Kenworth T410: Review

We got our first taste of the new Kenworth T410 back in March 2019 when Kenworth invited the media to a drive day at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) in Anglesea, Victoria.

And while that drive gave use a good idea of how this versatile new truck performed, it wasn’t a real-world drive. So when we were offered a couple of days out on the road in a shiny new T410 pulling a loaded trailer, we jumped at the chance.

Our route for the road test was a 600km trek north from the Inland Truck Centre in Wagga Wagga up to Gilbert and Roach’s Hexham dealership. This journey had a diverse collection of road conditions, from gentle rolling rural country roads, following freeways and city congestion along Pennant Hills Road.

Whether it was good planning or merely the luck of the draw, we'd managed to leave Wagga Wagga shortly before midday, this afforded the opportunity for a few photos stops along the way before hitting Sydney in the early afternoon peak. Given that a large majority of this model will end up working in a metropolitan application a real-world experience in rush hour traffic was certainly fitting.

Essentially, in terms of market placement it's a midfielder, but, it can slot nicely into heavier-duty applications as well as vocational roles, so it’s an extremely versatile truck.

For example, it can be specced as a day cab with a short 4500mm wheelbase, small fuel tanks, the new lightweight PACCAR 12-speed and tare in just under eight-tonnes.

Couple this up to a lightweight tri-axle trailer and payloads close to 30-tonnes can be realised with mass management. A perfect combo for metro/intrastate operations where maximum productivity is measured in cents/tonne/km.

The specification choice for this model is comprehensive, too long to list here, however it includes a selection of interiors, sleeper, engine power, transmission, final drive, and axle configurations.

Along with the extensive options availability, the T410 also boasts a significant number of standard features designed to extend service intervals and reduce operating costs like the dual air intakes with inbuilt hood pre-cleaners, breakaway mirror brackets, twin round seven-inch headlights, and triple-sealed doors and apertures to mention a few.

The T410 we’d been given for our evaluation road test had the PACCAR MX13 engine rated at 510hp, coupled to the new lightweight PACCAR 12-speed which delivered the power to the Dana DS/RDH40P final drives with a 3.90:1 ratio.

This vehicle also had the optional fuel haul kit. The PACCAR 12-speed is rated up to 50-tonne GVM, for higher GVM applications such as B-Double the Eaton 18-speed or Ultrashift is required.

Or, for more heavy-duty applications you could upgrade to the T610 which has proved extremely popular since its launch in 2016.

For peace of mind for both the owner and operator, our test vehicle came with the full safety suite, including adaptive cruise with autonomous emergency braking. On the freeway, this safety feature really works a treat keeping a safe distance from the vehicle in front, with little effort required by the driver.

The column-mounted gear shifter is new to the Kenworth product, it sits where the traditional trailer brake lever used to be. The trailer brake is now operated by a small "duckbill" switch mounted on the dash near the left side of the steering column.

The column-mounted gear lever is truly a multifunction switch and allows selection of all the gears and their functionality as well as activate the engine brake, this works similarly for either the PACCAR 12-speed and Eaton Ultrashift transmissions. For vehicles with a manual transmission this lever only controls the engine brake.

To get this Paccar 12-Speed transmission into gear, it’s simply a matter of depressing the brake and rotating the outer dial to the D position. The gear indicator on the dash changes from N to 2 which is letting us know it’s going to take off in second gear this time.

If I thought that second gear was too high for the truck to shift off, I can tap the gear lever downwards to initiate a downshift into first gear. This same procedure is used to instigate downshifts while driving, to initiate an upshift I merely lifted the gear lever upwards.

Importantly I could do this while the vehicle was in the Drive or auto mode. When I wanted to hold a gear I simply pushed the button on the end of the gear lever stalk to engage Manual mode, then tapped it once more to return to auto mode.

The engine brake functionality is easy to use, simply by pulling the lever towards the driver, the engine brake engages, the first indent activates Stage-1 (50 per cent retardation) and the second indent activates Stage-2 (100 per cent retardation).

There is a third indent and that activates what PACCAR call Max mode, which prompts a down-change in the transmission to get the engine revs up into the maximum retardation area. It’s a very effective means of washing off a lot of speed quickly. In the congested traffic along Pennant Hills Road, it was extremely useful when a car cut in front of the truck and slammed on its brakes.

