Review: Iveco Stralis AS-L

Name: Review: Iveco Stralis AS-L
Brand: Iveco

We take a quick spin in IVECO's new longhaul AS-L spec truck with Cursor II engine

Driving the IVECO Stralis pulling a B-Double set of trailers for less than half an hour is little more than a taste-test. But it is a chance to get a hands-on feel for the upgraded AS-L and the Cursor II engine.

The Stralis AS-L is Iveco’s player in Australia’s proportionally high-volume longhaul truck market: B-double and single trailer outfits running the rivers of freight on the nation’s main inter-capital corridors.

The longhaul spec is powered by Iveco’s Cursor II Euro 5 engine with power ratings up to 560 hp. The Stralis highway configuration has a GCM rating of 90 tonnes placing it comfortably as a contender in the B-Double market. The AS-L has a large cab and upgraded trim designed for long distance work where the driver must sleep in the truck.

So just how good is the Stralis? IVECO pulled dealers and transport media together for a taste-test of the company’s products recently. I got my backside into the Stralis with the Euro 5, 500hp version of the Cursor II.

What can a driver derive from a walk around and a less than 20km steer of a truck he has never driven before? Not a lot, so you have to ask what does a driver expect of a truck in the second half of the second decade of the 21st Century? We live in an age where shuttle work and high utilisation of prime movers (multiple drivers) is becoming more and more common.

Sitting in the driver’s seat I, for one, expect familiarity. The controls need to be somewhere, more or less, where you expect them. Transmission lever/button controls, maxi/hand brakes, trailer brakes, cruise control, lights, wipers need all to be within a comfortable circle of the length of the driver’s left arm. There has to be good vision fore and aft. The seat must be comfortable and in a position that the right foot can sit comfortably on the throttle. Most of these variables can be assessed in a short drive taste-test.

On the road it is a different matter. Power and engine responsiveness are essential in a modern truck to maintain road speed and keep in concert with the traffic flow. How the driver feels at the end of 14 hours under a BFM regime is all important and impossible to ascertain in a 20 minute taste-test. That is the weakness of a brief steer of a truck.

The Stralis

In Australia, the wide cab model of the Stralis was let off the chain in 2004, replacing the ten year run of Eurostar and Eurotech models that had not won the breed too many friends in this country.

The Australian version of the Stralis was ‘Australianised’ - or more appropriately hybridised with North American technology to suit Australian conditions. The old Eurotech chassis was converted to the US-styled heat treated rails and side members pulling the Stralis into model standardisation with the higher GCM conventionals, the Powerstar range.

On first appearances, the Stralis is a modern European wide-cab COE truck. Like most European highway trucks the external design is the progeny of the wind tunnel and market expectations. The climb into the cab is easy enough, three steps place you in the driver’s seat. Stop, take a breath, look around.

Being of Italian design, you have an expectation of Italian design flair. Something a little different, a stylish design that might extend past practicality.

This is not the case. Under the mass produced trim, this is a utilitarian southern European truck. It does not have the feel or atmospherics of, say, a Volvo of the same spec.

The lack of flair is easily put aside as this is a worker. In the cab a sweep of the left arm places all the essential controls in comfortable reach meeting the needs of driver familiarity mentioned earlier. Like most trucks of European design, there is no trailer brake hand piece on the steering column, no maxi prime mover/trailer release buttons on the dash. All stationary braking is controlled by the one lever mounted on the console within easy left-hand reach.

Three push buttons on the dash replace the gear stick, Drive, Neutral and Reverse. Crawl ratios both in low forward and reverse can be selected by holding down the D or R buttons for more than two seconds.

A floor button at the base of the steering column releases the steering column position lock letting the driver to get the steering wheel to where is most comfortable.

Cruise Control and the compression brake are activated on the right-hand steering column stalk, wipers are controlled through various functions on the left hand stalk. Lights are switched on and off by a dash-mounted selector.

The B-Double was not loaded, so predictably the IVECO Eurotronic 16-speed automated transmission lifted the outfit off smoothly and easily by self-selecting third gear.

