McNish samples a different kind of diesel power
Former double Le Mans 24 Hour winner Allan McNish has raced a variety of diesel-powered Audi sports-prototypes since 2006 but recently sampled an altogether different diesel-engined vehicle.
The Scotsman has driven V12, V10 and most recently V6 turbocharged diesel Audi sportscars in endurance races around the world and so was the obvious choice for Scania to drive the World’s most powerful truck.
Dumfries-born McNish, who attends the Autosport International Show in Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday (January 15-16), recently drove the Scania R 730 with a tri-axle trailer and gross vehicle weight of 42-tonnes around the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.
“I was briefed by Scania personnel that UK hauliers generally look for 10hp/tonne so on that basis, the R 730 would be good for 73-tonnes. To put that in perspective, the UK's top weight for 'standard' road operations is 44-tonnes – so the R 730 had plenty of power to spare,” commented Audi Sport “factory” driver McNish.
“I’ve spent the last five seasons driving either the R10 TDI, R15 TDI and most recently our new Audi R18 Coupe. The R10 TDI back in 2006 had over 1,100 Newton Metres of torque with the R15 TDI that I drove in this year’s Le Mans featuring around 1,050 Nm. The Scania R 730 boasted an incredible 3,500Nm torque!”
The Scania R 730 has a 16-litre V8 diesel engine producing 730 horsepower and is the Swedish company’s flagship of Scania's R-series range, the International Truck of the Year 2010.
Allan continued: “I’d previously driven a 7.5 ton truck on the odd occasion in my native Dumfries but driving the Scania was like heading into a different world. The sheer size and power of the truck combined with its clever electronics was amazing and a real eye-opener.
“When you select a gear to drive away in it automatically selects the best gear considering the weight of the vehicle but also the incline, whether it is going uphill or downhill for example. Also, when you take off the handbrake, there is a three-second auto hold facility for when your foot goes from the foot brake across to the throttle allowing you to accelerate gently away – fantastic for hill starts!
“I also found it interesting that the 14-speed gearbox actually ‘shifts’ gears at a similar speed to my Audi race car which I thought was incredible.
“Considering the immense power, acceleration is very controlled, relaxed and smooth. My Audi sportscar has less horsepower and a lot less torque but only weighs 900kg. But I saw a lot of the same solutions to problems but maybe using them in a slightly different way on the Scania as we do at Audi Sport with our racecars.”