Volvo Trucks has come on strong in 2016 with the release of a volley of technological tweaks set to yield major benefits for their customers across mining, construction and heavy haulage, headed up by the I-shift gearbox with crawler gears for severe-duty applications.
In all the Swedish truck manufacturer has revealed five new industry-leading features across their FH, FMX and FM ranges designed specifically for industry truck operators working in the varied topography of Middle East countries.
The I-Shift automated gearbox, which in 2015 accounted for 90% of Volvo Trucks sales into the UAE, makes it possible to add up to two new crawler gears that massively improve the startability of the vehicles in sever-duty applications, such as slopes, soft ground or slopes.
The augmented technology also allows Volvo’s heavyweight FH16 trucks to increase their maximum gross combination weight from 200 tonnes to a staggering 320 tonnes on up to a three-degree gradient, and also facilitates extreme hill starts.
A special I-Shift gearbox has also been introduced for severe duty applications equipped with gears and hardware that have been hardened to withstand frequent shifting in rugged operations, and the technical capacity of Volvo Truck’s dual front axles have been upgraded from 18 to 20 tonnes.
Volvo’s Automatic Traction Control from Volvo CE’s articulated haulers has meanwhile been made standard on the Volvo FMX front-wheel-drive trucks; 4×4, 6×6, 8×6, 10×6, improving the manoeuvrability and lowering the fuel consumption of Volvo’s already celebrates construction range.
When a rear wheel starts to slip, power is transferred automatically to the front wheels without the truck losing torque or speed. The coupling clutch activates the front-wheel drive in just half a second.
The extension of Volvo Dynamic Steering, which combines conventional hydraulic power steering with an electronically regulated electric motor fitted to the steering gear, to its trucks with dual front axles in heavy applications is also a major boost for driving safety and comfort.
