UD unveils home-grown 6x2

UD Australia has released a home-grown 6x2 Quon. The new CD 24 380 targets urban and provincial medium-haul freight, where the economic benefits of lower fuel burn and the tare weight of a 6x2 are desirable but the extra traction of a 6x4 isn't required.

Dealers, customers and media got a first drive of the new 6x2 at a recent customer drive day event on July 15 at the Queensland Government-owned training and testing facility at Mt Cotton, south of Brisbane.

The truck was presented in an impressive 14-pallet truck-and-dog configuration, with striking custom curtain-siders marking the 80th anniversary UD Trucks is celebrating this year.

UD’s Application Engineer, Neil Carey, says a fully imported 4x2 Quon was used as the base platform.

"We engineered a genuine UD lazy axle add-on to bring our GVM up to 23.5 tonnes," he says.

"This gives us a GVM of 45 tonnes."

The second axle was engineered as a tag, behind the drive axle.

Two prototypes have been built, the first for sales and marketing and the second for braking tests – tests that Carey says are now complete.

The CD 24 380 on test topped out the scales at 33 tonnes all up. The 380hp Volvo Group engine, meanwhile, which was driving through an Escot V 12-speed automated transmission, exhibited plenty of power to pull the hills on the varied Mt Cotton course.

The transmission is the Volvo Group’s base transmission. Closely related to Volvo's iShift and Mack's mDrive, it carries a legacy name borrowed from older UD autos.

This proven Group driveline demonstrates the synergies Volvo set out to introduce after the takeover of UD in 2007.

The truck impressed trucksales.com.au with its sweet combination of driveline, chassis and axle configuration, which make it ideal for medium-haul work. The Quon has easy access – two steps and you're in – and driving is the essence of simplicity, with a key start, widescreen vision and all controls within easy reach.

The transmission is a simple H pattern with park up to the right. With a foot on the brake, the shift stick goes through a gate and forward to engage drive. Foot off the brake, a touch of throttle and the truck lifts off without a murmur.

On the track the single drive axle maintains positive traction on the pinches and when coming off the hills. Pull the engine brake wand back to the 'off' position and you're in run-for-free mode – Volvo Group Australia calls it 'iRoll' in the Volvos and it works a treat in the UD.

There has been much discussion over the stopping of production of the 'dirty' older UD engine, a 13-litre unit rated at 470hp, but the 380 and 420hp options of the Group engine seem to have quietly and efficiently filled the void.

The possibility of a 460hp GH11 with the launch of a Euro 6 engine in 2018 is still being discussed quietly, without any formal corporate confirmation.

For the same reason that the heavy-duty UD Quester will not be introduced because of its competition with Volvo product, a distinct line in the sand will probably maintain a downward pressure on horsepower ratings for UD's Australian product into the foreseeable future.

It is anticipated the new Quon 6x2 will become available for purchase in early 2016.