Hino High Horsepower 300 Series 920/921
Launch Review
Sydney to Bathurst, NSW
The post-GFC recovery is yet to eventuate in Australia's fiercely competitive light-duty truck market but Hino is fanning the flames with two new 'High Horsepower' models. Part of its 300 Series range, the 920 manual and 921 automatic are powered by a hard-charging 5-litre engine, good for 510Nm and 600Nm respectively. With the 200hp 921 touted as 'Australia's most powerful light-duty truck', these newcomers are sure to grab plenty of attention, with their abundant safety features and appointments only adding to the appeal.
It's not every day I can say I've punted a 5-litre-engined vehicle around Mount Panorama. Yet here I am, streaking through The Esses and dropping into The Dipper, as the sun's dying rays bathe the city of Bathurst in a golden glow.
Okay, so the roaring crowd is a product of my fertile imagination and the 5-litre engine is in fact toiling away inside a truck, but the setting for the culmination of the launch of Hino's new High Horsepower 300 Series models – the 920 manual and 921 automatic – was indeed fitting.
We'd set out from Hino Australia's Sydney headquarters to sample the newcomers over a route that took in city traffic, the open road and the grades of the Blue Mountains, before finishing at Australia's spiritual home of horsepower, Mount Panorama.
Debuted at the Melbourne truck show in early April, Hino has high hopes for the 920 and 921, which it says bring medium-duty outputs to the light-duty market.
According to Daniel Petrovski, Hino Australia Product Planning Manager, the additions will break new ground for the brand.
"This [the 921] is now Australia's safest and most powerful truck under a GVM of 10.4 tonnes," he says.
These High Horsepower models essentially take the existing safety features of the 4-litre 300 Series models and add the performance benefits of Hino's 5-litre – or 5123cc, to be precise – four-cylinder turbo-diesel.
The JO5E-UH powerplant in the manual 920 produces a claimed 189hp (139kW) at 2600rpm and 510Nm at 1500rpm, while the JO5E-UJ in the automatic 921 boosts those outputs to 205hp (151kW) at 2600rpm and 600Nm at 1500rpm.
"It's Australia's only light-duty truck to deliver over 200hp and 600Nm," says Petrovski.
The 921 is also Australia's only light-duty truck to have a true automatic transmission, he adds, with a torque converter with lock-up. The auto features the same ratios as those found in the 4-litre autos, but it's a bigger and stronger box to handle the extra grunt.
Hino says the 920's outputs essentially match those of its arch rival, Isuzu's NQR, but that the 920's torque curve is basically flat all the way from 1000rpm to 2600rpm, delivering superior lugging ability. Hino claims the 921, however, offers eight per cent more horsepower and 18 per cent more torque, making it a clear market leader.
"By comparison, this 921 is only 47Nm off our FC, which is at the top in our 10.4t segment," says Petrovski.
The High Horsepower models also have a wider chassis, up from 750mm to 840mm, with a grid-hole design and flat-topped chassis rails, making life simple for body builders or owners adding accessories.
The safety credentials are impressive, with an ECER29 crash-tested cab, reinforced door beams, four-wheel ventilated disc brakes (with ABS), driver and passenger airbags and vehicle stability control all standard.
Hino is the only manufacturer to fit its light-duty trucks with VSC as standard. The system sees various sensors, the ABS, the vehicle's ECU and a hydraulic system partially brake the vehicle to get it safely around a turn when things may otherwise have turned ugly.
There are also plenty of niceties to smooth a driver's passage through the day. Here we're talking hill start assist, electric (and heated) mirrors, remote entry, fog lamps, and a multimedia touchscreen system with digital radio, and which can be upgraded with truck-specific GPS. An optional reversing camera plugs into the multimedia display, while an engine immobiliser is standard. A speed limiter is also standard but it can only be set or adjusted by a dealer.
Other factory options include a polished alloy bullbar, additional reversing cameras, sun visors, dash mats, a UHF CB radio, footwell liners, seat covers, and a towbar.
The 920 and 921 see eight individual new models grace the 300 Series range: single cabs in wheelbases of 3500mm, 3800mm, and 4400mm, and a crew cab in 4400mm, with both in either manual (920) or auto (921). Standard GVM is 8500km with a 12,000kg GCM, requiring a Medium Rigid licence, but it can be plated at 7995kg to allow it to be driven on a Light Rigid licence, or there's even a 4495kg option that can be driven on a car licence. The latter loses out on payload but will appeal to certain niches, like the RV fraternity. Generally speaking, however, the bulk of these High Horsepower models will go to customers hunting that 3000-4000kg payload.
The national press launch saw me sample these trucks over 220km from Sydney to Bathurst, with another 40km or so around the Mount Panorama circuit. I drove both the auto and the manual, with each of the trucks running at near their maximum GVM thanks to a four-tonne load of sand.
Cab entry is easy thanks to the A-pillar grab handles, generous step, and wide aperture. The cab itself is spacious and pleasant – the usual a mix of textured and durable plastics. I like the long storage shelf for odds and ends, the well-placed bottle holders and the voluminous overhead compartments, but the door sidepockets are tiny – only really wide enough to take a clipboard – and so is the glovebox. There's a reasonable tray above the latter, though, and the centre seat folds forward to provide a flat workspace.
The instrumentation is reasonably basic but it's all there, along with a trip computer displaying average and actual fuel consumption just next to the status indicator for the self-cleaning diesel particulate filter.
The steering wheel is adjustable for tilt and height and the sliding seat rail actually changes the angle of the seat base to better accommodate a wide range of driver heights (from 147cm to 203cm, says Hino).
Back-seaters in the crew cab fare equally well. Good legroom, a dedicated air-con unit and cup holders and easy access make this a surprisingly pleasant option, with seating and belts for up to four. The flat floor adds to the area's utility.
