The city is also far from flat and a fully loaded truck will be taking off from traffic lights at the foot of sharp grades many times a day. Not to mention the sheer weight of traffic — Sydney’s streets can grind to a halt most days.
It was into this environment ATN took one of the latest releases from Hino, its 500 range and in particular the FD8J. A 4x2 with a GVM of 10.4 tonnes, the identifying number on the door of the FD says 1027 with 10 denoting the approximate GVM and 27 denoting the ISO gross horsepower rating of around 270hp. This is the small about town delivery truck with a payload available around 6 tonnes fitted with the Hino LoadAce body, an off-the-shelf curtainsider offered as an all-in-one package. Not all LoadAce bodies are exactly the same — it depends on the location of the dealer where the actual body is made — but they are all manufactured to the same specification nationally for sale under the LoadAce banner.
This particular truck comes at the top end of the specification range for a 10-tonne truck in the 500 range, coming with the most powerful engine option and air suspension on the rear axle. The specification levels in the whole 500 range are much improved from their Ranger Pro predecessors and many items formerly on the options list have now been upgraded to the standard fittings list.
At first glance little has changed from the 2007 model. The cab has been retained; it was launched only four years ago and has plenty of kilometres in it yet. It was the most modern cab from a Japanese truck manufacturer and, in some ways, ahead of its time. Since then the competition has caught up with some of its 2008 cab designs.
Climbing in and out of the cabin is very easy. This is a relatively low-mounted cab with a single low slung step and A-pillar grab handle making ingress and egress simple. Sitting on 17.5-inch tyres means the chassis sits low to the ground giving the truck a relatively low load floor height making hand unloading easily accessible from the ground.
Out on the road the first impression from the driver’s seat is the power and torque available from the JO8ETB engine. At 255hp ISO Net (190 kW) there is plenty of power on tap to keep up with the traffic on the busy roads bringing the truck from Botany into Sydney’s CBD. The torque curve flattens out at 794Nm (586 ft lb) but at this kind of weight gives the driver plenty of acceleration away from traffic lights and no problems hauling a fully loaded truck uphills from a standing start.
As has been found with a lot of the new engines introduced to meet the ADR 80/02 emission regulations, the introduction of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and a variable geometry turbo (VGT) means the driver feels power and torque coming in smoothly and evenly from much lower rpm levels and more consistently throughout the rev range.
In reality, an engine at these ratings is overkill at a GVM of 10.4 tonnes but this is the level of performance the market has come to expect from a truck in this segment of the market. Good power and torque will often improve fuel economy around the city as less gear changes are required and more time is spent in top gear.
Easy driving
Driver preference also becomes a factor to consider — they will tend to be happier in their job when given more than enough power and torque to fight through the traffic in a busy city like Sydney. Nothing will create dissatisfaction quicker than having to cope with the city roads and constantly having to go up and down the gear ratios to make progress with an underpowered truck.
The six-speed synchro fitted is an overdrive gearbox and the combination of a short gearstick with a short throw and the JO8 engine makes life easy from the driver’s point of view. Well-spaced ratios with no difficult steps makes gear changing another thing the driver doesn’t have to think about.
The driver may not be quite so happy with the driver’s seat. Compared with Japanese truck seats five years ago this seat is good butin comparison with the kind of seats available in the 2008 range of just about every medium duty truck sold in Australia this can best be described as basic.
There is good forward and back adjustment and some up and down adjustment but that’s all. It is a small, over-firm seat and it is a disappointment in what is, in fact, a well- appointed cabin layout.
The interior is a match for any of its direct competitors and the clear and simple layout of switches and dials makes life easy for the driver. Visibility is also excellent as the deep windows combined with a relatively high driver’s seat position mean there is hardly any of the area around the cab out of sight to the driver.
The model driven in this test included an optioned audio/camera/navigation system. This looks like a standard stereo but when turned on a screen folds out to give, initially, a large readout of the radio channel it is tuned into. This is useful but unremarkable.
However, when reverse gear is engaged the screen flicks over to an image from the rearwards facing camera fitted to the back of the body. This is a useful safety feature avoiding any problems with unaware pedestrians or obstacles in loading bays out of sight of the rear view mirrors.
After making the delivery the driver can then punch in the next delivery address and get en route directions from the satellite navigation system included in the package.
The handbrake is also retained from the previous model, but it can be a little confusing as it is shaped exactly the same as the typical car handbrake fitted to the millions of Holdens and Fords on our roads. It is, in fact, not a car handbrake but an airbrake switch. Anyone used to a car brake may try to lift the control at first (in a car this frees the ratchet) but, in fact, the first movement should be downwards to release the handbrake valve.
As it happens, even in the busy Sydney streets the handbrake is hardly ever used. Instead, it’s simply a matter of activating the so-called Easy Start system. This utilises the electronic braking control systems to take over the functions of a handbrake in on-road situations.
If, for example, the truck pulls up at traffic lights the driver brakes and then presses the clutch to take the truck out of gear. The Easy Start senses this and puts the brakes on automatically, sounding a small beep and illuminating an indicator on the dash. The brakes are now on, the driver does not have to touch anything and the truck will not move — freeing them up to read delivery notes, check the road atlas or take in the local scenery.
When the lights change the driver simply presses in the clutch to engage the setting-off gear and the brakes will remain on until the clutch is released. The truck sets off and continues on its way. The system is theoretically possible in any truck with electronic braking control but is not often optioned in, despite being a very useful tool in urban driving.
On the roads covered in this test passing through Coogee, Randwick and Bondi the Easy Start came into play over and over again in the hilly suburbs. Anything to enable a driver to concentrate on the road ahead and only having to think about pointing the truck in the right direction and progressing safely is valuable.
After half a day behind the wheel this driver got home in one piece without getting seriously lost despite keying in the wrong address on the satellite navigation. The ride was excellent, the air suspended rear end compensating for the driver’s seat. Good visibility, the lack of distractions in-cab for the driver and the very useful rear camera meant this was achieved safely.
Most of all the drive had been satisfying in terms of progress being made at all times and no compromises needed due to a shortage of power or torque. Most delivery drivers currently plying their trade with older Japanese equipment would be pleasantly surprised with the level of equipment and comfort in the cab plus the ease of use due to the extra power on tap.