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King of the test

15 August 2008 | Tags: R 560 model, Trucks | Posted in: Trucks

The King of the Road ended up as King of the Test – Scania captured first place in the 1000-Point Test 2008 − a well-reputed comparative road test published by several European trade magazines.

Four tractors, a thousand points, one winner” was how British trade magazine Commercial Motor described the 1000-Point Test. And the overall winner was Scania.

The 1000-Point Test is one of Europe’s largest comparative truck tests. It is organised by Germany’s ETM Verlag, which publishes the magazines Lastauto Omnibus and Fernfahrer, and is carried out in cooperation with Spain’s Transporte Mundial, Great Britain’s Commercial Motor and the Netherlands’ Truckstar. Articles about the test are also published in trade magazines in some ten other countries.

As earlier, the test was carried out on a 155 kilometre long route in the Hunsrück area of south-western Germany, a hilly part of the scenic Mosel valley. This time 550 hp (±10 hp) tractors with the largest available cab variants were tested.

A Scania R 560 Topline faced three other tractors: a Mercedes Actros 1855 (550 hp), an Iveco Stralis 560 and an MAN TGX with 540 hp. Volvo chose to pass on this year’s test, while Renault and DAF have no engines above 500 and 510 hp, respectively. Two 16-litre V8s (Scania and Mercedes) thus competed against two straight sixes with capacities of 12.4 (MAN) and 12.9 (Iveco) litres.

Scores were totalled on the basis of how many points the vehicles score in six different categories: cab, driving, performance, economy, productivity and safety. Their trailers were swapped after each of four runs to even out differences in trailer aerodynamics and weight.

Scania received especially high marks for powertrain performance, especially acceleration and hill climbing.

“Performance was key for this Swedish contender, which clocked up the fastest times on the test and kept gearchanges to a minimum,” Commercial Motor wrote.

Scania also did well in terms of handling and driving and, as Commercial Motor put it, “The vehicle offers excellent ride comfort and recorded the lowest in-cab cruising noise at 85 km/h at 62.5 dB(A).”
It was no surprise that the Scania and Mercedes V8s consumed more fuel than the Iveco and MAN straight sixes. In the words of Commercial Motor, “With a spec of about 560 hp, fuel consumption was nowhere near as important as driveability, since not many people buy such a powerful truck with fuel saving in mind.
“It is for this reason that the mighty V8s dominated this 1,000-Point Test. Their superior torque and well-matched rear axle set-up helped them cruise up the hills, while the sixes were frequently changing gear to keep up.”

Total points

	Available points	Iveco Stralis 560 Euro 5	MAN TGX 540 Euro 5	Mercedes Actros 1855 Euro 5	Scania R 560 Euro 5
Cab	190	149	160	161	150
Driving	200	162	164	162	164
Performance	195	146	148	169	180
Economy	135	128	130	124	126
Running costs	160	139	144	130	139
Safety	120	105	101	113	108
Grand total	1,000	832	847	859	867

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