To engage Low mode, it’s simply a matter of engaging the engine brake then pushing the gear change lever downward and holding it for a few seconds, a small L appears on the outside of the gear change indicator on the dash and the vehicle starts down-changing rapidly. This is a great way to wash off a lot of speed in a hurry without the need to touch the service brakes.

The transmission Quick Guide that was left in the truck really made it easy to understand the transmission’s intuitive operation.

One handy feature on the transmission is Urge to Move which activates as soon as the brake pedal is released giving a passenger car like feel as the vehicle automatically moves forward. Creep Mode is another feature that enables the vehicle to be driven at low speeds with enhanced control.

I terms of grunt, the MX13 has a big heart, pumping out 1850 lb/ft (2500Nm) of torque from 1000rpm through to 1400rpm while still punching out 1600 lb/ft (2170Nm) at 1650rpm.

The smarts in the engine talk seamlessly to the transmission in what is called optimised gear selection. The transmission selects the appropriate starting gear and makes optimised shift decisions, skip shifting when appropriate, based on grade, vehicle weight, engine torque, and throttle position.

In auto mode, the gear shifts are quick and smooth and predominantly encourage the engine to operate in the economical green band on the tacho.

The rolling undulating highway provided the perfect opportunity to try out the fuel saving Neutral Coast feature. It’s a feature that many transport companies are now demanding. The feature activates when the vehicle is in cruise control and rolling down a gentle incline. The transmission disengages a gear and the vehicle’s weight maintains the speed enables the engine's revs to drop to idle. The feature is deactivated when the vehicle's speed exceeds the droop settings or the brake or accelerator is pressed.

There is no interaction required from the driver other than to ensure that cruise control is set for Neutral Coast to activate.

When another vehicle pulls in front of the truck, the Fusion Wingman intervenes and disengages the Neutral Coast feature.

Vision is big point with the T410. It has an almost cabover vista out over the short bonnet. The A pillars are thin and the wing mirrors are low mounted with minimal mounting brackets around them, giving extra peripheral vision.

The interior of the cabin is like the T610 reviewed earlier and engine noise is minimal in this model. There is ample room in the low line sleeper for a comfortable night sleep with storage under the bunk. The low-line sleeper is really suited to a tanker and other applications that have low loads.

As mentioned, our trip gave us a wide variety of driving conditions and was a true, real-world test of the T410. I was impressed by how well it pulled up the long climbs and was impressed to find out that we were hauling over 30 tonnes in the trailer. It really felt a lot lighter.

The T410 is also comfortable. The air-suspension seat combined with the multi-adjustable steering wheel mean that it’s easy to get comfortable, and the suspension worked a treat on the cut-up sections of the Sturt highway and the Hume giving us a smooth ride.

In the traffic, the Kenworth T410 got off the mark easily and swiftly and showed great acceleration. The engine brake worked a treat and we didn’t have to over-use the service brakes.

The multifunction driver display on the dash can deliver driver information tips and provide a driver score based on how the vehicle is being driven.

It’s a function that I tried frequently and was pleasantly surprised to see a large number of green ticks appear on the display momentarily while driving the truck correctly.

I’d been told that the higher the driver’s score the better fuel economy would be, needless to say, I was happy to achieve an overall driver score of 92 per cent for the trip.

The overall fuel economy for the journey was 2.58km/l (38.7l/100km) which makes the PACCAR MX powered T410 one of the more economical trucks to operate in the mid to heavy-duty market segment. This is really where it matters to fleet and owner operators, it means the T410 will make it on to the purchase decision table. Sure, the truck needs to be powerful and have all the creature comforts driver’s want, but if the numbers on the Excel spreadsheet don’t add up then chances the company accountant will leave the truck on the lot.

As I climbed down from the T410 in Hexham that evening and reflected on the drive, it occurred to me that this model certainly is a multipurpose utility truck. The T410 is the sort of vehicle that can easily fit into a multitude of applications and perform each one equally well. It’s undoubtedly a model very much like a utility player in the footy team who can fil a multitude of roles – it’s a truck that is well worth consideration and should fit comfortably into many fleets.