Premium Rate Lander
In addition to completing our Scottish test route at a swift rate of knots, Renault’s 8x4 Euro 5, Premium Lander 410.32 also had some subtle surprises in store for our man at the wheel. John Henderson reports back on a truck with a real rateable value. IT’S FAIR to say that the Renault Trucks range is slightly underrated in the UK. Yes, when it comes to the glamour image stakes, some Scandinavian and other European builders seem to score highly, but in these challenging times let’s stop for a second and be realistic. Every day road transport requires a well designed motor which is practical, reliable and fit for purpose. Renault’s Premium range has always fitted this bill and for that reason I’m always pleasantly surprised when I climb onboard behind the diamond on one of these vehicles. With the Premium Lander, I think it’s the small subtle and clever touches which make these French built camions stand out from the crowd. Someone within the factory design team has obviously either consulted experienced drivers as to what they require, or spent a considerable amount of hours behind the wheel researching. It takes a full day behind the wheel of the Renault to really appreciate all the clever touches and with the way these trucks grow on you, I suspect this manufacturer’s demonstrator fleet really sells itself. For harsh muckaway operation Renault’s Kerax is well proven with many Scottish operators, but the only downside of this virtually unbreakable rigid was its weight. The Lander range offers 31 different wheelbase options over four rigid and two tractor unit types, powered by a quintet of engine choices rated between 280 and 450hp. Although it weighs a fair bit less than its Kerax cousin, the Lander is no pushover in service and combines superb on road driving manners with the ability to go off road regularly when required. Whilst on my morning ‘walk round checks’ the first impression gained is of a seriously robust vehicle which, with its high mounted cab and chassis components, gives the impression of being adept on rocky or alluvial surfaces. Our steed had a Thompson’s Sandmaster, single skin aluminium body fitted, which featured Edbro CX15 hydraulics and a pneumatic Auto-Loc tailgate. Up top, a Sheet Pro front to rear boom system kept a cover over the load of 20.436 tonnes of sharp sand and, finishing the 8x4 rigid off nicely, were a full set of Alcoa DuraBrite alloy wheels - that incidentally shave a useful 180kg off the unladen overall weight. Setting off from the usual Abington point at junction 13’s Welcome Break facility, my passenger Neil Attwaters, Renault’s demonstration supremo, and I faced the rather unusual prospect of a strong northerly air flow hitting the windscreen. Although tipper work is not all about fuel consumption figures, my own personal objective for each Transport News test is to try and achieve the best diesel return from every truck. The 90 minutes up to Perth saw us fight the headwind, which undoubtedly dented the final mpg average of 7.92mpg. Sod’s law was at work on this initial sector too, when the fuel flow meter packed up for the day, but thankfully we always do a back up, before and after measured tank to tank, using the same pump at the services area. With more than 400hp on tap, the legal cruising speed for a 32 tonner was quickly reached. For once, a clear run was enjoyed on the first sector’s motorway sections and full use was made of the push button cruise control. Renault have got this foot freeing device’s set up spot on when dealing with over speeds, as the automatic engine brake cut in and no brake use disengagement (above set speed) made progress as uncomplicated as possible. Both the Perthshire timed hill climbs were tackled without fuss or incident by the Lander and on both ascents the engine dug in well, with the Optidriver+ gearbox correctly deciding that a down drop of two cogs to the 10th ratio would suffice. The six cylinder in-line diesel includes a high pressure fuel injection system (2,000 bars) and a 24 valve head with overhead camshaft. Producing 410hp at 1,900rpm, whilst delivering 1,900nm of torque from 1,100 to 1,400rpm, the unit was enthusiastic and gutsy at all times, setting some great journey times in the process. Euro 5 emissions for this unit are courtesy of the SCR electronically injected, post treatment process and for the 198.1 miles of our trial, 6.62 litres of the blue stuff were consumed, which works out at a good figure of 5.8% of diesel used, or 133.51mpg in old money! Even with a vertical exhaust stack fitted behind the driver’s seat, the engine noise was not intrusive at all and the performance of the exhaust brake was arguably the best tested to date. After the summit of the south easterly climb away from Perth’s Broxden roundabout on the M90, the road immediately plummets down to junction ten which contains a sharp corner if you want to head back to Fife or the south. I always use this long descent as a gauge on retarder or exhaust brake performance and the Premium Lander was the first truck ever trialled to reduce its speed to the advised 40mph on this bend, without the additional use of the service brake. My headline notes on the Optidriver+ gearbox, simply said, ‘is this the quickest auto shift on the market?’ In addition to its speed, the system also continually delivered super smooth shifts, whilst having an almost uncanny ability to pick the right gear every time. Never once did I need to manually pre-select a cog and the electronic management really let the engine dig deep and lug right down to just a shade above 1,000rpm before downshifting. Although there’s a throttle kickdown power mode, it was never required on the day and in place of the tortoise manoeuvring switch, which is used in most tarmac only trucks, there’s an off-road switch that provides first gear start off, altered throttle responses and single ratio gearshifts on less than solid ground. Back at the business end two final drive axles, with a combined capacity of 26 tonnes, delivered the drive smoothly and quietly. These hypoid double reduction units had a ratio of 3.7:1 and benefited from cross and inter-axle diff locks. The basic trim day cab fitted to our test vehicle proved to be a great place to do a full shift’s work. Instrumentation is good, with most of the ancillary switches neatly located in the angled dash panel to the left of the main binnacle. I like the simple but effective dashboard display of the Premium range, particularly the digital speedometer readout which can be easily changed from kph to mph. This feature allows precise monitoring of your progress, particularly within built up areas and therefore the police speed camera van which monitored us in the village of Gateside, posed no concern at all. In addition to a duo of chunky coat hooks on the rear cab wall, soft trim and a good supply of storage cupboards are complemented by a useable space behind both seats. ‘Top notch’ is how I remarked on visibility levels from the Lander’s driving seat and the relatively wide mounted mirror arms, together with the design of the glazing offer up really good views. Adding confidence to the positive visual experience, the mirrors themselves and the useful gap between the lenses is enough to spot any other road user who’s just about to enter the small blind spot. Leaving Fife after a competent run, we collected a five minute stoppage at The Forth Road Bridge, while a large load crossed. Despite the hold-up, the Premium Lander still posted a time of one hour and seven minutes, a good 180 seconds quicker than the usual schedule! I had commented throughout the run on the Renault’s good steering lock and a wee experiment in the empty lorry park at South Queensferry confirmed my suspicions. On either full lock, this eight wheeler’s turning circle was remarkably narrow and in restricted space, site work drivers will find this a real boon. The Premium Lander’s many qualities grew on me throughout the run and by the time we reached our A702 ‘sting in the tail’ section back to Abington via Biggar, I was in full flow with this accomplished vehicle. Another two minute delay on the Edinburgh City Bypass, due to traffic volumes, again made absolutely no difference to the last leg’s recorded time. The big climbs around the side of the Pentland Hills between Lothianburn and Carlops were stormed by the Renault and the lowest gear required here was eighth. With good dry roads and light traffic conditions, I pushed the steel suspension hard on a few of the tighter corners and it reacted predictably, staying well within its limits. Fully loaded tippers usually deliver some slight understeer on the sharper curves and the Lander was no different, although never did it feel out of retrievable control. The brakes too get a good working on this route and the all round discs passed every test with flying colours. Pedal travel is reassuringly short and easy to gauge and these anchors also benefit from ABS, ASR and hill start assist. The parking brake is located beside the driver’s seat in a small console and my preference would be to have it moved onto the angled dashboard, as you have to fumble around a bit to locate the lever. After a full day’s testing, I left the Renault Premium Lander truly gobsmacked by its many qualities. Yes, I expected a competent drive from it, but I didn’t realise just how quickly this truck would grow on me and imprint its superb design into my psyche. Testament to my opinions is the many Renault eight wheeled tippers, I’ve seen over the years, working in some of Scotland’s harshest environments. My advice to anyone who’s never considered one of these Landers is, just take a demonstration drive for a day and you’ll soon realise the premium rating of Renault.