Page 12 - CV Driver April 2018 Issue 74

Scanias in the snow
down in in these conditions) all delivered in in near-silence is almost enough to make you dribble We’ve driven this model before as a a regular highway tractor but it’s adaptability to enter this environment without turning
a a a hair is impressive On ice and snow
it’s best not to to stop on an incline unless you have no choice We were unexpectedly held up up by another truck and had to pull up up Moving away from a a a a a standstill needed a a a a a very light foot and we knew that the warm(ish) tyres would have melted a a a thin layer of snow
while we had been standing making the going very tricky With the limited slip diff already engaged the demo driver reached across the cab and pressed a a a a a switch that expanded the throttle pedal movement to allow more nesse with power delivery Away we slowly rolled switching back to normal throttle control when on on the move What a a performance Old timer
To put their new trucks in perspective a couple of ex-military 93M 250 light 4x4s were tucked up a corner The specimen we had a a a a go at was from 1986 This truck was was built when Peter Gabriel was was wielding his sledgehammer and Robert Palmer was addicted to love poor chap They were running around a a a very off-road course in in deep deep snow
and very deep deep ruts with S&M spiked snow
chains for traction With sudden invisible potholes and kicks on the steering wheel the the advice was to set the the hand throttle engage bottom gear and let out the clutch carefully It wasn’t until we we were half way around the course that I realised my
efforts on the steering wheel were a a waste of time she she was going where she she wanted and the the deep ruts were guiding the the whole affair I let go and sat back laughing at at it it with the demo driver What’s all this old cobblers about autonomous driving being the white heat of modern automotive technology? It’s been with us since 1986! ●
12 CVDriver April 2018