Scania has changed the way it makes AMTs, so PowerTorque took two Scania Super models out for a quick run, to test the metal of the new AMT design. There was a Scania 460P Super pulling a single trailer and a Scania 560R Super pulling a fully loaded B-double set. For some reason the Swedish truck maker has swapped the cab classification from before to after the horsepower number, but only on the 13 litre engines and below, not for the trucks with V8 engines, why?
The return of the Super name is a logical choice, it has been used historically by the brand when new engines were introduced and was often written somewhere on the front of the truck, in the past. The 13 litre engine in the two trucks tested is an all-new engine for Scania. This test drive included the 460hp version and the 560hp version, which is taking the 13 litre into unknown territory.
In a change which took many by surprise Scania breaks with tradition and has developed an AMT without any synchros. Opticruise has been though many iterations, always with synchros, but this new box is a revolutionary and not evolutionary step-up.
There is a reduction of 75kg in the engine weight is complemented by going over to a basic crash box which means the simplifying of the AMT design, so now it’s also 75kg lighter on the 460R. The casing is no longer steel, but cast aluminium not cast on the plate.
The higher rated AMT fitted to the 560hp 13 litre engine, and also to the higher horsepower V8 engines from Scania, is 60kg lighter. lighter that the previous gearbox. This is still a considerable weight reduction.
Another change in the AMT design sees Scania going away from its old reverse gear design and instead the AMT locks the planetary gear in the back of the box for reverse and the driver has, theoretically as many reverse as forward gears. In actual fact the system limits the driver to just four reverse gears. However, for certain tasks Scania can make eight available.
Front axle weight has always been Scania’s achilles heel in the Australian truck market and this new engine and gearbox tare weight gives the brand more leeway in chassis layout design, as a result.
As part of the fuel saving design the AMT will only go up to 12th gear in hilly country, keeping it in direct drive. When the topography is a little smoother, it will revert to the overdrive 13th top gear. In that top gear, at 100km/h, the engine is running at 1180rpm, very low level historically, but Scania reckon this engine can handle it.
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