The driver's suspension seat uses a torsion bar and magnet arrangement: the torsion bar handles compression while magnetic resistance has a damping effect. As I soon discover over Sydney's bumps and potholes, it acquits itself well.
On the road the all-round visibility is excellent. The narrow, high-tensile-steel A-pillars are only 65mm wide – half that of competitors' A-pillars yet still strong, says Hino. The mirrors have three-position adjustment and the optional reversing camera is a valuable addition.
The 921 auto certainly grunts away with ease from a standstill, the torque making light work of the load. In the foothills of the Blue Mountains it eats up the incline, the six-speed auto downshifting smoothly to settle on the appropriate ratio, with fairly minimal cog swapping once it's got stuck in. On the flat it glides along at just over 2000rpm at 100km/h, barely breaking a sweat.
I sample the 920 manual over the sharp grades of Mount Panorama. Heading up it happily holds third gear and 2000rpm almost to the top of Griffin's Mount, where a quick downshift hooks some extra revs to claw its way over the crest. Once I familiarise myself with the pattern, shifting through the light synchromesh gearbox is a smooth affair, aided by the equally light clutch.
Heading back down highlighted the performance of the disc brakes, which offer smooth, progressive power and decent feedback. The benefits of ABS require no further comment and the stability control proves its worth when, with some factory encouragement, I throw the truck into Hell Corner with excessive speed. The VSC kicks in with some gentle retardation and I'm sold – this is one superb safety feature, and a standard one at that.
The exhaust brakes, however, don't seem to offer much in the way of extra assistance.
I personally prefer the direct drive of the manual but the auto is a slick, refined unit and I certainly appreciate the latter's extra grunt when tackling the climbs. In either case, both models take everything in their stride.
The leaf-spring and shock suspension package offers a compliant ride. Body roll is nicely controlled and in general these trucks deliver smooth and comfy progress – no complaints there.
Nor can I complain about the fit and finish. From the bodywork, to the interior, to the paint, the usual Hino quality is there.
It'll take a more in-depth test to pin down some fuel figures but the trip computer at day's end settles on 5.5km/lt. That ain't bad given the full load and the climbs, and in any case prospective 'High Horsepower' buyers are less likely to list economy as a top priority.
Hino has come up with some impressive new contenders in its High Horsepower 300 Series 920 and 921 – trucks it says that will attract a $4000 to $5000 premium over the next highest-spec 300 Series model, the 917. Adding further incentive is Hino's 'Hinothon' end-of-financial-year promotion, which sees a free reversing camera and free sat-nav thrown in (and fitted) with all new Hino trucks purchased before June 30. That's $1900 worth of retail value at no extra cost.
Hino says it's hoping to increase its market share in the 8000-9500kg GVM segment from its 18 per cent of 2013 to 35 per cent in 2016, and these two newcomers are instrumental to its plans.
No, it might not have been a 5-litre V8 supercar I was punting around Mount Panorama, but in terms of performance and being fit for purpose in their intended market, Hino's latest are powerful tools of might, ability, and utility.
2014 HINO HIGH HORSEPOWER 300 SERIES 920 SPECIFICATIONS:
ENGINE: Hino JO5E-UH, 5.1-litre, in-line, four-cylinder, intercooled, common-rail turbo-diesel
POWER: 189hp (139kW) at 2600rpm
TORQUE: 510Nm at 1500rpm
EMISSIONS: ADR 80/03
TRANSMISSION: MZZ6F six-speed manual with double overdrive
CONFIGURATION: 4x2
FRONT SUSPENSION: Leaf spring with shock and stabiliser, I Beam axle
REAR SUSPENSION: Leaf spring with shock and stabiliser, fully floating axle
GVM: 8500kg (std); 7995kg (opt1); 4495kg (opt2)
GCM: 12,000kg (std); 7995kg (opt1)
WHEELBASE: 3500mm; 3800mm; 4400mm
FUEL CAPACITY: 170 litres
BRAKES: All round ventilated discs, ABS equipped
CABS: Single or crew cab
SAFETY: ABS, vehicle stability control, traction control, driver and passenger SRS airbags
WARRANTY: Three years or 100,000km
WEB: www.hino.com.au
2014 HINO HIGH HORSEPOWER 300 SERIES 921 SPECIFICATIONS:
ENGINE: Hino JO5E-UJ, 5.1-litre, in-line, four-cylinder, intercooled, common-rail turbo-diesel
POWER: 205hp (151kW) at 2600rpm
TORQUE: 600Nm at 1500rpm
EMISSIONS: ADR 80/03
TRANSMISSION: A465 six-speed automatic with double overdrive
CONFIGURATION: 4x2
FRONT SUSPENSION: Leaf spring with shock and stabiliser, I Beam axle
REAR SUSPENSION: Leaf spring with shock and stabiliser, fully floating axle
GVM: 8500kg (std); 7995kg (opt1); 4495kg (opt2)
GCM: 12,000kg (std); 7995kg (opt1)
WHEELBASE: 3500mm; 3800mm; 4400mm
FUEL CAPACITY: 170 litres
BRAKES: All round ventilated discs, ABS equipped
CABS: Single or crew cab
SAFETY: ABS, vehicle stability control, traction control, driver and passenger SRS airbags
WARRANTY: Three years or 100,000km
WEB: www.hino.com.au
What we liked:
>> The pulling power of the grunty 5.1-litre engine
>> The spaciousness and comfort of the cabin
>> The standard safety features, especially the VSC
Not so much:
>> The tiny glovebox and door sidepockets
>> Speed limiter can only be set and adjusted by the dealer
>> The exhaust brake – its effect is really pretty negligible