UD Quon 8-litre: Review

UD Trucks Australia announced the new 8-litre Quon earlier this year with a big emphasis on safety.

The 8-litre Quon will sit alongside the 11-litre version that was released in 2017 and which we tested extensively last July. Although UD is a Japanese company, it is part of the Volvo group and hence has been able to dip into Volvo's safety and technology bin to largely benefit the Quon.

The 8-litre Quon comes in two variants, the CD 25 360 which is a 6x2 and the CW 25 360 which is a 6x4. Our test truck was the 6x2 version loaded to around 90 per cent of its GVM.

The Quon fairly bristles with standard safety features including disc brakes all round, lane departure warning, autonomous emergency braking (which UD calls Traffic Eye Brake), stability control, adaptive radar cruise control, ABS, EBS and a digital reversing camera to name a few.

UD also offers an optional driver alert system that uses a camera to detect drowsiness. The in-cab camera analyses the positional relationship between traffic lanes and vehicles, and estimates the driver's level of concentration based on irregular or shaky steering.

If the system determines that the driver's level of concentration has dropped, it activates a two-step alarm and displays a warning message on the multi-display to alert the driver and suggest a break.

There are also fuel-saving devices including Eco mode, which is the default mode when the truck is started, Escot Roll, which is a coasting function that puts the truck into angel gear, an in-dash coaching system that gives the driver hints on efficient driving and UD's telematics system, which gives up-to-date data on the truck and how it's operating.

But maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves, so let's get back to the basics. The 8-litre Quon is powered by a six-cylinder in-line engine of 7697cc. Its outputs are quoted as 263kW (360hp) at 2200rpm and 1428Nm at 1200rpm.

Transmission is UD Trucks' Escot VI automated manual with 12 forward and two reverse gears. It also has a PTO feature with 1000Nm capacity.

GVM is 25,000kg with a front axle load limit of 8200kg and a rear load limit of 20,000kg. Final drive ratios are either 3.70:1 or 3.36:1. Our test vehicle was fitted with the lower ratio designed for more urban work but it still had the tacho showing 1500rpm at 90km/h which is still in the 'green' zone, meaning peak economy.

Suspension is parabolic leaf spring up front and air bags down the back.

Inside, the Quon doesn't have the feel of a Japanese truck. It's more European in feel. Our test truck had the optional leather-wrapped steering wheel and the faux woodgrain trim on the dash, giving it a classy look. The wheel felt good and also sported wheel-mounted controls for the cruise control, telephone and audio, as well as allowing you to scroll through the features on the central screen.

New to this model is the big eight-inch screen that shows the standard truck-specific sat-nav and reversing camera. The screen can handle up to an additional four cameras, and also shows all the audio functions which include AM/FM DAB radio plus internet radio, 64GB SD card for up to 2000 songs, a Wi-Fi module and Apple CarPlay.

Our test truck was fitted with an optional charging pocket for your mobile which was situated above the VHF radio. With this option, you can simply place your phone in the pocket where it's held by a lip; it’ll then charge and with the Bluetooth you don't have to touch it all day. It's a great extra feature that I found really handy.

Most of the other controls are where you'd expect them and being a Japanese truck, everything fell easily to hand.

It's worth noting here that the CD models (6x2) get a standard diff lock with the switch on the lower right-hand side of the dash. There's also a standard park-brake alarm which used to be a $650 option. There are a few little extras like that, like the daytime running lights and the new left-hand safety mirror in the door.

All the 8-litre Quons come with three seats as standard. The driver gets an air-suspension seat while the passenger gets a fixed seat and there's a third seat in the middle.

Before getting on the road we did a quick lap of the truck and opened the grill to do the usual daily checks – you can check the oil without tilting the cab but do have to tilt it to add oil.

Tilting the cab is easy using the electro-pneumatic tilt system; we gave it a go to test it out and it worked a treat.

