Test driving the Scania R 660 V8 across the Nullarbor

It has often been said that if you’re going to do something, then do it properly. And that was certainly the case when we were offered a drive in the latest incarnation of the Scania R 660 V8.

The Scania V8 range are premium trucks, and a premium truck should have a premium road test, right? So why not take it right across the country from Melbourne to Perth with a proper load and a few trailers. That was the plan.

Our test truck was an R 660 V8 with most of the new extra options that have been made available with the new width allowances. These include the blind-spot monitoring and the ‘Vulnerable Road User Monitoring’ which keep a lookout for pedestrians and cyclists down the side of the truck.

The 660’s engine is a 16.4-litre V8 that puts out 485kW or 660hp of power at 1900rpm and a hefty 3300Nm of torque between 950 and 1400rpm. This is mated to a G33CH1 overdrive 14-speed, Opticruise automated transmission with Eco-roll function and three drive modes – Economy, Standard and Power.

Our test truck also had the new CR23 big cab with the new bed setup which is wider at a full metre wide and the cab has full standing headroom so you can move around easily. It is also beautifully trimmed with grey leather with red piping and V8 logos.

Both the driver and passenger get top-end Isri seats, and the steering wheel is a smallish flat-bottom item that is leather wrapped and again with the V8 logo.

The new CR23 big cab has a metre-wide bunk and plenty of storage. Image: Scania Australia

It’s a great cab and trim certainly accentuates the high-quality and premium status of the V8 models. There is great vision from the driver’s seat, and the screens offer plenty of information about the truck and its operation.

We were towing a triple set of lovely Freighter curtain-side trailers loaded with concrete barriers to a GCM of around 75 tonnes. These were shod with a new set of Semperit tyres and the whole setup looked the goods and drove extremely well.

Of course, safety is a high priority for Scania and our R 660 had all the active and passive safety features that we’ve come to expect on these trucks.

Standard features include driver and passenger airbags, side curtain airbags, driver’s side seatbelt pre-tensioner, lane departure warning, electronic stabiliser program, advanced emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control and downhill speed control.

This is all combined with disc brakes all round with ABS and traction control which is switchable. And let’s not forget the engine brake and Scania’s remarkable retarder that I use all the time when I’m driving these trucks.

On the road

I love driving Scanias and was really looking forward to this drive across the Nullarbor. Of course, I couldn’t do the whole run from Melbourne to Perth but I did do the run from Ceduna to Kalgoorlie which is a pretty good haul.

We did it in a very relaxed fashion stopping along the way for some photos and a lunch here and there as well as a dinner and overnight at Cocklebiddy roadhouse.

But we weren’t completely hanging around as my notes from the trip computer said we averaged just under 90km/h for the 767-kilometre first day.

We were towing a triple set of Freighter curtain-side trailers loaded with concrete barriers. Image: Scania Australia

The new Scanias are fitted with the latest G33 gearboxes and a revised 2.92 diff ratio which means that in 13th (overdrive) gear the engine is spinning at just 1190rpm at 100km/h.

Although most of the trip was pretty flat, there are some inclines across the Nullarbor and most of these saw the big Scania dropping down to the direct-drive (1:1) 12th which they are designed to do.

According to Scania Australia’s Ben Nye, the combination of the diff ratio and the overdrive top gear, it’s the best of both worlds and affords the truck optimum fuel economy and can give up to six per cent in fuels savings, we’re told.

On our run, we made good use of the adaptive cruise control which I had set on max 100km/h, although it was pointed out to me that when you’re in undulating terrain it can be better to run it at a lower speed, say 90km/h, so it isn’t trying so hard to get to 100 all the time. That way it saves on fuel.

I also tried the new electrohydraulic steering system, or EAS, with Lane Keep Assist. That came in handy on the long, straight stretches like the 90-mile strait which is the longest straight piece of road in Australia (it used to be the longest in the world until the Saudis took the title away).

On those boring stretches, I found I could engage the cruise on max, then hit the button for the EAS and the truck would ‘read’ the lines on the road and stay in the lane. It worked a treat, and I found I could sit back and relax and not have to ‘steer’ the truck but simply keep my hands on the wheel and let the truck do some of the work.

Of course, not all drivers like the active lane keeping and it does feel a bit weird when the wheel pulls this way and that, and if you take your hands off the wheel, the truck will flash up a warning to put your hands back on and take control of the truck.

It’s a good feature for taking a bit of a break, and it’s easily dialled out with the push of a button.

But if you think the Eyre Highway is all flat terrain and straight lines, you can think again. There is a great pull up Madura Pass which rises up sharply from the Roe Plain into the Fraser Range. It comes up pretty quickly and can catch you out whether you’re going east or west.

Up the Pass, the big Scania shuffled down through the gears and settled on about sixth for the long haul to the top. There are great views on the way up and from the top, but that’s not what we were here for. For us it was on to Cocklebiddy.

At Cocklebiddy we met up with a real legend of the region ‘Bindi’ Seiwright who has been carting fuel along the Eyre Highway since 1983. Co-incidentally, Bindi had recently taken delivery of a new Scania 660 similar to the one we were driving.

Asked how he liked it, Bindi was glowing in his comments: “She’s a beauty,” he said. “Really comfortable and it has plenty of power for the job we need to do.”

As many would know there is the world’s longest golf course across the Nullarbor, with a hole at each of the roadhouses along the way. Fittingly, the tee at the hole at Cocklebiddy Roadhouse is named after Bindi – one of the real characters of the area.

From Cocklebiddy to Kalgoorlie is only about 620kms, so we took it easy and stopped for a refuel and a quick lunch at Norseman. Speaking of fuel, our standard fuel load on the 660 was 565 litres on the left tank with 310 on the right along with 73 litres of AdBlue.

On our trip, we averaged 62.4 litres/100kms or 1.6km/litre. This would give us a theoretical range, loaded as we were to around 75 tonnes, of 1400 kilometres.

Our stop at Kalgoorlie marked the end of my stint in the Scania 600, and I have to say, I found it thoroughly enjoyable.

Admittedly, we did it at a leisurely pace with our camera car and some Scania executives, one of whom we’ll meet in an accompanying story, but even if we’d done the 1400-odd kilometres from Ceduna to Kalgoorlie at top pace with minimal stops, I reckon I would have felt pretty good at the end.

The Scania 660, and the whole R Series range for that matter, are just that kind of truck; They’re a pleasure to drive. They are comfortable, quiet, have plenty of grunt and offer the driver the maximum amount of support that you can get from a modern truck.

If I had to drive full-time for a living, one of these trucks would be on my list to sit in for days on end.

Just like Bindi on the Eyre Highway.