2019 Scania R500: Review

Scania's New Truck Generation range has a selection of cabs on offer with the most popular being the R and G cabs. But what does that mean?

Basically, the R cabs are slightly higher spec than the G cabs. What you get in the R cabs is probably available in the G cab but more likely as an option rather than as standard fitment.

Another big difference is that the R cabs have a flat floor and are taller so it’s easier to stand up and move around in the cabin than in the G cab. That’s not to say that the G cab is tight, it’s just that the R is physically bigger.

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And while we’re on the subject of size, the R cab has a bigger bed (if you go for the Sleeper cab over the Day Cab). The R cab’s bed extends from 800mm to 1000mm and you get a super-comfy inner-spring mattress.

The G cab gets a 700mm bed and while the R cab comes standard with a big fridge that slides out from under the bed right beside the driver, the G cab gets a smaller fridge that’s an option.

Air-conditioning is also a difference with the R cab coming standard with automatic climate control while the G cab sports manual air-conditioning.

The R500 is powered by Scania’s DC 13 500 12.7-litre in-line six-cylinder engine that puts out 500hp at 1900rpm and 2550Nm at 1000-1350rpm.

That’s quite an impressive torque figure and only a couple of hundred Newton metres shy of Cummins’ X15, which puts out 2779Nm, while being right on par with Detroit’s DD16 at 2508Nm.

The engine features a single-stage turbocharger and emissions are Euro 6 controlled through SCR only.

Transmission is Scania GRS0905R Opticruise 14-speed auto with the Scania R3500 five-stage retarder.

Brakes are all disc with ABS and traction control and there is also a hill-hold feature. The rear axles and diffs are all Scania with a 3.42 ratio with power divider and diff locks. Rear suspension is again Scania’s own with four air bags and 19,000kg capacity while the front suspension is parabolic springs with an anti-roll bar and a 7100kg capacity.

Our test truck was set up with 1000 litres of fuel with 700 litres on the left-hand side and 310 on right-hand side along with the 105-litre AdBlue tank. However, they can be optioned with up to 1200 litres if the AdBlue tank is repositioned between the chassis rails.

The R500 is fairly bristling with the latest in safety tech. Standard features include driver and passenger airbags, side curtain airbags, driver’s side seatbelt pre-tensioner, lane departure warning, electronic stabiliser program, advanced emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control and downhill speed control.

This is all combined with the aforemention ABS and traction control which is switchable. Add to that the fact that the cabs are all compatible with the stringent ECE-R29 European strength criteria and you have one of the safest trucks on the market today.

Since its launch I have driven many of the New Truck Generation Scanias, in fact I drove plenty of them at the World launch in Sweden back in 2016. One thing that I do really like about these trucks is that they’re all the same from the driver’s seat.

You can jump into any of these new Scanias and feel instantly at home. Whether it’s a six-cylinder, a V8, a rigid or a prime mover, they’ll all similar from a driver’s perspective. And so it was with this Scania R500.

My co-pilot for this trip was Dave Whyte who now works for Scania as a driver instructor, and as I settled in behind the wheel he asked if I knew where everything was: "Sure do," I replied as I released the park brake.

Sure, it’s not that simple but I did find the cab remarkably familiar. One thing that I have harped on with these trucks is that everything is within easy reach of the driver. There are multiple functions on the driver’s door such, including the electric mirror controls and the switches for the lights.

There are also lots of functions on the steering wheel including audio, cruise control (we’ll get to that later) and phone controls.

The fact is that no matter what you want to do, you don’t have to lean out of the seat to do it. Everything is there are your fingertips.

Vision is excellent too. The windscreen is wide and tall and, as we were told at the launch, the top of the dash was lowered and the A pillars were specifically made narrower to increase peripheral vision. The result is one of the best views of the road ahead in the business.

The visors are simple flip-down affairs with a second stage for those really bad sunrises and sunsets. While the visors do stay in position, I think I prefer the full-screen electric visors like those found in the Volvo FH 16 I recently drove – but it’s a small gripe and maybe I’m being too picky…

We got rolling out of the dealership in the Melbourne suburb of Laverton and headed out through the morning traffic along the Western Highway towards Ballarat. We were loaded to 60.7 tonnes but around town, the R500 made pretty easy work of it.

