Power kick that saves fuel too
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• by Toby Clark What is the first technical decision you make when specifying a truck? It is probably the power rating—but what if you get it wrong, or your operations change? Manufacturers cover a range of power ratings with a single engine, so it should be possible to change your mind.
This is where Milton Keynes Traction comes in: the firm can re-rate a 12-litre Volvo engine from 340hp to 380hp, 420hp or beyond, by reprogramming the engine's electronic control unit (ECU).
The conversion from 340hp to 380hp requires no mechanical modifications and costs about £750. It can be undertaken on any electronically-controlled 12-litre Volvo.
Managing director Mark Aliam says: "People have been sending us 300hp F12s for years—we would change the elements in the injector pump, intercool them, whatever. What we are doing now is just the same thing."
The firm has converted more than a dozen vehicles now, and operators are not only finding that the trucks are more powerful—they seem to be saving fuel too. "We didn't set out to get a fuel saving," says Allem, "but the savings have been phenomenal."
Allem has a number of testimonials from impressed operators who seem to be achieving significantly improved fuel economy with the more powerful engine:
• Avery's of Leighton Buzzard had an L-reg FH12 tractive unit uprated from 340hp to 380hp. In the three months before the modification, the vehicle covered 10,411 miles at an average of 6.35mpg. After the modification (and with the same driver) the vehicle covered 6,071 miles at an average of 7.71mpg.
• Li & P Lovell Quarries of Swanage in Dorset had an N-rag FH12 drawbar uprated from 340 to 380hp. The firm claims fuel savings of between 1.2 and 1.6mpg.
Bulk haulier Bulmer's of Mahon, North Yorkshire, has had two FH12 tractors converted to 420hp—one from 340hp, the other from 380hp. The vehicles operate at 40 tonnes on trans-Pennine and Scottish work. In the month after the conversion, the P-reg 340's fuel consumption Improved from 7.26mpg to 817mpg, while the N-rag 380 improved from 7.40mpg to 8.00mpg.
These figures are impressive, but we should sound a note of caution: it is clear from our own road tests that power-to-weight ratio has a substantial effect on fuel econorN A 40-tonne operation on mixed routes needs more than 340hp, so it is hardly surprising that fuel consumption improves when power output is increased, and even the best driver may try a little bit harder with a "new" vehicle. But it is also clear that, if you opt for higher weights or tougher routes, uprating your fleet can make financial sense.
Commercial Vehicle Fabrications
Caittainsihf Kits /114?4 &in!
6 A Division of ‘2111
transpotech
TELEPHONE: (01248) 421454
TRANSPOTECH LTD, GAERWEN, ANN MY LW 601
FAX: (01248) 421 855 • Milton Keynes Traction's managing director Mark Allem started driving a Volvo F88 for HG Brown & Son 20 years ago. Now his firm has 14 staff engaged in repairing, rebuilding and modifying trucks, almost always Volvos. MKT has been in its premises—a wellequipped workshop which used to be part of a bus garage—for seven years. The firm does not deal only with engines, but will rebuild an entire truck. When CMvisited, the workshop was awash with salvaged and reconditioned parts and chassis ready to be put into containers bound for South America.
Contact: Mark Allem on 01908 UM.