Excellent fuel consumption, money-making machines, interior humanity, maneuvering into mystery? The revolutionary D13TC engine brings extra torque and comes at a cost. The I-Save system reduces fuel consumption, but the Fuel Eco+ package makes maneuverability confusing....If you have any questions, welcome to today's article.
The changes in the appearance of the new generation of Volvo FH are also focused on the details, and the overall framework has not changed. The most noticeable change from the front face is its silver front grille. The silver front grille was originally exclusive to the Volvo FH16 truck with a D16 engine, but now it has also been delegated to the regular Volvo FH. Detailed changes in the grille stripes and shape have made its front face simpler and more refined, both in line with the current direction of development and making the Nordic giant more "docile".
The newly designed V-shaped headlights are the finishing touch to the front face of the vehicle, which uses full LED technology, compared to the previous generation FH, although the luminaire area is somewhat reduced, but the lighting effect is greatly improved. It is more in line with the curve of the body, and its lines also extend to the side of the door, naturally leading to auxiliary turn signals located on the side to remind pedestrians or vehicles on the side. The Volvo FH headlights have an adaptive high beam system that automatically switches on and off the headlights according to road conditions, avoiding high beam blinding and reducing the risk of accidents
Behind the headlights, you can see a sunken round hole that is used to lift the cab' bolt opening. With an elongated rubber baffle at the hem of the door, it is a new configuration for the new generation volvo FH, reducing the vehicle's wind resistance and enhancing fuel consumption performance. The vehicle's non-slip pedals have also been redesigned to use high-quality engineering plastics, and the experience and visual effects have evolved compared to the previous generation.
The model truck participating in the test was the FH 460 Globetrotter, with a model logo on the side of the cab and lines parallel to the diagonal lines on the side of the cab. The Volvo FH uses a 460 hp engine and an I-Save system, including a D13TC engine, a specially tuned I-Shift transmission and electronic software. In the upper left corner of this image, you can also see the Volvo design of the deflection fin, which protrudes from the car body, allowing the air flow pushed by the front of the car to flow more smoothly through the side of the vehicle.
The Volvo FH, which took part in the test, used the current sales mainstream in the European market: the Globetrotter cab. Its front cover has a monolithic design that lifts the cab for maintenance without having to open the flanks on both sides as Scania did. The vehicle features a 4x2 drive configuration with original side skirts and original aluminium wheels and a rear axle speed ratio of 2.31. In addition, you can see that this Volvo FH has paid a lot to optimize the wind resistance. For example, bumpers, rubber extensions under side skirts, removal of sun visors, and rearview frame trimmings. The retouched rearview frames not only reduce wind resistance, but also provide a better field of view. With a wheelbase of 3.75 meters and a 910-litre diesel tank installed inside, the vehicle has the most fuel of the three trucks. Without the optional hydraulic retarder, the vehicle has a curb weight of 7210 kg.
Underneath the cab is a Volvo D13K460 engine, also known as the D13TC, with a revolutionary turbo compound system, wave pistons and other unique configurations. The wavy pistons concentrate combustion, and the turbo compound system adds extra torque to the engine. The thick silver pipe in the picture is the pipeline of the turbine composite system, which uses engine exhaust gases to drive again, enhancing the torque performance. The final power performance reached 460 horsepower @ 1250 rpm - 1600 rpm, 2600 Nm @ 900 rpm - 1300 rpm, is the most torque of the three engines participating in the test, torque master Volvo is worthy of the name. In addition, the engine braked at 517 hp, the strongest of the three trucks.
The gearbox paired with this engine is the Volvo I-Shift AT2812F transmission, not a dual-clutch version. The specific parameters and speed ratio of the AT2812F transmission are as shown above, and it can be seen that it has 12 forward gears and four reverse gears, and its highest grade is direct gear, and the first gear speed is relatively large, which enhances the maneuverability of the vehicle. With a maximum input torque of 2800 Nm, it has a solid performance with a variety of driving modes.
Three steps are required to enter the cab, with a higher height and a slight inward contraction to facilitate boarding. The door has a red light on it, reminding the rear car that the door is open. Fire extinguishers are installed in the cab, and the storage box is arranged in two levels, and the upper level is the storage box under the sleeper, which is connected to the interior. Inside the lower storage compartment is one of Volvo's soul features: a hand washing kettle and glove compartment, which the driver can wash before getting on the car, which is very user-friendly.
