Payback Time

International Truck and Engine spent a bundle creating its new workhorse truck, and it shows. The program has been nearly five years in development and cost the company more than $900 million US. Time will tell, of course, but a good look and a brief test drive during the vehicle’s Las Vegas introduction suggest a promising future.

Marketed as “high performance” trucks, the new International 4000, 7000, and 8000 series are complete replacements for the truck maker’s 4000 medium-duty, 2000 severe-duty, and 8000 heavy-duty model lines. The 4000 series trucks are aimed at P&D, utility, and similar applications.

The 4300 and 4400 models with the DT 466 in-line six-cylinder engine (replacing the two existing 4900 trucks) are available in early April, others arriving either late this year or in 2002. The 4200 with the DT 530 V-8 engine won’t be available until next year.

Next up is the 8500 tractor, a light-heavy tandem-axle tractor for regional hauls. It will be available for order in May, with full production in October. Then it’s the 7000 series, severe-service vocations like construction, government, and waste hauling with options like PTOs, driven steer axles, and-for the first time-factory-installed lift axles. It will be available for order this summer, and will go into full production in December.

Radical Redesign:

Key new features are led by a multiplexed electrical system, a substantially reduced selection of engine/transmission options, an excellent steel cab, and what seems to be first-rate handling.

The multiplexing, in which one wire carries many signals, is an industry first and it’s going to make all manner of things easier-from installing complex bodies to troubleshooting. The system is effectively a closed loop, not a raft of job-specific wires with beginnings and ends. In fact, there’s 40% less actual wiring than in the previous model. The system ties together the engine, transmission, and antilock brake system, along with the dashboard and many other components and sub-systems. The electronics are integrated and managed by the “ESC,” or electrical system controller, which incorporates-hurrah!-the flasher unit along with relays and fuses.

The dashboard is fully electronic, with plug-in gauges and no wires or tubing behind the faceplate. Switches can be added in plug-in blocks of six or 12, their functions defined by the “EZ Tech” handheld tool on the spot. The use of mechanical switches has been cut by 80%. That tool manages diagnostics, too, which are decidedly advanced and promise a 20% reduction in figure-it-out time. The cruise-control switches double as an on-board diagnostic tool and display fault codes through the odometer!

On the powertrain front, “radical” is the word for the databook changes. Your choices in engine/transmission combinations are down from 800 to just 34: the two International engines plus a few Eaton Fuller manual transmissions, a single TTC seven-speed, two Allison automatics, and Eaton’s AutoClutch six-speed, a two-pedal version of the AutoShift, expected by year-end.

International says these 34 combinations of engines and gears have been “optimized” and can adequately cover every application out there-a strong claim. International and Allison did indeed work together to optimize shifting with the Allison 2000 and 3000 series automatics. The truck maker calls it “Intuitive Shifting.” Proprietary shift calibrations mean the engine and transmission work as a team, adapting to throttle, load, and driving conditions to emulate the skills of an expert driver-shifting early under a light load, for example.

Roomy Inside:

Compared with what it replaces, the cab is wider by a couple of inches and adds 4 1/2 inches of belly room and a bit of headroom, as well. All of that conspires with 44% more glass area to create a spacious feeling. Entry/egress are made easy with offset steps, though the door doesn’t open terribly wide. Not a problem, really, because the door is well placed as part of a safe, three-point climb in. Individual seats replace the old bench, and cloth is optional upholstery. The driver also will enjoy 100% more air conditioning capacity and 200% more heating/defrosting power.

The best part of the cab may be its construction. Having sought advice and assembled talent from several car-makers, International is building the new truck’s cab to what it calls “world class tolerances,” meaning lap joints are accurate to within plus-or-minus one millimetre. International claims the cab is 33% quieter than current trucks, and up to 50% better with the premium interior. This is one good reason why.

My brief test drives in several 4000 models on a closed low-speed course marked by pylons (including an abrupt forced lane change and other handling challenges), demonstrated superb handling.

A new front suspension with taper-leaf springs and the addition of rubber auxiliary springs up front and out back, plus a new power-steering pump with twice the strength of previous models, combined to create response. The 50-degree wheel cut makes for a very tight turning circle (40-1/2 feet wall-to-wall with a 254-inch wheelbase).

Pending a proper test drive, which is promised soon, the new International seems to be a fine truck. Canadian dealers who were among the 2300 people attending its launch obviously think so. They bought thousands of the new trucks on the spot-150% of what International expected. A pretty good sign.