We road test the latest new product introductions to Australia by UD and Hino Trucks.

UD Trucks

UD Trucks now has automated manuals or fully automatic transmissions across its entire model range, putting it ahead of most of its competitors. The newest additions are an automated manual in the new GK400 4x2 prime mover and Eaton's Autoshift in the GW 6x4.

The GK400 is a one-model introduction, aimed at the 36 tonne GCM market that's led by empty container movement and car carrying vocations. There's also light-duty, B-Double certification available.

The GK400 is powered by a detuned version of the GW400's turbocharged and intercooled 13 litre engine, delivering 390hp at 1800rpm and 1716Nm of torque at 1100rpm. This engine variant is under-stressed, delivering 460hp and 2255Nm in the GW470 6x4 model.

The GK400's rear end has a Euro-type, four-bag, electronically controlled air suspension (ECAS), with remote height adjustment.

The new GK400 introduces UD's Easy Safe COntrolled Transmission (ESCOT) - a semi-automated nine-speed. This transmission is the only one offered in the GK400 and is intended to make stop-start driving easier. Like Eaton's Autoshift the ESCOT box requires the driver to operate the clutch only when starting and stopping, but, unlike Autoshift, requires the driver to select successive gears using an 'upshift and downshift' lever.

In addition to its semi-automated transmission the GK400 is fitted with EHS (Easy Hill Start). This device holds wheel brake line pressure, relieving the driver's right foot when the truck is stopped. The brakes release when the clutch takes up.

For the heavier duty GW models UD Trucks has been testing Eaton Autoshifts for the past 12 months, ensuring the product was refined and bug-free for its 2009 release.

Sydney to Mudgee in the new trucks

Our first test mount was in a GW470 Automated prime mover, hauling a fully loaded tri-axle curtain-side trailer. Once the truck started to climb the steep grades in the Blue Mountains we noticed some slight hesitation after downshifts, but the box didn't over-react by hunting for a lower gear. The hesitation in response is caused by the engine's emission control system and takes a little getting used to.

UD's hard work in matching the engine to the self-shifting transmission has paid off, because the UD/Autoshift pairing makes the best Autoshift installation I've driven to date. For hilly work, however, the GW470 would be improved by a proper engine brake or a driveline retarder.

Our next mount was the new GK400 with ESCOT, coupled to a drop-deck tri-axle flat-top.

To start off the ESCOT worked just like an Autoshift: select the lift-off gear with a spring-loaded stubby lever, or let the default gear take over; ease the clutch until rolling and then hop on the gas pedal. At this point the ESCOT differs from the Autoshift, because to select the next gear the driver needs to push the selector lever forward.

The ESCOT computer synchronises engine speed to transmission speed and slave cylinders make the shift.

To effect a downshift the lever is flicked backwards, so the lever action is the same as with Tiptronic-style car automatics. Skip shifting can be done by depressing the 'SPL' button on the top of the lever.

Picking the correct gear when approaching a corner or an intersection is simple: flick the lever across the gate into 'N' and then back to its spring-loaded central position.

The beauty of these automated-shift heavy trucks is that they can be handled with minimal training by drivers coming out of synchromesh-transmission medium trucks.

Hino's Hybrid commitment

The latest Hino Hybrid is based on the FC medium truck and follows the success of the first Hino Hybrid, the 300.

The FC test vehicle was a Japanese domestic-market vehicle that's unlikely to be released here in exactly this specification, but the electric components in the FC - battery pack, wiring and motor/generator module - are identical to those in the 300 Hybrid. The difference is that the diesel engine is the more powerful JO5D-H1, with claimed figures of 132kW (180PS) at 2800rpm and 490Nm at 1600rpm.

The running gear on this truck was impressive: taper-leaf springs front and rear and four-wheel air/hydraulic disc brakes. It had also been fitted with an optional ISRI adjustable seat and satellite navigation.

Like the 300 Hybrid the FC can be driven with much lower engine revolutions than a conventional truck, providing an opportunity for considerable fuel savings. It also has the idle-stop feature that shuts down the engine during traffic delays.

We averaged 5km/L (20L/100km) on a stop-start city cycle in this brand new truck at seven tonnes test gross mass.

The trick to economical driving was short-shifting the Hino Hybrid, so that the engine operated as much as possible in the green zone - 1000rpm up to 1800rpm. It takes practice to get used to the lack of engine noise at low revs, but there's no lack of grunt when the electric motor cuts in.

Drivers also need training in the idle-stop function, because it's eerie when the engine cuts out. The engine restarts every time the clutch pedal is depressed, but drivers need to be shown how the system works.

Kia success

Kia light trucks compete in a segment that has been dominated in recent years by the Ford Transit and VW Transporter tray truck models. However, since the company introduced the more potent 2900 model, at a price less than that of most utes - which have around half the real-world payload of the Kia - sales have taken off. In June 2009 the Kia 2900 achieved more than 50 per cent of the sales in its segment.