Testing times for Freightliner Cascadia

Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) headquarters is based in the beautiful city of Portland, Oregon in the Pacific northwest of the USA.

Around 190 kilometres or about two and a half hours drive from Portland is the town of Madras, and that’s where Freightliner’s high-security testing ground is located. We made the trek out to Madras past the stunning snow-capped Mount Hood to experience for ourselves what Freightliner is putting the truck in the lead-up to its Australian release.

The facility which opened in 2017 is still being added to, and is known as the High Desert Proving Grounds. The site sprawls over around 87 acres and is adjacent to Madras airport. It has a custom-built ‘torture’ track featuring 5.5 kilometres of highly-engineered surfaces that allow engineers to simulate a typical vehicle’s full service life of over a million miles in just six months.

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The surfaces replicate all the surfaces that are common in the markets that the trucks are aimed at.

Added to that is a 4.8km high-speed test loop that was only recently surfaced. This is where we came face-to-face with the new Cascadia in right-hand drive form and were able to put it through its paces and get a feel for the truck in close to Aussie specification.

The new Cascadia is due here in bulk early next year but it has been in testing here in left-hand drive and right-hand drive form since June last year. New RHD trucks are being shipped here soon to join key Freightliner fleets for further testing and to get customer feedback.

The Freightliner Cascadia will come to this country in two forms – a 116 and a 126. During testing the 116 was powered by a 13-litre Detroit diesel with a 505hp/1850lb/ft (2508Nm) rating, while the Cascadia 126 will get a 16-litre Detroit which had 600hp/2050lb/ft (2779Nm) during its testing here.

Freightliner Director Stephen Downes said that “engine ratings are being evaluated as part of the test programme” and final specs will be announced closer to the Australian launch. Both will be running DT12 auto transmissions and most probably 3.42 Meritor diffs as standard with other ratios available for differing applications.

The new Cascadia – the name comes from the Cascade Mountains in Oregon – was launched in the US in 2016 to much fanfare with its key messages being its safety features and its connectivity. When it hits the market here, the Cascadia will most probably be billed as the safest truck on the road with automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane departure assist (which can virtually steer the truck by itself), traction control, stability control and more.

The first test we got at the Madras facility was on the ‘torture track’. The track has different surfaces that emulate different conditions that the truck will encounter including a heavily potholed section, a corrugated section, an undulating section that tests torsional rigidity and even a section of bumps that had me literally bouncing out of my seat!

The tracks are taken at different speeds depending on the severity of the irregularities in the track, and I could see how much of a beating these test trucks were taking. The technician I was in with on the track told me that the right-hand drive truck we were in had been doing this for five months and it was nearly reaching the end of its tenure at the track.

I asked what happened to the trucks when they were finished, and was told they were stripped down at the facility which has a hi-tech 3000 square metre shop and office building incorporating instrumentation labs, heavyweight cranes and 14 service bays for technicians to work on and inspect the vehicles.

“We test every component that comes off the trucks and send the data to the engineers at HQ in Portland,” he said. “If the truck is still in good condition we rebuild it send it back to be used as a demo truck.”

I’m not sure how many chiropractors there are in Madras, but I’d wager they’re pretty busy fixing these guys up after a few months on the torture track…

That said, the freightliners handled the nine different tracks with aplomb. It was interesting to note the lack of creaks and rattles in the test trucks given that they’d be bashed around for five months. They were relatively quiet over the differing surfaces and the suspensions handled it well.

One particular track was very similar to our corrugated dirt roads in western Queensland and the Cascadia fairly ate it up. It was a good test of how they’ll go here. Another good one was the offset bumps track that twisted the chassis and tested the wheel articulation. I found it interesting to look out the back and watch as the truck twisted from one side to the other over the track.

And then it was out on the fast oval track. We first grabbed a LHD example of a Cascadia 126 loaded to 80,000lbs (about 36 tonnes). It had the DD15 engine (400hp and 1750 ft/lb torque) although we’ll be getting the afore-mentioned DD16, and the DT12 transmission.

It’s an easy climb up into the Cascadia. A couple of wide, long steps and you’re in. Once there, it’s easy to see the Daimler DNA with a multi-function screen flanked by two analogue gauges on the dash and multi-function steering wheel. There are also oil, temp, fuel and air gauges right in front of the driver while the ancillary gauges and the switchgear is all on the wraparound section within easy reach of the driver.

It’s a well thought-out dash that is clearly aimed at driver comfort. The test rig was fitted with the massive 72-inch sleeper (sorry folks, we’re only getting the 60-inch, but that will be equal to the biggest on the Australian market).

The sleeper was fitted with a dinette with two fold-down seats, front-opening fridge, microwave cabinet and a flat-screen TV mount. There was also plenty of storage, and although this is not the exact cab we’ll be getting in Australia, Freightliner boss Stephen Downes said that there will be plenty of options when it comes to cabinetry and equipment in the sleepers when they’re available here.

Back in the driver’s seat I found a heated and ventilated perch that was both comfortable and afforded a great view of the road ahead. With the big one-piece screen, sloping bonnet and small A pillars, the Cascadia gives vision that is certainly one of the best in the business.

Firing up the big Detroit, I found it remarkably quiet. The rumble of the big six is there for sure but it is quite muted and it’s obvious that the insulation is doing its job. From our factory visit, I found that there are different grades of insulation for different markets and/or applications but I think our boys have opted for the highest grade.

I selected D on the stalk-mounted transmission shifter, punched the brake buttons and we were off. At 36 tonnes on a single trailer, the test truck was well under what a lot of our Freightliners will be doing, but it gave me an idea of what the truck can do – and it was impressive.

I was cruising around the test loop doing around 90 km/h down the straights and 70-80 through the banked end turns with consummate ease. With the lane departure assist switched on I found I could take my hands off the wheel and the truck would virtually drive itself on the straights keeping inside the marked lane. With hands on the wheel, if you drift out of the lane, the truck’s radar will detect it and push the wheel to get you back on track – amazing tech and one of the first stages of autonomous driving.

One of my colleagues tried letting it drive itself through the corners and said that with a bit of hesitation it got round without him touching the wheel.

At one stage we punched up the adaptive cruise and let the truck seamlessly follow the truck in front with no input. Certainly other trucks have this technology and soon it’ll be on everything, but it’s a great feature and I hope Daimler Trucks Australia adopts it as standard on all Cascadias.

On our drive, I found I could talk to my passenger at normal conversation levels even under heavy acceleration and the ambiance of the cab combined with the excellent ergonomics made it a very pleasant place to be indeed.

Although we only got a fairly brief drive of the new Cascadia under controlled conditions, the test track experience told us quite a few things: firstly it give us an insight into just how much testing has gone into this model, and not just from a left-hand drive perspective. The trucks that were being thrashed around here are right-hand drive and close to our specification, so the investment that Daimler trucks is making in testing for our market is obvious.

Secondly it gave us a feel of the trucks in their near-Aussie form and I have to say that I did get caught up in the excitement that was palpable from the Daimler Trucks Australia execs that were in Madras with us, and I can’t wait to try one real-world conditions on the roads here in Australia.