NAIL 211 ROADTEST: SCANIA P114.340 8x4 At the heart of
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our test truck is Scania's faithful 11-litre DSC11-79 charge-cooled sixcylinder engine. This Euro-2 direct-injection diesel produces 340hp at 1,900rpm with a healthy 1,1141bft of torque available from 1,250rpm. Behind the six-pot sits Scania's own range-change eight-speed-plus crawler GR900 synchro box.
The truck was specified with Scania's own hydraulic retarder, mounted on the rear of the gearbox with its own oil-to-air cooler within the chassis rails.
The retarder is controlled by a multi-position lever on the dash to the left of the steering wheel, which also includes a maximum speed setting button in its tip.
Once set this will automatically vary the
amount of retardation to keep the vehicle within the preset speed. To be honest there aren't that many big descents on our test route, but the retarder was in almost constant use. It's perfect for dropping a few km/h when entering a restricted area or a blind curve.
It's easy to see how this would dramatically cut brake lining costs, especially in an area with plenty of steep hills. But it has just as much relevance for operators outside the Peak District, adding to safety and ease of driving.
The retarder adds 125kg to the chassis weight, and a frightening £3,437 to the list price, but having used it for a couple of days, and bearing in mind that a set of replacement brake shoes will set you back £533 plus labour, we have to say that it's worth every penny Scania uses its own axles under the eightwheeler, with single-reduction differentials in both drive axles. The front I-section beams have a capacity of 8.500kg apiece while the rear bogie can handle 26,000kg, so weight distribution is not a problem.
The tipper rides on parabolic springs front and rear with radius arms at the back, but no anti-roll bars. This combination holds the road reasonably well with a bit of rolling through corners, but there were some fairly unpleasant banging and cracking noises from the rear suspension mountings during tight off-road inanoeuvring.
That said, the Scania was comfortable to ride in and it coped well with varying road surfaces. Inter and cross-axle diff-locks are there to cope with the trickiest off-road conditions and the cab's two-point airsuspension keeps the worst of Britain's crumbling road surfaces at bay.
Our first day out, on the way up to the test track at M1RA, near Nuneaton, involved mainly motorway work. The Scania managed a creditable 9.01mpg on the trip north, cruising easily at its governed 85km/h with just 1,600rpm on the clock. On motorway grades the 340hp lump pulls well, and we had no trouble staying with the traffic on the MI's crowded first and second lanes.
Day two of our test route is tough on fuel consumption, whatever the truck, with steep hillclimbs and relatively slow country roads conspiring against even the thriftiest vehicles. Over this mix of town and country driving the Scania managed a reasonable 7.86mpg to give an overall figure of 8.27mpg at a brisk average speed of 65.8km/h. The 4 Series should keep tipper operators happy at the weighbridge. Fitted with a WBS insulated body, complete with a Dawharn Clearspan 900 sheeting system and Edbro DX16 front-end tipping gear, the Scania tared off at 11,260kg.
This easily meets the tipper operators' benchmark of a 20-tonne payload potential.
Mated to the GR900, the engine works well at 32 tonnes, with plenty of low-down pulling power on tap. On level ground it's possible to pull away in second gear and block shift up to fourth without leaving the green band.
Our test truck was a customer's vehicle with just under 28,000km on the clock, so everything was well run in. However, we still had to allow time for the gearbox to warm up in the morning before it would make easy, smooth changes.
Once past that stage the eight-speeder is a simple box to use, holding fifth gear through roundabouts and changing down cleanly on longer climbs. It's certainly well matched to its
duties in a tipper. Having 340hp at 32 tonnes may be the norm these days, but it's not so long ago that this would have been a top power eight-wheeler. We found that it certainly had more than enough pulling ability for most situations.
On the steepest climb of our route, the 16%, 1.1km grind up Edgehill. we made an early change down to third before the really steep climb started. The Scania pulled cleanly to the top in 2min 27sec.
Scania has spread the steering axles to 1.94m, to help distribute weight but this did no harm to the steering, which is nicely weighted and accurate.
Handling is stable and controlled, though there is some roll through roundabouts. Braking ability is particularly impressive; the truck repeatedly pulled up quickly and smoothly during track testing.
Scania 's 4 Series cab is an evolution of the successful 3 Series, with the same wraparound dash that puts the controls at the driver's fin. gertips. The new P cab is longer than on dm old truck, which allows taller drivers to sit fur ther from the wheel. This, along with excel. lent headroom, gives a great impression of space inside the day cab.
The tipper driver inevitably does withoui some of the frills afforded the long-distanct haulier (for a start you have to wind your owr windows up and down and adjust the mirror: by hand). But the Scania cab remains a veil comfortable place to spend the day.
With the window open the high exhaus stack behind the cab makes its presenc( known, but once the glass is closed thc impressive sound insulation dropped th( noise levels significantly. In-cab noise levels a the driver's ear during testing were particular ly good, with just 73dB(A) on the meter at cruising speed of 85km/h.
There are plenty of useful storage trays an cubbyholes in the cab, including a full-sin document box between the seats. The steerinj column isn't adjustable but a good range o travel on the suspended seat should alloy most drivers to make themselves comfortabk The wide door windows and low mounte( mirrors offer excellent visibility all round, an( Scania's external sunvisor seems to be bette placed on the 4 Series so you don't feel as i you have to look under it to see traffic light and hills ahead.
The retarder control is nicely placed, just!): the driver's left hand, and can be operate without fully taking your hand off the steel jug wheel.
It's easy to see why an owner-driver would op for Scania's 4 Series. The combination of ca comfort, reasonable weight and good pullin, power make a convincing argument. But th Swedish trucks are also a firm favourite wit the larger fleets.
Strong residual values play their part, a does a reputation for reliability and buil quality.
Scania offers a wide range of models fc