An attractive facelift along with interior changes – most notably the move to dash-mounted gearshift controls – are obvious highlights of the new Stralis range. But the revisions are more than skin deep, as PAUL MATTHEI discovered after taking the wheel of a flagship AS-L model for a fully loaded B-double drive between Melbourne and Sydney.
We first laid eyes on examples of the updated Stralis range at Trucks In Action early last year but it was to be another eight months before the opportunity arrived for a true seat of the pants appraisal following a drive up the Hume Highway from Melbourne to Sydney in a top-of-the-line high-roof AS-L version.
Superseding the original Stralis flagship known as AS13 (Active Space with Cursor 13 engine), the AS-L shares its predecessor’s overall cab width of 2.5 metres while extra length has been added to the cab to allow for wider sleeper berths – hence the ‘L’ designation. In fact, according to Iveco the cab interior features 20 percent more volume and with a lower bunk mattress measuring 2020 x 746 x 85 mm, nobody short of Michael Jordan should have any reason to complain about having insufficient space for sleeping.
In the all-important performance stakes, the Cursor 13 engine has been tweaked to produce a strong peak torque figure of 1840 lb ft (2495 Nm) between 1000 and 1575 rpm while the 560 hp (418 kW) comes in at 1575 rpm and continues unabated through to 1900 rpm. It’s equipped with a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) emission control system in order to comply with the ADR 80/02 emissions law that came into effect in this country a year ago. This uses a liquid urea solution known as AdBlue which is injected in a finely metered dose into the exhaust system downstream of the engine.
The solution subsequently reacts with harmful nitrogen oxide in the exhaust gas, converting it into harmless water vapour and nitrogen gas. The exhaust system also includes a horizontal catalytic muffler with integrated SCR catalyser.
Bolted to the back of the engine is the well proven ZF EuroTronic II automated transmission featuring 16 forward ratios stretching from a low of 14.12:1 to an overdrive top of 0.83:1 and two reverse gears of 13.07 and 10.8:1.
Aside from incremental increases in both power and torque ratings, the engine and transmission ... Next Page
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