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Scania's new R440 is the first Euro-5 truck to be powered by an engine that has its emissions controlled without the aid of AdBlue. Has it been worth the wait?
Although we encountered more than the usual number of truck spotters around the CM Scottish route, we couldnt help but wonder if they realised the actual significance of the white Scania passing beneath their feet.
There were few enough clues, just an unfamiliar number on the grille, and while certain rivals may have been tempted to cover the cab in graphics depicting sheep gambolling in green pastures, or dolphins frolicking in the surf, those modest Swedes limited their flamboyance to a personalised number plate - E5EGR. For this was the R440, the first model to be powered by Scania's new family of Euro-5 engines, with emissions controlled without the aid of AdBlue. The headline features of the new engine are XPI common-rail fuel injection, developed in conjunction with Cummins, a variable geometry turbocharger and exhaust gas recirculation, combined with a one-litre increase in cylinder capacity. XPI indicates extremely high pressure injection, around 2,400bar compared with the more normal 1,800bar. You can read a full description of the new engine's inner secrets at www. roadtransportcom/ScaniaXPI.
The new engine range, differentiated as 13 litres rather than 12, comes in nominal 40hp increments from 360 to 480hp, in all bar the top rating, a 20hp increase on the previous equivalent. In the 440 tested, torque is also increased by 200Nm to 2,300Nm, developed as a flat Une from 1,000 to 1,300rpm before falling off quite sharply.
Apart from the new engine, the plain vanilla exterior masked an almost completely standard fleet-spec Highline 6x2 tractor, the only significant extra being extended side collars behind the cab.
On the road
We mentioned above that the 440's torque delivery tails off at 1,300rpm. Fortunately, this hardly matters since the latest incarnation of Opticruise means you need a good reason to stray off the 300rpm-wide plateau. With our self-imposed 85kph motorway cruising speed, the engine on this 3.08:1 axled example is turning over at just 1,080rpm, so an early override shift down one or two of the twelve-plus-two-crawler ratios at the first approach of a significant hill pays dividends as you...