In the traffic, the good vision combined with the manoeuvrability of the R500 make it an easy drive. We hit the freeway and cruised slowly as I got used to the rig. For those not used to this run, there are some pretty good hills along the way to Ballarat, called the Pentland Hills, and I was ‘driving’ the Scania rather than relying on the cruise control and the downhill speed control. This was probably why my Driving Score at the end of the day was only one star for the hill section.

The R500 has three driving modes that you scroll through on the steering-wheel controls: Eco, Standard and Power. According to Dave Whyte, the Eco mode is mainly for light loads or if you’re running empty; Standard mode is best for regular driving while the Power mode ups the revs between gear shifts and uses the most fuel. Some operators choose to have the Power mode dialled out at pre-delivery so drivers don’t set it up and forget to turn it off.

We left the rig in Standard mode for our drive as there is a détente in the accelerator pedal and if you hit this, say at the bottom of a hill, it automatically flicks the truck into Power mode.

Up some of the steeper hills we were down to around 50-60km/h but the Opticruise kept the revs in the torque band and the oh-so-smooth gearchanges kept us rolling nicely. The new Opticruise has a lay-shaft brake that we were told at the launch gives a reduction of 45 per cent, equating to shift times of 0.4 of a second.

We headed out the western side of Ballarat and we were going to turn right and come home via Gisborne and down the Calder, but time got the better of us. After taking some time out for photography and the mandatory coffee, we decided to head back down the Western.

This time I decided to use all the driver aids and let the truck do the work. I set the adaptive cruise control and the downhill speed control, took my feet off everything and let her rip.

The adaptive cruise is great and will keep the truck at a set distance from the vehicle ahead while the downhill speed control will keep you at a set speed using the retarder, the exhaust brake and even kick in the thermo fan to give maximum braking.

But that’s not all; the steak-knife bit is that the Scania R500 can actually ‘read’ the topography and adjust the vehicle accordingly. In conjunction with the GPS, the system predicts the topography ahead and automatically adjusts the vehicle's speed as needed. If you're approaching a downhill, the Scania will slow the engine, allowing you to cruise down it. The vehicle will also adjust for ascents.

I must say with 60 tonnes behind you, it’s a bit hard to turn the truck entirely over to itself on a steep downhill, but once I got used to it I soon found it easier to let the truck do the work and I just sat back and enjoyed the ride!

Needless to say, my fuel economy improved as well.

The Scania R500 is a thoroughly enjoyable truck to spend some quality time in. It’s quiet, comfortable and capable.

Although some drivers (especially old-school drivers) will poo-poo the driver aids, they certainly make life easy for the modern-day professional. The cruise control especially can make life easier for the long-haul driver and the safety aspects of things like AEB and lane keeping features as well as the downhill speed control speak for themselves.

This is a versatile vehicle for anyone who wants a truck that can easily pull one trailer or two, and handle metro or line-haul work.

Specifications: Scania R500 6x4
Engine: DC13 155 Euro 6, 13-litre, in-line six-cylinder turbo-diesel
Power: 500hp (368kW) at 1900rpm
Torque: 2550Nm (1881lb-ft) at 1000-1300rpm
Fuel System: Scania XPI Extra-High Pressure Injection
Emission System: Scania SCR
Gearbox: GRSO905R Opticruise, overdrive 12-speed +2 crawler gears
Scania Opticruise Modes: Economy, Standard and Power (ex-factory)
Cruise Control: Adaptive Cruise Control with Active Prediction topographical interface
Brakes: ABS/EBS7 disc brakes with Advanced Emergency Braking
Retarder: Scania R 4100 D retarder (plus engine exhaust brake)
Rear axle ratio: 3.42:1
Axle distance: 3150 mm
Bogie distance: 1350 mm
Wheels: Alcoa DuraBright
Tyres: Bridgestone 295/80R 22.5 steer/drive patterns
Suspension: Steel parabolic leaf (front), 4-bag air (rear), load transfer system
Fuel tanks: 310 litres (right), 700 litres (left), 105 litres (AdBlue)
Standard features: Scania Communicator C 300, electronic stability system and traction control, lane departure warning and forward-looking camera, Eco-roll, hill hold, differential lock