Scania P 280 XT custom RV: Owner review

When Scania first launched the XT range of off-road capable trucks in late 2018, the company said: "There is no typical Scania XT application. Scania allows customers to define what features they need and select them from a long list of fully engineered solutions, from forestry to elevated work platforms and from bulk materials haulage to mine service vehicles. And everything in between."

But I bet when that quote was penned, they didn't figure on this particular application. The owner of this fine-looking rig said he was sick of being overweight in previous vehicle, a RAM pickup, so he started looking around for an alternative.

"I had the RAM, a 6.7lt, and found that we were travelling at 1.3 tonne overweight, with the caravan and the boat on the roof," owner David said.

"My mate has been a driver for Scenic Tours and has always been a lover of Scania and I wanted a 4x4, so we looked around to see what was available… and ordered a 4x4 from Scania and set it up for retirement and touring."

The Scania is a P 280 XT powered by Scania's five-cylinder, 9.0-litre engine that puts out 280hp and 1400Nm of torque. It drives through a 10-speed Opticruise transmission. The Opticruise is mated to a two-speed transfer case giving two-wheel drive, four-wheel drive high ratio and four-wheel drive low. Additionally there are diff locks for the centre, rear and front diffs meaning this is a true go-anywhere vehicle.

"We didn't skimp on anything," said David. "We wanted to get the best and most comfortable that we could, so we put on everything that we needed."

He added that he wanted to spec the Scania with super-singles all round rather than the duals at the rear that the XTs come with as standard. Consequently, the rig runs 385/65R22.5 Michelin off-road rubber.

The body of the truck was built by MFI to David's design.

"It's all my design, it was all done on the floor of my shed. I laid it all out with tape on the floor. I've used MFI before on my Dodge, and I know they do good work," he added.
"It was an interesting little process to make sure it all worked, getting the boat up and down."

Coming along for the ride is a 4.4-metre Anglapro centre console fishing boat with a 50hp four-stroke Suzuki outboard on the back; it fits neatly on the top of the rig on its trailer. The boat and trailer get winched up and down using aluminium ramps and a 14,000lb electric winch. There's also a davit up there to lift David and his wife's electric bicycles, which sit in front of the boat.

One of the main reasons that David wanted such a big truck was that he wants to tow his 24ft Bushtracker caravan.

Bushtracker is a company that prides itself on delivering semi-custom vans that are the real deal when it comes to off-road caravans. Caravans that are power self-sufficient with solar panels and high capacity lithium battery packs and compressor-drive fridge units. Bushtracker says it makes the ultimate self-sufficient off-road caravans, and David agrees.

"It's the best we could find," he said. "And it does everything we want; we have the solar on the roof so we shouldn't run out of power."

The big van weighs in at over 3000kg so a conventional vehicle would really feel it, but for the Scania, it's nothing. "I'm sick of weight problems with caravans," said David with a chuckle.

And the attention to detail doesn't stop with the caravan; it goes right down to the tow hitch on the truck, which is a top-of-the-line item from Air Safe the company calls the Class 7.

The patented design of the Air Safe hitch uses a heavy-duty air bag and hydraulic dampers to eliminate shock transfer from the trailer to the towing vehicle.

"The main reason we did that was because of the stiffness of the suspension on the truck – I didn't want to damage the drawbar on the van. But now it rides beautifully; it takes all the jolt out of it," said David.

Related reading:
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2018 Scania P 450 XT: Operator review

Inside the body of the truck, there are two 95-litre front-opening Engel fridges to keep the beer cold and fish fresh, and there are separate compartments for fishing gear, tools and camping gear.

"Sometimes we'll be going to places where we can't take the van so we'll leave it and use the camping gear," said David.

David said the whole rig is designed to go off-grid: "We've got the solar panels on the top of the van and we've got a 6kVa diesel genset in the back of the truck if we need more power in remote areas."

The genset is a serious unit that's diesel powered. So as long as there's diesel in the two 600-litre fuel tanks, there's electric power.

Of course, if you're going to go off-grid, then you've got to be connected to the rest of the world and David has that covered. In the cab, there is the normal 40-channel radio, then there's an HF set, and a dedicated sat phone with its own aerial mounted outside on the back of the cab.

The rest of the cab is just as luxurious as a full-size truck can be. It's Scania's NGT or New Generation Truck which we've driven on numerous occasions and it has everything you'd want for a long-distance trip. It has all of the safety aids including radar cruise, autonomous emergency braking, driver and passenger airbags including Scania's rollover side airbags, lane departure warning, and connectivity to Scania's telemetry, so David will know exactly how his truck is performing – and how he is driving – at any time.

And speaking of driving, David informed us his wife Jan would be driving as well: "She's already had a couple of goes," he said. "We just whip out the Driver Under Instruction plates and she's off – she loves it and reckons it's pretty easy to drive. She's getting her licence any time now, certainly before we head off."

David says he been on a couple of small shakedown trips already and is just itching to get out on The Big One. "We've had a couple of little teething problems with some of the systems, but we expected that but now we're just about ready to go."

As you can see, David is a keen off-roader and I asked him how long he'd be out touring around our great country in this deluxe outback equivalent of a superyacht: "Well, I might be five years, I might be more," he said with wry grin…

Engine: DC09 119 Euro 5
Configuration/capacity: Five-cylinder, 9.0-litre turbo-diesel
Power: 280hp (206kW) at 1900rpm
Torque: 1400Nm (1033lb-ft) at 1000 to 1350rpm
Bore and stroke: 130mm x 140mm
Compression ratio: 17:1
Fuel system: Scania XPI Extra-High Pressure Injection, four-valves per cylinder
Emissions: Scania SCR
Gearbox: GRSO905R 12-speed +2 crawler gears, Opticruise fully automated gear-change
Rear axle ratio: 3.77:1
Scania Opticruise modes: Economy, Power, Off-road
Cruise control: With Active Prediction, Eco roll
Brakes: ABS/EBS2 Drum brakes, hill hold
Retarder: Scania R 3500
Wheelbase: 4350mm
Wheels: 22.5 x 11.75 steel
Tyres: Michelin 385/65R 22.5 rear tread pattern: construction
Suspension: Parabolic leaf spring front and rear
Fuel tanks: 600 litres (r), 600 litres (l), 80 litres (AdBlue)
Cab: CP 20 Sleeper Cab, electric cab tilt system, 12cm side air deflectors, 25cm roof-mounted air deflector
Features: Scania Communicator C 300, traction control, hub reduction, differential Locks, LED headlights/taillights, LED daytime running lights and position lamps, halogen fog lamps
Dashboard and seats: Premium black leather pneumatic seats for driver and passenger with armrests, leatherette door trims, storage compartments above doors and in side panels, 800mm wide bed with foam mattress
Cab and body colour: Urban Grey Cab with Black Charcoal grille
Body details: To owner's design and specification, incorporating boat holder, winch and ramps, lockers down both sides.