Vision was excellent as I pulled the B-Double out onto the road. The rear-vision mirrors took a little getting used to with the wide angle mirrors on top of the bigger standard mirrors. I’m used to them the other was around. But they were easy to get used to as the Eurotronic moved the banger up through the gears and I sorted out where the wheels were running in relation to road edge and white lines.

In top gear on a straight, the Stralis easily held the speed limited 100km/h. But then, so it should.

Running through traffic lights and a roundabout, the transmission down shifted smoothly. Even without a load, the compression braking did not seem too effective to me, I could easily imagine it having little impact when running with a GCM of 80 tonnes. I was told that the engine rates its own load and increases the aggressiveness of the braking to match the load.

Eighteen kilometres through traffic is no more than a taste of what a linehaul truck might do, but the Stralis ticked many of the boxes. It is comfortable, the cab is roomy, entry is easy for a COE truck, internal design is clean and functional. The engine was responsive to the foot.

Behavioural traits of the engine, power, torque and braking seemed good with an empty set of trailers but the real test will come fully loaded and punching time.

Marco Quaranta is the Product Manager for IVECO Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. He told me the ‘AS’ in the product name refers to Active Space, a concept that was launched with a cab redesign 12 or 13 years ago.

"The AS cab is fitted to trucks designed for long haul and that is the preferred design for Australia. The cab is big and comfortable. The bunk size is generous and there is a very high roof. All for driver comfort," Quaranta told me.

The Cursor II

In Australia, the Cursor 13 litre Euro 5 engine is available up to 560hp with 2300Nm (1700 lbs/ft) of torque. For vocations requiring more power for higher GCM ratings, the Powerstar is available with the option of the Cummins ISX with power ratings up to 600hp.

The Cursor II engine was launched last year at the Brisbane Truck Show.

The Cursor range of engines is built in France at Boissy-Saint-Léger at the Unic truck plant, one of the truck manufacturers absorbed by IVECO in 1992.

"The Cursor was basically a redesign of the engine we had before, the Fiat engine. Cursor was designed for Euro 3 and then for Euro 4 and 5 and now the coming Euro 6," Mr Quaranta said.

"Traditionally, the Cursor has been divided into three sizes, eight, ten and thirteen litres. With the demand of emissions, higher horsepower and efficiency, the eight-litre engine has been upgraded to nine litres. The ten-litre up to eleven litres. The 13-litre remains the same, all have common rail and highly efficient injection systems," he said.

All the Cursor engine work with SCR emissions technology, "Even the Euro 6 will only have SCR," Quaranta told me.

"We use what is called High Technology SCR which has many advantages, including it won’t cause the truck to derate power or stop if there is a problem."

The Series II version of the Cursor has been developed for Australian conditions. "The Series II has a package of interventions on the engine, so the torque peak has been cut so now torque [curve] is flatter for a longer rpm window. That helps the engine to manage better the high demand for torque in Australian conditions."

Pistons for the Australian engine are now supplied by a different manufacturer, built of upgraded material. The oil pump has received a high temperature upgrade. The air intakes have been redesigned for a better airflow.

"So everything is now adapted for efficiency and reliability in the Australian market," he added.

The longhaul Stralis AS-L prime mover is a truck that, in development, has come a long way. On paper it has everything going for it in the target market of line-haul single-trailer and B-Double applications. And on first taste, the truck seems to stack up to the spec sheet.

But, and there is a but... To successfully compete in this highly competitive market sector, the truck will need to be offered at a significant discount and an attractive warranty and support package to woo a Volvo, Scania or Benz operator into the utilitarian culture of Southern Europe.

Specifications: IVECO Stralis AS-L

Engine: Cursor Series II (Euro 5)

Capacity: 12.9 litres

Power: 500hp (373kW) or 560hp (418kW)

Torque Peak: 2300Nm (1696 lb/ft) at 1,000 to 1,700 rpm

Emissions Management: Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)

Transmission

IVECO Eurotronic II 16AS2630 TO

Automated 16-speed overdrive

Mass Ratings

GVM: 25.1 tonne

GCM: 90 tonne