Volvo FH16 700: Outback Review

It’s great to test trucks in their natural environment. Small trucks in the city, tipper and dog combinations around a quarry, 4x4 trucks in the bush, and now even electric trucks in built-up urban areas.

So it was with great delight that we accepted a drive across the Kimberley from Broome to Kununurra in the newly updated Volvo FH16 XXL.

The XXL bit is all about the cab; it’s the largest cab Volvo makes for the FH16 and it’s a beauty, as we found out when we spent a couple of days in one in outback Queensland.

But this trip was not about the cab and spending quality time in blissful slumber in its luxurious surrounds. Nope, this trip was about doing serious miles in the big Volvo in the hostile environment of northern WA.

The truck had been doing a full lap of the country as part of the Volvo Roadshow, taking the new models to dealers and customers in the most remote parts of the country. The truck was on its way back east and I got the drive from Broome on the west coast to Kununurra over near the NT border, a trip of a bit over a thousand clicks.

I hadn’t been to Broome for a couple of decades, so I was looking forward to see how the old pearling town had grown since I had last visited. Could you still drive along the beach? Were the smelly camels still taking tourists up and down, plodding along with their poo-catchers strapped under their tails? Were the sunsets over the Indian Ocean still as dramatic and peaceful as I’d remembered?

Sadly, none of this was to be revealed as my plane got in after dark and the distance I had to cover the next day meant an oh-dark-thirty start.

As luck would have it, I met the crew coming north at Reception at the Roebuck Bay Hotel, our digs for the night. At least the ‘Roey’ was still pretty much the same. The pub has been open since 1890 or something and still had the charm and character I remembered.

After a couple of cool drinks in warm tropical air and a lovely steak it was time to hit the hay.

We fired up the big Volvo at 05.30 and headed out of town bob-tail to collect our trailers that the boys had dropped off the night before. And after a coffee and quick fuel-up at the Roebuck Plains Roadhouse, we were off.

The B-double set was loaded to about 60 tonnes GVM, which was a doddle for the 700hp Volvo. The truck had been down around Port Hedland pulling three trailers at over 100 tonnes doing some demos for local operators, so the 60 tonnes was easy meat for the 3250Nm prime mover.

Heading east into the morning sun was a tough ask first up, so I was thankful for the big sun visor that drops down electrically right across the screen. It was a god-send. It’s an option to have it electric, but I loved just being able to reach up to the button on the overhead console and drop it down or raise it at the flick of a switch.

There was more traffic out in the early hours than I thought there’d be: cattle trucks out for early pickup, tourists with their caravans making early miles east before the heat of the day, and locals I guess, heading off to work, wherever that was…

As the sun rose and things got a bit easier, I dialled up the radar cruise, set it on 100, and sat back to enjoy the ride.

Volvo has done more work on the insulation on the FH16 and it shows; you can have a quiet conversation in the cab, or listen to music with it turned down low and there is virtually no intrusive noise. It’s remarkable just how quiet it is.

And smooth. The ride is luxurious… it’s probably better than some of the four-wheel drive cars that were on the road.

Sitting in the Volvo the first impression is one of space. The XXL cab is a beauty. Sure, there are bigger cabs on the market, but this one is not only big but it feels comfortable and, dare we say it, stylish. The high roof seems to tower over the driver and though I didn’t check exactly how high the ceiling is, I didn’t have a problem standing tall in the cab.

I've spent a night in the XXL cab and, I’ve got to say, they are an extremely comfortable bunk – and there’s an electric tilt feature that raises the head of the bed so you can kick back and watch tele in total comfort.

And for the long, hot hauls across the top of the country like we did, it’s nice to know you can reach into the fridge and pull out a cold drink or a chilled snack to keep you going.

It's worth noting that although the fridge is between the seats and slides out from under the bed, it is biased toward the passenger seat. This, we’re told, is so that the driver doesn’t go rummaging through the fridge while driving. I didn’t totally buy this safety feature until I saw a photo of a left-hand drive FH16 which also had the fridge biased toward the passenger…

The XXL is also big on storage. There are storage compartments over the driver, around the sides of the cab and on the back wall of the cab. Of course, you also have the traditional storage compartments accessed from the outside for your tools and bags.

Seating in the XXL is taken care of by a pair of Volvo suspension seats. In typical European fashion, they’re comfortable without being too soft. They have a firm feel that gives plenty of support but somehow doesn’t give you a sore bum or back.

