Trucking Magazine – August 2019

http://www.truckingmag.co.uk August 2019 TRUCKING 39

D13TC is currently

offered at 460 and

500 bhp outputs

Test enabled us to directly

compare new TC engines

to vanilla Euro 6D D13K

Harnessing excess heat

means TC can deliver an

extra 300 Nm of torque

Extra torque meant

the gearbox held onto

higher gears for longer.

gear is selected at all times. The system
is self-learning, meaning it will record
and remember the topography of roads
for which it doesn’t already have the
data as it is driving along them. Plus, the
latest I-See improvements include a
revised gear selection routine and
tweaked I-Roll parameters for more
efficient coasting.

On the road
Volvo is understandably keen to show
off its new long-haul innovations, and
recently we were invited to a test-drive
on a mixed route starting from the
outskirts of Gothenburg. So we could get
a fair idea of how the TC engines
compared to standard Euro 6D D13s, the
route was split into segments and we’d
use a different engine for each.
Our first drive was in a vanilla FH
4x2 tractor unit with regular D13K at
500 bhp. Though it was packing Volvo’s
I-Shift Dual Clutch automated
transmission, it did not have the I-Save
package so is fairly representative of a
typical fleet long-hauler.
The first leg of the test drive was a
length of pretty normal Swedish
highway, stretching from a truck park at

Borås Bil to our meeting point at local

truck stop. Firing up the engine and

pulling out onto the highway, we soon

relaxed into a pleasant cruise. Though

Volvo told us one benefit of the D13TC

engine is quieter performance, the

regular D13K is really pretty quiet

anyway. In fact, inside the Globetrotter

XL sleeper cab, all was peaceful and we

could have a good chat with our

passenger without having to holla.

Loaded to 44 tonnes (helpfully all the

test trucks – both standard and TC

models – were loaded to the same

weight), performance wasn’t an issue for

the 500 bhp D13K. Admittedly we didn’t

encounter much in the way of hills or

even traffic on this leg, and with over

11 bhp per tonne on tap the FH500

wasn’t going to struggle. But regardless,

the ride was comfortable and the

Dual Clutch ’box delivered super-

smooth gearchanges.

That said, it does take us a while to get

used to Dynamic Steering. Volvo’s

assisted steering system requires a

feather-light touch, and we found we had

a tendency to oversteer until we’d got

used to it. The degree of ‘stiffness’ in the

steering can be adjusted, and we settled

for the ‘Stable’ setting, which seems to

give just the right amount of feedback

for our tastes.

TC on test

After an uneventful first leg, we pulled

into the truck stop and switched to our

next vehicle. As a direct comparison, this

was an FH500 4x2 with I-Save and the

new turbo compound engine. The next

stage of the route would wind us past

the lakes and forests on regional roads

to Eksjö Värdshus, with plenty of hills

thrown in for good measure.

Upon turning the key, D13TC is indeed

quieter than the standard engine – and

this became even more noticeable as we

manoeuvred out of the yard and back

onto the main highway.

After a couple of junctions, we exited

onto a road that led up into the hills and

soon began to narrow as we climbed.

Carefully weaving the truck around bend

after bend, the extra torque from the

turbo compound meant the gearbox held

onto higher gears for longer at the

bottom of the green band; and when a

downshift was necessary, Dual Clutch

kept loss of momentum to a minimum.