I'll agree the tractor units are unnecessarily long, though the longer tractor the less likely it is to jacknife due to the increase in the offset angle to the front wheels due to displacement of the driving wheels being inversely proportional to the wheelbase.
And lets be honest, they do look a damn site nicer plus the sleeper cabs are actually worthy of the name rather than just being a cramped cupboard with some bunks in which is the best you'll get with euro trucks.
No they don't, they look stupid. Plus not only is there the wasted space where they seem to want to put the engine, there's usually a shitload of wasted space *behind* the cab, too, before you reach the trailer.
Well its a matter of personal taste. Frankly I think euro trucks look fugly from any angle.
Locating the engine under a proper bonnet means you don't have to tip up the entire cab to do maintenance. Imagine if you want to change the plugs on your car and had to lift up the entire body first before you could do it? A pretty stupid and impractical scenario you have to admit. We used to have bonneted trucks here in the UK back in the day before presumably various length regulations killed them off.
Yes, I never really understood the point of that either.
What would you do with all that space that is wasted? Once it is recovered, perhaps we can cut a few miles out of the middle of the country and make it more narrow. No reason to have it 3000 miles wide.
Drive from say, Denver CO to Phoenix AZ in one of your rigs, then one of ours and let us know your choice.
Put more trucks in it, of course.
If the length provides an advantage it doesn't "wate" space - it just "occupies" space - and a vert small fraction of the total road.
Deive both across the continebt and then tell me which is the "better" design. The long wheelbase "conventional" is a much more comfortable and capable transcontinental truck - while the euro style COE is better for intown deliveries and tooting around winding back-country lanes - which is why "different horses for different courses" comes into play.
Makes it a sight easier to back the truck with the longer offset and less likely to jacknife - plus the long wheelbase gives a much better "ride"
Ir New Jersry to San Diego - or Halifax to Vancouver.
I get all that, but in north america the trailer kingpins seem to be right on the end of the trailers instead of inset somewhat as they are here in the UK. Having an inset pin also reduces the chance of jackknifing plus it reduces the overall length and makes the trailer easier to manouveur.
You've not driven a Matiz with two adults and 3 children in have you?
SteveW
I was recently on a motorway in Spain with a 6% gradient. I was beginning to think I might have to change out of top. Most of the locals with smallish diesel engines were slowing down.
But usually, it's power to weight that matters for acceleration. Even a small car these days will do 100, which implies it's only using about a third of its power to maintain 70.
Andy
Another BIG issue is load distribution - getting the truck loaded and adjusted so no axle is overloaded. "spread" spreads the load more evenly over the road - and adjustable trailer axles and adjustable fifth wheel position is VERY common on North American highway rigs. Moving the fith wheel a foot can REALLY change the axle loading of the tractor, and moving the trailer axles also has a HUGE sffect
There is a good reason Daiwoo calls it a "city car". You know what it rhymes with, right??
Admittedly not. The 1.0 ought to do it but the 0.8 would probably only manage 60. Even if you have driven one loaded like that I doubt you tried jostling in the outside lane.
Unless one is utterly skint why would anyone buy such an ugly unpowered POS like a Matiz? I presume you bought it second hand and not new when you could have got a much larger car 2nd hand for the same price?
Fair point. In the UK/EU AFAIK all normal trailer kingpins are in fixed positions and the axles certainly are.
Definitely "last century" design. The advantages of shiftable trailer axles (and even adjustable spread on some) as well as adjustable fifth wheel position on the tractor far outweigh the issues of added complexity
I'm not going to defend the EU over their vehicle specification limits. However in the UK tractor units can have lifting axles in case of heavy loads. They don't seem to have that across the channel and I don't know if thats due to their laws or simply due to the lower max loads over there (44 tons UK,
38 tons rest of EU iirc).
But if they go faster they're saving space, as they occupy it for less time.
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