One of the first things I noticed when easing the Quon out of the huge CMV facility in Melbourne's west was the quiet and smooth engine. Is this quieter than the 11-litre? I think it is.

UD seems to have done some more work on the insulation and maybe even the cab mounting to get a really nice environment for the occupants. UD Trucks' handover and delivery manager, Pat Ryan, and I had no problems holding a conversation a normal speaking levels, and we could converse with the photographer over the phone or radio easily.

Sure you can hear some growl from the six-cylinder diesel but it's muted and dare I say it, refined.

We were loaded pretty well at around 23 tonnes or 90 per cent of GVM and around town it handled it with ease. It's quick off the mark and gets up to speed quicker than I would have expected of an engine of this capacity.

The 12-speed ESCOT-VI transmission is a beauty. It's smooth in its shifting, both up and down, and it will seamlessly skip-shift when necessary.

Our overall tare weight was quoted as 11,040kg and our weighbridge ticket read 22,760kg, so we were carrying nearly 12 tonnes.

Although we couldn't get an accurate fuel economy figure due to all the mucking around and idling that we were having to do to get the accompanying photography, the intermediate readings we were getting, and the data that Pat had collected from this truck and other 8-litres running around, had us figuring that operators could expect in the region of 3.0-3.7km/litre, which is pretty damn good for a 25-tonne GVM.

With the Quon's new twin 200-litre tanks that would give a range of around 1200-1480 kilometres.

On our trip out of Melbourne, I got to use the safety features and let me say, the more I use adaptive cruise, the more I like it. The system on the Quon works really well and takes a lot of the work off the driver, especially on a crowded highway like we had.

The lane-departure is also good, but it's a little sensitive and I don't know if you can dial that out. But it's not too intrusive and can be handy at times to keep you on your toes.

Fortunately, we didn't have to use the autonomous emergency braking but the proximity warning did pop up a couple times, letting me that the truck wasn't happy with the distance I was keeping from the vehicle in front.

I also got a few hints from the in-dash coaching system reminding me that the truck had been left idling a bit too long.

The 8-litre Quon is a bit of a surprise package. I have to say that I was going into it with a bit of a preconceived notion that it would be under-powered for the job at hand – and it isn't. It punches above its weight on a number of levels. It's powerful, quiet, you don't have to ring its neck to get it going, and it feels like a very sophisticated piece of machinery.

The 8-litre Quon gives UD the biggest model line-up it has ever had, with 6x2, 6x4 and 8x4 coming soon (was I allowed to say that?) with both 11-litre and 8-litre powerplants. It's a wide range that will serve many applications.

The new 8-litre will be well suited to urban and intra-state work while an ultra-light version will be good for agitator work and the new 8x4 will suit the agi or tipper markets.

I'm now looking forward to another, more extensive run in the new UD Quon 8-litre, or even the 11-litre for that matter…

Engine
Model: GH8TA
Layout: In-line six-cylinder
Maximum power: 263kW (360hp) at 2200rpm
Maximum torque: 1428Nm (1055lbft) at 1200rpm
Bore x stroke: 110mm x 135mm
Displacement: 7697 cc (8 litres)
Emissions standard: pPNLT (Exceeds Euro 6)

Transmission
Make: UD Trucks
Model: ESCOT-VI (AT2612F)
Description: Automated manual transmission (AMT)
12 forward and 2 reverse gears
Shift type: Electronic shifter with fully automatic or manual control
Final gear ratio: 3.70 or 3.36

Brakes
System type: Electronic Braking System (EBS) with disc brakes
Front/Rear: 430mm rotors / 430mm rotors
Weights
Front axle load limit: 8200kg
Rear axle load limit: 20000kg
Tare weight: 7280kg
GVM: 25,000kg

Suspension
Front: Parabolic leaf spring
Rear: Eight air bags, electronically controlled
Fuel
Capacity: 400 litres (2 x 200-litre alloy tanks on LHS)