There’s plenty of adjustment and the steering column is multi-adjustable too so it’s easy to get an optimum driving position no matter what your size.

Vision is excellent with a low waistline giving plenty of peripheral vision, and the mirrors are great. They don’t have any shake or vibration and the mountings have minimal impact on forward or side vision.

All the controls fall easily to hand and Volvo has regrouped all the traction controls together to the left of the driver. There’s an electric park brake on the dash and the shifter for the i-Shift auto box is down by the driver’s left hand next to the seat.

It’s here you’ll also find the button for the transmission modes. Economy, Normal or Power modes are on offer and you shift them on the fly, as I did when I needed a little extra urge for overtaking.

On this mainly flat run though, I left the box in economy mode, which was just fine for churning through the miles on the Great Northern Highway.

As we were rolling along Matt from Volvo who was along with me was pointing out some of the new features in the truck, like the new touchscreen where you can dial up all manner of systems. For example, I liked the trip screen where I could see at a glance what my fuel consumption was, how far we’d travelled so far and comparative fuel consumption for the whole of the truck’s trip.

But more than that, you can change the way the truck is behaving. Don’t like the way it’s steering? Change it.

The system is called Volvo Dynamic Steering (VDS) and it means that you can change the steering ‘feel’ and responsiveness as you’re driving along.

Matt had the steering set on a custom setting that he’d devised for himself when hauling three trailers. I played with it a bit and changed the steering to ‘responsive’, which gave it a more direct feel, then changed it to a softer setting that allowed for a bit more play. Finally I went back to Matt’s custom setting.

It really is amazing how you can play with the dynamics of these trucks while you’re rolling along at 100km/h!

But the VDS system not only allows you to change the steering dynamics, it will actually ‘guide’ the truck back into its lane if you should stray a bit too far left or right. Of course, you can dial this feature out if you want but it is yet another great safety feature of the Volvo.

The screen is also where you’ll see your apps, and it can handle up to eight cameras so you can see all around the truck if need to.

As the sun climbed so did our kilometres and we rolled on through Fitzroy Crossing and on to Halls Creek where we stopped for a quick pie and a chocolate milk for lunch. I hadn’t been to this area for a couple of decades and it’s remarkable how little it has changed over the years.

A new building here and there, but it’s basically the same as when I was here last. The road’s probably a bit better, or is it the trucks have just got better and smoothed them out for me? Probably the latter.

In the early part of our drive, we were bucking a bit of headwind, but as the day wore on and we continued on our north-easterly path, the wind lessened and truck got even quieter. Initially Matt pointed out that the big air horns on the front of the cab created a bit of wind noise but with the reduction of the headwind, the ride got even quieter.

I kept the cruise control on 100km/h and for the most part, the truck charged on with hardly a change on the digital speedo.

In the late afternoon, the Bungle Bungle ranges loomed into sight and the sunlight on the escarpments was a sight to behold.

As the light faded, the auto lights flashed on and the landscape took on a different hue. As darkness descended, I flicked the light switch over to the right to access the spotties which were a couple of really neat light bars tucked into the bull bar. They lit up the road beautifully, and thanks to the recent rain, there wasn’t much wildlife hanging around the edges of the road.

We still had to keep vigilant as there were a few cattle around and I did see a dead buffalo on the side of the road. Wouldn’t want to collect one them!

All too soon our objective of Kununurra loomed into sight, and as we crossed the Ord River Dam, ambled into town and unhitched the trailers, I marveled at how fresh I felt.

After a 12-hour drive through changing terrain and conditions, I felt I could have actually kept going. The climate-control air-con had kept us at an even temperature, the fridge had supplied us with cool drinks and snacks, the insulation had kept the truck quiet and the wonderful steering had made piloting this rig an absolute dream.

How far we’ve come in such a comparatively short time. It seems not long ago, a drive like we’d just done would take hours longer and mean that you’d be hot, dusty, partially dehydrated and hungry. Maybe some still are. But not us, we emerged cool, calm and ready for a nice dinner in our hotel in Kununurra.

And if we hadn’t been able to get a hotel, the cab of the Volvo FH16 XXL would not have been a bad option either.

Specifications:
Volvo FH16 XXL
Engine: Volvo Euro 5 SCR 16-litre
Power: 700hp
Torque: 3250Nm
Transmission: I-Shift 12-speed auto
Diff ratio: 3.36
Fuel: Up to 1350 litres
AdBlue: Up to 180 litres