By Bryce Baird - Isuzu

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predecessors are widely used in all categories of cartage. Isuzu’s legacy is still strong in America where the renowned Duramax engine powers hundreds of thousands of Chevy and GMC trucks. Worldwide Isuzu’s small diesels can be found in construction gear, industrial and nearly every other application, often re-branded. Isuzu had produced more than 21 million diesel engines by 2009. Despite a nearly 50 percent drop in truck sales in New Zealand, Isuzu has held its podium placing but it is well aware that the bigger trucks coming out of Japan have to work much harder to compete on the market, as the dollar gap between the manufacturing blocks isn’t the gulf it used to be. Effectively, Isuzu and its Japanese compatriots have seen their financial advantage shrink and have needed to up the ante in the tougher climate. Even before the world economic crisis, Isuzu New Zealand had been refining its range, and after more than two years of trying to plug a hole in their line-up, they’ve presented a brandspanking new offering. Colin Muir, sales and marketing manager for Isuzu New Zealand, says Isuzu believes it will be attractive to the skeletal and container crowd and be cheaper than the EXY530. Isuzu has had a glaring hole in their 6x4 tractor line-up, as the EXY530 is their smallest – and only – air-bagged tractor in this market. There have been other stop-gap alternatives based around the six-rod suspension EXZ/CYZ400 rigid spec, being converted to air-suspension, but they’ve not had a dedicated air-suspended six-wheeler tractor of 400 horsepower on offer – until now. Kelly Keogh, the heavy vehicle technical and product co-ordinator for Isuzu New Zealand, says that in New Zealand the roles are blurred between the models, due mainly to our small market limiting options off the production line. With the EXY400, Isuzu have a Euro 4, air-suspended tractor that is priced considerably under the EXY530; this gives them a tractor aimed at the sidelifter and general cartage market. Effectively it’s a new model for this country and has refined the range for Isuzu. It’s also the facelift template for Isuzu’s future trucks, with a new exterior makeover. This is just the start of a list of changes, and this tractor has morphed into its bigger brother in nearly every respect, except for the price – Isuzu New Zealand has worked hard to make this truck financially accessible, without turning it into a poverty-pack model. The biggest news is that this truck now shares the same powerplant as its big brother, with Isuzu going back to a big engine to help slide past Euro 4. A whopping 15,681cc’s sit under the floorboards, and that 16-litre 6WG1-TCR engine may seem like a step back to the days when Jap trucks often sported plenty of cubes, but modest outputs. We had a sense of the familiar when we looked at the spec sheet, and found that those 16-litres are indeed light in the numbers compared to other 16-litre units out there, but there’s a good reason for that. Four-hundred horsepower and 1300lb/ft of torque may not take your breath away, but by using a big engine and bolting on new technology such as common rail injection, a variable geometry turbo and a diesel oxidation catalyst exhaust system, they’ve produced a large engine that doesn’t need to work too hard. That translates to lower cylinder temperatures and an easier pathway to Euro 4 and eventually Euro 5. The weight penalty isn’t bad either, at only 50 kilos over the previous 14-litre engine – achieved by a modular construction that allowed a lot of interchangeability between engines. This engine has a 147mm bore and a 154mm stroke, and 20 NZ Trucking September 2010 September 2010 NZ Trucking 21
has good torque characteristics with a flattish torque plateau that stretches from 850/900 to 1650rpm, with peak power running from 1600 to 1850rpm. What may surprise some people is that the previous 14-litre Euro 3 engine developed almost identical horsepower and torque figures, with a couple of litres fewer capacity. However, as Keogh points out, “Isuzu wants to be competitive in the market, and more power and torque means more cost,” when meeting emission restrictions. A couple of years ago they had the option of a 420 with 1650lb/ft, but that proved not viable for achieving Euro 4 with that 14-litre engine; meeting emissions is an expensive exercise, and the small volumes of our market make it a juggling act to meet our requirements. This truck is entry level and targeted at markets such as the container haulage brigade, who will appreciate the hi-cube friendly 950mm chassis height, and be unconcerned about high performance figures. The EXY tractor shares much with its EXY530 big brother, including the automated 16-speed transmission, which had a software upgrade to better use the performance characteristics of the re-spec’ed 16-litre engine. For a start, this engine will rev out to only 1850, and a remapping of the transmission software makes the most of the engine’s changed characteristics. The 14-litre engine was more of a revver by nature, and had a narrower torque and power band, so if you slipped off it, it needed some quick gear snatching to keep it on the boil. The transmission has had internal updates as well, to improve reliability and durability. With an under-stressed large engine, Isuzu must want the truck’s engine to accumulate some big distances before needing major work, and we suspect they’d like the transmission to be just A new look for the EXY, but it is still recognisably an Isuzu. 22 NZ Trucking September 2010 September 2010 NZ Trucking 23
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Page 5: ors, the truck was exceptionally qu

By Bryce Baird - Isuzu

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