Scania NTG R730 8x4 Review

The sun was desperately trying to pierce through the thick blanket of fog that lingered well into the morning in the sleepy Meander Valley town of Deloraine in northern Tasmania.

The serene stillness was broken by the deep throb of the approaching Scania V8 in Crezzco’s new R730 8x4, moments later owner Tony Creswell pulled the new PBS combination on to the weighbridge and stepped down from the warm cabin.

Crezzco is a small family company that commenced operation back in the early seventies, nevertheless through diversification the business now operates several quarries, mines dolomite, has a concrete batch plant and is a major carrier and distributor of Pivot fertilizer in the state.

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Their truck and earth-moving fleet is equally diverse with equipment carefully specified to deliver the most economical outcome for the business.

Despite freight rates almost remaining static for the last quarter century, Tony Creswell believes that adopting new technologies and specifying components according to need rather than tradition, will lead to higher profits for the bulk haulage side of their operation.

Tony approaches new-truck specifying with the sharpened pencil of an accountant. Combining a broad knowledge of the transport industry along with his understanding of their customer needs and consideration for future regulations, he configures his trucks and trailers to safeguard the highest interests of his company.

“Maximising our equipment to the limit is one of our prime focuses now. This Scania Scania NTG R730 8x4 complete with the tipper combination, provides approximately a 0.72 tonne/kilometre payload advantage over some other vehicles that we investigated. While that doesn’t sound like much, at the end of the month all those point sevens add up,” explained Tony.

The new Scania’s primary role is to haul dolomite from their Eddy Creek Quarry that is located deep in the steep rugged mountains south west of Huonville, that borders between the Huon and Florentine Valleys.

It’s an area with a long history of contention between forestry operations and environmental groups. Yet it is here that the tallest flowering plants in the world thrive – the Eucalyptus Regnans – that regularly gain heights of 80 meters and more. In terms of tall trees these Tasmanian Eucalyptus are second only to the coastal redwoods in California USA that grow more than 100 meters tall.

The natural occurring dolomite that Crezzco’s Eddy Creek Quarry produces is crushed on site to a form a fine powder that is used as a soil conditioning and pH neutralising agent.

“Our dolomite has an effective neutralising value (ENV) of 80.92 per cent, which makes it a premium grade product,” Tony explained.

Given the fragile environment this Scania has to operate, Tony insisted that it have the latest Euro-6 engine.

“It is all part of our commitment to deliver a sustainable transport future not just for our business but our customers as well,” Tony said. “We are expecting a lot of things from this new R730 in terms of reducing trip times through performance and reliability and improved fuel economy to reduce the cents per tonne/kilometre to ensure our agricultural products are economically viable for the farmers.”

“On a good day, it’s a four-hour trip down to our Eddy Creek Quarry where we load the dolomite,” Tony explained. “Then it’s roughly four and half hours back, there are few extremely long steep climbs up out of quarry and along the Huon Hwy into Hobart where that Scania V8 really gets to strut its stuff.”

“On paper the R730 Scania had some impressive features,” Tony recalled. “The fact that the engine is making 500 horsepower down as low at 1000 RPM where it begins making its peak torque was one factor that ticked a box for me. Being able to deliver that sort of power and torque with the latest Euro-6 emission standards certainly helps us reduce our carbon footprint,” he added.

Like Tony said, the industry leading peak torque of 3500Nm begins at 1000rpm and continues through to 1400rpm where the big hearted 16.4 litre V8 punches out 522kW loosely translated that’s almost 700hp in old school trucking lingo. When it comes to driveability there is no performance compromise with the Euro-6 V8 it is delivering the goods through the sweet spot range.

This V8 engine uses a blend of SCR and ERG to achieve its Euro-6 emission standards, which means there is virtually no increase in ad-blue usage compared to the Euro-5 variant of the engine.

“The Scania 4100D retarder is really an essential component for our application,” Tony explained. “There are some really long steep descents on the southern part of this run, especially coming down the southern outlet into Hobart where it is densely populated and the decline ends right in the heart of the city. The Scania retarder is extremely quite which means we can utilise it any time of the day without upsetting the locals and that’s a huge advantage.”

