Owner/Driver #328

“That retardation effort hits a
stunningly high level.”
Left: It’s a relatively high climb
into the cab but on the road,
vision and handling of the long
wheelbase Hino were extremely
good
RETARDATION OUTPUTS OF HINO WITH ZF INTARDER
STAGE
MAX ENGINE JAKE
PERFORMANCE
MAX ZF INTARDER
PERFORMANCE
MAX BRAKING
POWER OVERALL
1 ON 184KW OFF 0KW 184KW
2 ON 184KW 33% 165KW 349KW
3 ON 184KW 66% 330KW 514KW
4 ON 184KW 100% 500KW 684KW
modern world, engines of this displacement are dispensing at
least 550 to 600hp (410 to 447kW) and a minimum 1,850ft-lb of
torque. To offer less in this day and age is a distinct case of too
much metal and not enough muscle. Or, simply inefficient.
It’s no secret, however, that Isuzu is in close contact with
Cummins for a high performance engine in the 12- to 13-litre
class but so far, and much to Isuzu Australia’s frustration, there’s
nothing on the horizon to suggest a tangible example from this
relationship will appear anytime soon. (We are, however, now
starting to hear reports – very quiet reports – that a prominent
Brisbane fleet operator is heavily involved in development and
trials of a heavy-duty Isuzu model powered by a Cummins ISG
12-litre engine. Stay tuned, but right now that remains another
story for another day.)
As for Fuso and UD, there’s no sign of their corporate master
– Daimler and Volvo respectively – approving the use of ‘family’
engines in the 13-litre class for fear the Japanese brands would
impact on sales of their European brethren.
All this points to a rare opportunity for Hino. After all, with
no corporate commercial clash deriving from its place as an
offshoot of global car giant Toyota, Hino appears to have the
potential to not only take a significant performance leap over its
Japanese competitors in the heavy-duty class, but also become
more of a challenger to the Europeans than ever before.
Right now, the door is wide open for Hino but only time will
tell if a new range of heavies will go far enough to turn what
appears to be obvious potential into commercial reality. One
thing’s for sure, it already has a great transmission to start the
ball rolling.
Across the range
In the meantime, the current 700-series crop will endure as
it is, with the turbocharged, intercooled and overhead cam
E13C common-rail engine continuing to comply with the
Euro 5 emissions standard through a combination of exhaust
gas recirculation (EGR) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR)
(AdBlue) systems.
Coupled to the engine in the majority of 700-series models,
ZF’s Traxon was added to the Hino range mid-way through last
year, replacing the previous generation of AS-Tronic automated
shifters. First in the stable to offer Traxon was the FY 3248
eight-wheeler which unfortunately, is also the only model in
66 MAY 2020 ownerdriver.com.au