* Can improved cab-overs tempt US bonneted heavy drivers?
,USA -Automotive World, by Alan Bunting -January 17, 2012: -- Accepted practice and tradition weigh heavily in commercial vehicle design and engineering in North America. Consider the continuing popularity of chrome-clad class 8 tractors, with broad flat-fronted radiator grilles, large fenders and exposed fuel tanks, many of which are almost indistinguishable from their 1950s predecessors. The poor aerodynamic performance of many of these trucks severely compromises fuel efficiency, something jeopardised even further in payload-productivity terms by a significant unladen weight penalty... Admittedly, most US and Canadian tractor-trailer fleets, unlike owner-operators, now opt for more recently developed class 8 models with an altogether lower and less drag-resistant profile and more modest tare weight. But because almost all are of bonneted configuration, with a correspondingly long wheelbase, they remain a good deal heavier than their forward-control 'cab-over' counterparts favoured in most other parts of the world, most notably Europe... The progressive refinement of European forward-control heavy trucks has reached the point where the ride, quietness and handling of many European-built tractors would now appeal strongly to many US truck drivers... North American legislation imposes no overall length restriction on articulated rigs - only on their semi-trailers. So there is no incentive to reduce tractor length, hence the widespread attachment of what amounts to 'living room' rearward cab extensions... To be fair, the more extensive use by US truck makers than their European counterparts of aluminium in place of steel for cab panels and even chassis rails, made economically feasible by the smaller cost differential between the two metals, can make some US trucks lighter than they look... Yet the progressive refinement of European forward-control heavy trucks has reached the point where the ride, quietness and handling of many European-built tractors would now appeal strongly to many US truck drivers... With that in mind, it's worth considering whether North American heavy-duty truck buyers will, at some point in the not too distant future, begin to consider European-style 'cab-over' tractors. It used to be said that drivers of bonneted heavies liked the idea of a heavy chunk of engine 'between them and the accident'. Without any engine hump intrusion, cab interiors were more spacious and quieter, as well as cooler in the summer. But today's high-floored European flagship models suffer no engine intrusion into the cabspace... Labels: cabin designs
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