The new Scania 4100D retarder, mechanically ‘clutches out’ when not in use to minimise parasitic drag and can generate a maximum 4100Nm (3024 lb/ft) of braking.

“I like the fact that the braking system can be set to hold speed on downhills like a cruise control simply with the press of the brake pedal,” Tony explained. “It autonomously blends the foundation brakes with the retarder and exhaust brakes to achieve maximum braking efficiency,” he added.

The Scania GRS0925R 14-Speed Overdrive with the Opticruise shift features a layshaft brake that enables faster gear shifts, compared to the older model transmission, for better driveability with almost seamless hill-climbing and constant power delivery. The addition of the layshaft brake means there is a 45 per cent reduction in gear shift time.

But it’s not all about high speed, at lower speeds, a ‘manoeuvre’ setting on the Opticruise stalk enables the truck to be positioned with precision and Tony demonstrated how this worked when he accurately reversed the five-axle Hercules dog trailer inside the fertilizer shed.

This Scania NTG R730 8x4 has the front air suspension which dispenses with the previous Panhard rod arrangement found on early 8x4 models. The repositioning of the front axle gives excellent control with much less wallowing and nodding. In addition, the steering gear for the second axle layout is installed lower in the chassis, to aid body-builders.

The shock absorber mounting for this axle is also revised and no longer rises above the chassis rails.

Inside Scania’s Flagship R730 cabin, Tony says a driver wants for nothing, it has all the creature comforts. He adds the dash layout is practical, easy to see at a glance meaning he has more time to concentrate on the road.

“That fact that you can virtually operate this vehicle with your fingers through controls located on the steering wheel makes life easy,” Tony said. “The controls on the door armrest also add to the ease of this trucks operation. There is plenty of storage room inside too, not that we really need the features of the sleeper as we’re home nearly every night, but it’s handy to have all the same.”

It’s only early days for the new Scania NTG R730 8x4 with its Hercules five-axle dog combo. Along with the productivity gains Tony is getting from his new combination he concedes that given the current driver shortage, it is far easier to get a driver for this unit because they don’t need a multi-combination licence to drive a truck and dog. Yet it delivers a payload compatible to a B-Double with more tyres on the ground.

“And that’s another great thing about the new Scania, it has a lot of inbuilt smarts that keep it operating in the sweet spot all the time including the active cruise with braking,” Tony added. “For instance, if a driver was distracted and didn’t notice a car pull in front of the truck and brake suddenly, the truck will automatically brake. It’s that level of safety which really gives us as owners peace of mind.”

“Like I said earlier, the R730 ticked all the boxes for us in terms of productivity, performance, economy and safety.”

“For me it’s all about delivering the biggest payload economically and safely. After all, where it counts is on the weighbridge,” Tony concluded.

Specifications:
Model: Scania R730 8x4
Engine: Scania DC16 730 16-Litre 8-Cylinder
Horsepower: 730hp (537kW) at 1900rpm
Torque: 2581 lb/ft (3500Nm) at 1000-1400rpm
Gearbox: Scania GRS0925R 14-Speed Overdrive
Gearbox shift: Scania Opticruise Modes: Economy and Standard
Retarder: Scania 4100D (plus engine exhaust brake)
Alternator: Scania 24V 150amp
Compressor: Knorr 720CR, twin cylinder, 800 L/min with air dryer
Propeller Shaft: P604
Steering Box: ZF 8098
Front Axles: Scania AM640S
Front Suspension: Scania 2 x Air Bag (Low)
Rear Axles: Scania AD400SA axle housings
Rear Axle Ratio: 3.42:1with diff locks to both axles
Rear Suspension: Scania 2 x Air Bag with roll bar
Brakes: Knoor electronically controlled Disc brakes
Tyres: Bridgestone 295/80R22.5
Safety:EBS with integrated ABS and traction control
Wheelbase: 5150mm
Fuel Tank: 1 x 600L L/H side
Adblue tank: 1 x 47L R/H side