Grade-A Truck

Let’s cut to the chase: I’ve had cars that didn’t handle as well as this little truck. Not my Ferrari, of course, nor my ‘Vette, but plenty of others. I’m exaggerating, as you’ll suspect, but not really about the truck.

Hino Motors’ class-4 FA1517 is good for a GVW rating of 15,000 pounds or 6800 kilograms, which puts it in a skinny but growing market dominated by class-3 cube vans built on a Ford or GM chassis. Among offshore suppliers, only the Japanese have entered the North American fray with a genuine class-4 truck, and Hino is alone in Canada.

Hino’s FA started attracting interest soon after it debuted here last fall at the Truck World 2000 show in Toronto. After a day spent with it on some ugly January streets, I can see why. It’s nimble, surprisingly quick even with an automatic gearbox, and, while it’s anything but luxurious, it feels awfully well made.

That feeling of quality should come as no surprise. You may know that until Toyota moved its pickup truck and 4×4 production to the U.S. a few years ago, Hino built all Toyota trucks-and the Tercel-at one of its three plants in Japan since 1968. Toyota owns 33% of Hino, and the latter still builds a class-3/4 truck for the larger firm that we don’t see over here, at least not yet. In fact, that model goes both ways, badged either Toyota or Hino.

Urban Animal:

Given that the FA will see service in decidedly urban situations, I drove it from suburban Mississauga into downtown Toronto on a typically busy weekday morning. I chose a tough route, first running south from Highway 401 all the way down to the Lakeshore on Dufferin Street. If you’re looking for polite motoring habits in other drivers, this ain’t the place to be. I tooled around downtown for a while, then tried some urban expressways and a few two-lane country roads before calling it a day. The FA seemed quite happy in any kind of traffic.

Surprising Performance:

Intrigued to find the optional Allison AT542 automatic in the test truck, I first wondered if this would be a dog in performance terms with just four gears and a leisurely first-cog ratio of 3.45:1. The standard transmission is a five-speed manual with a 7.462:1 first-gear ratio. Neither one uses an overdrive top gear.

It wasn’t a dog at all, in fact, though I should make it clear that the 16-foot MultiVans box out back was empty. A load might not make all that difference, in truth, because the engine powering the FA is the same one found in some of Hino’s larger offerings-the turbocharged four-cylinder JO5C-TD diesel. It pumps 168 horsepower and 366 pound feet of torque (at 2500 and 1500 rpm respectively) out of its 5.3-litre displacement. That’s a fair bit of juice for a small truck like this.

And that power, specifically the torque, is one reason why the FA felt so nimble. Combined with not-too-soft power steering and a suspension system (taper-leaf springs all round) that felt sure-footed, it allowed me to fling the truck about in the city almost like I do my van. Darting into traffic openings, I had to remind myself that I wasn’t driving the Plymouth.

Curbing my enthusiasm is a matter for the brakes, of course, and in this case they’re hydraulic drums with ABS, standard. They worked fine in my unloaded state, though the pedal was very stiff. It’s not that I needed to create a lot of hydraulic pressure to get them working, simply that the linkage has too much resistance built in. I might say the same about the throttle.

Once slowed down and into manoeuvre-mode, an astonishingly tight turning circle was evident-a swept radius of just 24 feet with the test truck, which had the longest of three wheelbases offered (152 inches, the others being 115 and 134.6). Match that against domestic conventionals and this little cabover’s urban abilities look good. Being a cabover, it has the advantage of excellent vision to the front and sides, with minimal blindspots. I would have liked power mirror adjustment, however.

The steel cab is spartan, but roomy and bright. There’s three-abreast seating with the middle backrest folding down to become a sort of desk, with cup-holders built in. But lo and behold, there are two pull-out cupholders on the dash as well. Gauges aren’t numerous-a big tach and speedo with smaller fuel and temperature dials-but there are lots of HVAC vents and storage on the header above the windshield. Air conditioning is an option.

Getting in and out of this low cabover was easy, with just one step in front of the wheel well and a well-placed grab handle on the A-pillar. One minor gripe has to do with the floor covering, a slippery vinyl. On my rainy/snowy test day, my right shoe slipped on this stuff almost every time I got in.

All in all, Hino’s FA is a mighty good little truck. With the over-spec’d Allison AT542 and the big 5.3-litre diesel, both designed for 30,000-pound-GVW applications, it should last about forever. (Hino owners keep their trucks seven to 10 years on average, incidentally.)

The folks at Hino Canada think it’s an easy step into class 4 for people now using domestic class-3 step and cube vans. The price differential, I’m told, is actually pretty small. Gets more compelling all the time.