Enter the cab of this Volvo FH and a modern and sophisticated experience will come to mind. Although the new volvo FH in general has not changed much from the previous generation, the newly added full LCD dashboard, touch entertainment screen, and newly designed I-Shift lever all contribute to the vehicle's excellent driving experience. In addition, the car is equipped with Volvo's Unlimited Leather interior bag, which comes with leather seats as well as leather trim panels, and although the price is a bit expensive, the overall quality is high. The internal engine drum bag is 94 mm high, the lowest drum bag of the three trucks. Combined with the vehicle's lane departure warning, driver fatigue monitoring and other safety features, volvo FH beat the Mann TGX and Scania 460 R in driving safety and driving comfort to achieve the first place.
The steering wheel is decorated with stitching, which is soft to the touch and feels great, and with volvo dynamic steering system, the steering feel is very good. However, its feel at high speeds is slightly behind the competition and does not appear to be so linear. At low speeds, the boost is somewhat larger, and while steering is more convenient, it also reduces the perception of the road. It would be even better if Volvo could program update it.
The touchable multimedia screen greatly improves the playability of the car, and the inside music, radio and navigation are all available. The vehicle is equipped with an electronic handbrake, easy to handle position, large button size, and all are oriented to the driver, adding points to the handling of the vehicle.
Of course, there are some bad things. For example, the instrument panel design of the co-pilot is too straightforward, reducing the exquisite feeling of the vehicle. In addition, the leg space of the co-pilot is not taken into account, and the entire instrument panel goes straight to the floor, resulting in the legs of the co-pilot passengers having to be contracted, and the long-distance riding experience will be reduced.
At the top of the cab, Volvo designed a large skylight, which Volvo calls the safety window, to escape when the vehicle overturns. It significantly improves lighting in the cab, but also reduces the space in the front storage compartment.
Fortunately, this Volvo FH has an optional storage compartment fixed to the rear wall of the cab, which improves the performance of the storage space, but if it can be as large as Scania, it would be better.
With its thick mattress, extra-wide dimensions and adjustable inclination, volvo FH's sleeper comfort has always been the first in the industry. Coupled with thicker curtains, the driver can rest better.
The storage space under the sleeper is designed with a pull-out American coffee machine area, which eliminates the need to occupy the dashboard and the top storage compartment. There is also a folding cup holder outside the fridge next to the coffee machine. Expands the ease of use of vehicles.
The interior of the refrigerator has partitions for storing food of different temperatures, which is also very user-friendly.
Seeing this, you may think that this Volvo FH is so good, why did it only win the second place? Is there a bias? Actually, it is not, the problems of the vehicle are concentrated when it is driven. In addition to the dynamic steering system mentioned above that needs to be updated, there is also its electronic system, which is the package called Fuel Eco+. It replaces the original Eco mode and improves the vehicle's cruise control. As a result, it focuses too much on engine speed and frequent upshifts to reduce fuel consumption by driving down engine speed. In actual tests, the average road speed of the vehicle was 82 km/h, and the driver clearly felt that the system made the vehicle's speed-up performance unsatisfactory.
In terms of fuel consumption performance, the vehicle is still remarkable. Taken together, the vehicle's fuel consumption per 100 km is 28.2 liters, urea consumption accounts for 5.55% of diesel fuel, and 100 km consumes about 1.57 liters, which is the least urea consumption among the three vehicles. In addition, the maintenance interval of the vehicle is 150,000 kilometers, which is behind Scania and stronger than Mann, which is also a need to consider in full-cycle use.
Attached: Specific scoring table
In general, the new generation of FH is still excellent in terms of cab comfort, especially in driving safety and driving comfort, no one can surpass, in terms of road performance to get a total score of "297.9", is the best proof of this, only because of the "dynamic steering system needs to be updated" and "Fuel Eco + caused by the speed problem", let it lose some points in the test, only "relegated" to the second place, but in any case, can not be denied, The new volvo FH is a truck with excellent overall performance.
At this point, the thousand point test of the three trucks is over. Thank you for reading this series of articles, if you still want to see similar content, be sure to follow us!
Text: Heseaotter, Photo: BIGtruck