Western Star 48X Day Cab 2023 Review

The Western Star X-Series was launched with great expectations in November 2022, and has since received praise from operators and the media alike.

We were offered a drive in one of the real workhorses of the X-Series fleet, the 48X in Day Cab form, on a route that many of these trucks will perform – the Melbourne to Sydney run.

Our test truck was fitted with the Detroit DD16 engine mated to the DT12 automated manual transmission. The Big 16-litre diesel was rated at 560hp, although they can be rated at between 500 and 600hp, and torque was 2050lb-ft (2779Nm).

With the DT12 transmission the Detroit Assurance Safety System comes standard. This includes Active Brake Assist 5, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, electronic stability control, and automatic lights and wipers, while there is also the option of Side Guard Assist and a RollTec seat with built-in airbag.

If you go for the manual version with the Eaton 18-speed RoadRanger, you’ll have to tick the options box for most of the safety gear.

Our test truck was fitted with an Isri seat with built-in seatbelt which, like all Isri seats, was a beauty.

The 48X with the big engine and the Day Cab is a real workhorse. It has a BBC of 113 inches or 2865mm, which means it can be used for a variety of jobs including what we were doing: hauling a B-double up the Hume.

Even in Day Cab form, there is plenty of room in the cab of the 48X and it’s built with the driver in mind. The big wrap-around dash puts everything close and there is plenty of space to stow all your gear, paperwork, logbook, drink bottles or whatever you need for the job at hand.

The view from the driver’s seat is great. The sloping bonnet gives a full picture of the road ahead and I found myself forgetting that I was in a bonneted truck. The new C-bar mirror system is worth a mention too. It’s a mounting system that uses just one bar attached to the doors, which improves peripheral vision and cuts down on wind noise. It’s a great setup and is virtually vibration free.

Our trip started at Penske’s Melbourne facility in the trucking hub of Altona and we headed through the morning traffic to link up with the Hume. In the traffic, the Western Star was a breeze. The good vision and manoeuvrability of the short Day Cab made for an easy trip out to the freeway.

The DT12 transmission is a great match for the big engine and it easily skips through the gears in the traffic. The Bendix disc brakes are great and there’s a three-stage engine brake to help with the retardation. The engine brake is operated from the right-hand stalk, which is used for all the transmission and engine brake functions.

Our truck had the full analogue dash with old-style gauges for all the engine systems. There is a full digital dash on the way, but you can have a mixture of both. We did have a digital screen between the speedo and tacho that provided plenty of information, accessed via buttons on the steering wheel. Also on the wheel are the buttons for the cruise control, phone and audio volume.

The rocker switches on the wrap-around section of the dash operate the systems like the diff locks, PTO, safety features and the like, and they can be moved around in groups so you have the things you use the most closer to hand.

On the highway, the 48X really comes into its own. With the Meritor 3.9 diff, the tacho is sitting just a touch over 1500rpm in top gear and even at 60 tonnes it’ll sit there up some of the smaller hills. Come to the bigger ones and it’ll kick down to 11th and hold that down to around 1200rpm.

Noise levels were low and I found I didn’t need to raise my voice to have a conversation to my co-pilot on the other side. Comfort levels were good too, and with the aforementioned Isri perch and the well-sprung cab, it was an easy task to sit for a few hours as we motored up the Hume.

The steering is worth a mention too. It’s direct and with good feel, and I found I didn’t have to chase it all over the road, even when the breeze came up a bit. The truck tracked straight and true through corners and there was no sloppiness. It’s a great system for a purely hydraulic setup, and made for a really easy and stress-free drive.

The X-Series trucks are fitted with a really good set of LED headlights and as day turned to night, I got the chance to give them a workout. High beam was especially good with a terrific spread of light both ahead and out to the sides of the road. For a truck that’s only going to be doing limited amounts of long-haul driving, it’d be hardly worth your while putting on auxiliary lighting, they’re that good.

While the Western Star 48X Day Cab is probably not going to be the ideal configuration for long-haul interstate work, it will do the job, and do it comfortably. It’s the kind of truck that if you had one in the fleet, it could cover all manner of tasks. It’s small and neat enough to do city or intrastate jobs while still being big enough to handle B-double work.

The DD16 with the DT12 transmission is a great combination, and on our trip loaded to 60 tonnes it returned just on 1.8km/litre, which is pretty good for a 16-litre engine.

What will be interesting to see is how well the new X-Series does in the market. It’s our guess that if Penske can get enough of these new trucks into the country, the sales graph of Western Star trucks should keep pointing northward for some time to come.

Specifications:
Model: Western Star 48X Day Cab
Engine (opt): Detroit DD16, 560hp, 2050lb-ft (2779Nm)
Transmission: DT12-OVZ (DD16) rated over 106t GCM
Transmission (opt): Eaton Fuller RTLO-22918B (DD16)
Diffs: Meritor 3.9:1
Front suspension: 6625kg taper leaf with maintenance-free bushes
Rear suspension: Airliner 20,865kg airbag
Safety: Detroit Assurance suite of safety systems including: Active Brake Assist 5, adaptive cruise control to 0 km/h, tailgate warning, lane departure warning, automatic headlights/wipers and intelligent high beam
BBC: 2865mm (Day Cab)
Brakes: Bendix ADB22X air disc front brakes (disc brakes only available with DT12 transmissions) Wabco 6S/6M EBS / ABS with hill start aid and traction control
Brakes (opt): Meritor 16.5X6 Q+ cast spider cam front brakes, double anchor, fabricated shoes with Haldex automatic front slack adjusters with enhanced stability control (only available with manual transmission)
Fuel: RHS: 302L; LHS: 227L
AdBlue: 87L LHS under-cab mounted with polished-alloy diamond-plate cover