Review: Scania Euro 6 R/G-Series

Two Scania prime movers, two trailer sets – a B-double and a single – two factory driver trainers and a couple of journos. All gathered at Scania's Australian headquarters at Campbellfield horribly early on a horrible Melbourne morning.

Fog, wind, drizzle, and sub-arctic temperatures combined to force me to the cab of my first drive without bothering with lots of photos. "Let's get the heater on," was my first comment to my co-driver, after my walk-round to check tyres, hoses, turntables (it was the B-double), and of course the curtain straps.

We were off to Sydney, and as I had a plane to catch there we didn't have much time for chit-chat unless we were rolling.

The R-Series Scania cab is pretty hard to beat in terms of that welcoming feeling of solidity and comfort. The seat, controls and dash are constructed with all high-quality materials with excellent trim standards, and the cab designers have obviously done big miles on the road themselves.

The vision is broad and clear, the seat is adjustable to any preferred position, the steering column tilts and telescopes and arm rests allow you to manage all the operating buttons, gear selection and retarder without much movement at all. Importantly, with everything set right you can handle the steering and stay on line with mostly wrist movements.

In almost every new truck from Europe, it takes a while to master the vast array of electronic features that help smooth, safe driving and therefore fuel efficiency. If you put the time in, preferably with one of the factory driver trainers, these features become a natural part of your driving technique. Most manufacturers have trainers now, but they spend less time teaching driving and more time demonstrating how to exploit the truck's technology to keep the big rigs running at their best.

The cab is also familiar, in that it hasn't changed from previous
models – the only changes in Scania's Euro 6 models concern the engines
themselves.

The Euro 6 V8 nestled under my bum in this R580 is based on the strong man of Scania, the 730hp 16.4-litre compacted graphite unit released a couple of years ago. It was then a quiet unit, but the latest iteration takes diesel noise to a new low. It uses SCR and EGR to clean the exhaust and while the fuel efficiency remains high, quite frankly it's the absence of noise that makes the bigger impact when behind the wheel.

On this run from Melbourne to Sydney, the engine in the big R-Series prime mover barely even rumbled, despite the gross weight of around 60 tonnes. There was none of the characteristic noise associated with a diesel at all, and only when giving it a bootful after coasting could I hear the turbo winding up. Even then it quickly faded. I've never driven a quieter prime mover.

Fuel wise I didn't notice much difference compared to its Euro 5 version. Only a technical test in identical conditions would deliver an accurate comparison, and that's never going to happen. But I consistently got 1.86km/litre on this run, while the AdBlue usage was markedly lower. I used just over five litres of AdBlue for the entire drive.

Anyhow, as the V8 burbled away on idle and I completed my paperwork, the heater started to cut in. I set the climate control at a cosy 23 degrees. Down with the armrests, check and set the electrically adjustable mirrors, then flick the column stalk to 'D' and release the brakes. Although I'm on a slight incline, the Scania stays put until I give it some throttle. Trucking is still a tough gig, but the latest Scanias at least make the driving part easy – even rewarding.

The run north was in rain and gloomy skies almost all the way so I never got to use the sun visors. Suffice to note that the visors are wide, very effective and there are separate slide-down visors for the side windows, essential for Aussie mornings driving north, and evenings heading south.

The wipers cover a vast area – every view you need is kept clean – and the aero worked well to keep that grimy spray off the mirrors. I think an owner/driver would be very proud of his or her workplace if they've picked the Scania.

In terms of power the V8 handles the major highways without complaint. I know operators who have wound back their power, replacing 600hp rigs with mid 550s, as that level of grunt is more than adequate for interstate running. Why buy more horsepower than you need?

The 580 has prodigious torque, which tends to blitz all but the most daunting hills, and even then the transmission recognises steep inclines and hurries up the shift process to minimise torque loss.

I love Scania's descent speed control feature. It's useable in a couple of ways. There's a set of buttons on the wheel that allows you to set the over-run speed, and when the truck reaches that the system engages the retarder progressively to keep you legal. So if your fleet has a maximum speed policy of say 90km/h and it's wired into the speed limiter and cruise control, you can set it with a 10km/h margin and the truck won't go over 100km/h on the descent. The retarder is so effective, you'll almost never need the big all-round discs on the highway.

But there's a quick way to do it as well. As you accelerate downhill, when you reach the speed you don't want to exceed, a quick tap on the brake pedal engages the system at that speed you're doing, keeping everything under control until it's time to get back on the throttle. And you don't even have to do that. Just flick the left thumb and the cruise control resumes at your set speed.

The other part of this test was a single trailer rig towed by Scania's mid-range G model cab, which is basically an R-Series chopped down on the outside for a lower frontal area.

It's a popular truck in the metro/regional distribution role, as it brings interstate comforts to drivers who don't spend quite so much time on the road. Importantly, the broad suite of driver aids and electronic control features that characterise Scania's highway units are easily integrated down the line.

The Scania G490 has a 13-litre inline six-cylinder engine that is no noisier in its Euro 6 guise as are the bigger V8s. It has the same ultra-high-pressure fuel injection system, the same cylinder bore with a slighter longer stroke, but misses out on the variable geometry turbo.

A water-cooled exhaust gas recirculation system with selective catalytic reduction earns the engine its Euro 6 emissions stripes. The combination seems effective, as it doesn't generate the excessive heat that many EGR systems are renowned for, and as with the big V8 it uses little AdBlue.

Scania was reluctant to put a figure on the additional cost of Euro 6, other than to say the factory charges a larger premium at wholesale than the local distribution arm charges the dealers.

I came away from this drive very impressed with the G490 as a very good multi-purpose prime mover. It's in its element as a single trailer truck, but could handle fill-in work with two trailers without much difficulty.

I suspect that both of these Scanias could deliver a whole-of-life cost impressively less than some of their competitors. On top of that, there's an undoubted driver satisfaction level that's hard to beat.

SCANIA EURO 6 R580 SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE: 16.4-litre 90-degree V8 turbo-diesel
POWER: 580hp
TORQUE: 2950Nm
EMISSIONS: Euro 6, SCR/EGR
CONFIGURATION: 6x4
GVM: 26,500kg
WHEELBASE: 3100mm
SUSPENSION: Parabolic leaf (front), two-spring air (rear)
EMISSIONS: Euro 6
TRANSMISSION: Opticruise AMT
AXLE RATIO: 3.42:1
SERVICE BRAKES: Disc (with ABS/EBS)
RETARDER: 4100 D
FUEL TANKS: 1 x 710lt, 1 x 180lt, 1 x 105lt (AdBlue)
CAB: Highline sleeper
BBC: 2313mm
INTERNAL ROOF HEIGHT: 1910mm
WEB: www.scania.com.au

SCANIA EURO 6 G490 SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE: 12.7-litre in-line six-cylinder turbo-diesel
POWER: 490hp
TORQUE: 2550Nm
EMISSIONS: Euro 6, SCR/EGR
CONFIGURATION: 6x4
GVM: 26,500kg
WHEELBASE: 3100mm
SUSPENSION: Parabolic leaf (front), two-spring air (rear)
EMISSIONS: Euro 6, SCR/EGR
TRANSMISSION: Opticruise AMT
AXLE RATIO: 3.42:1
SERVICE BRAKES: Disc (with ABS/EBS)
RETARDER: 4100 D
FUEL TANKS: 1 x 500lt, 1 x 320lt, 1 x 105lt (AdBlue)
CAB: CG19 sleeper
BBC: 2313mm
INTERNAL ROOF HEIGHT: 1700mm
WEB: www.scania.com.au