGR versus AdBlue was the underlying theme of this contest. While the six-cylinder lumps from Mercedes-Benz and Volvo achieve the Euro-5 standard by injecting AdBlue into the exhaust gases, Scania’s engineers had to pull out all the stops to reach the required emissions level without any additive.

Some of the new engine components include the XPI injection system, which is a common-rail system developed in conjunction with Cummins. It has an injection pressure of 2,400bar, which eliminates the need for a particulate filter. Also, to improve the truck’s driveability, Scania has added a variable-geometry turbocharger, which gives a broader range of power through the revs. That said, achieving Euro-5 without AdBlue only works with higher exhaust temperatures and, consequently, requires more cooling for the EGR system. Higher fuel usage is almost a given with EGR Euro-5 engines. However, Scania seems to be the first manufacturer that has managed to dispel this – on paper, at least, it doesn’t show any weaknesses compared to its rivals.

Scania’s rear axle ratio of 2.7:1 suggests before the test has even begun that it is trying to counteract any extra “thirst” from the engine at cruising speeds. Volvo’s engine will be turning slightly more quickly at 80km/h with a ratio of 2.8:1 – its powerful straight six is not going to struggle there. Mercedes’ axle ratio is more tuned into the vehicle’s dynamics instead of low revs. The V6 is a solid engine and shows its strength at around 1,100rpm.

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