It’s big, it’s black - and with the new Stralis, Iveco clearly thinks that this time it has the truck to give it the market share it needs in the European heavy tractor sector. Revealed rather modestly in Monte Carlo yesterday at the tail end of an event that celebrated the Italian truck maker’s sponsorship of New Zealand rugby team the All Blacks, the new Stralis will make its UK debut at the Birmingham Truck Show later this year.
Despite the low-key roll-out, the new Stralis has a cab that has been seriously tweaked both inside and out. On the outside, everything below the windscreen is different, with the adoption of a new front grille and panel allowing more room for sign-writing plus a revised front bumper and headlight cluster. Above the screen is a sleeker, more aerodynamic roof moulding with two new roof-height options known as ‘Cube’ and ‘Super Cube’ providing up to 115mm more standing room and extra storage space - although the cab floor remains unchanged.
Other outside changes include new mirror clusters (in line with the latest EU regs) and a sun visor integrated into the more distinctly curving cab profile. The new Stralis also gains large exterior lockers on both sides of the cab complete with bigger apertures.
While Iveco’s minders at were adamant that the doors on the sole 500hp display model were staying firmly shut ahead of the official European launch next month, Roadtransport.com was still able to uncover plenty of secrets about the significant interior changes to the Stralis cab.
By extending the cab’s rear wall by 100mm with a noticeable bulge (as with the Actros) the bunks are now wider, providing more shoulder room, and there is also more rearward adjustment on the seats. The previous floor-mounted, swivelling EuroTronic gear-selector console has now been replaced - Iveco has followed Daf’s lead and created a mode selector switch in the dash while manual changes can now be made by a column-mounted lever. Along with improved carpet trim and seating materials and revised lockers over the windscreen, the latest Iveco tractor has clearly had a serious interior makeover.
However, underneath the hood the current Iveco Euro-4 and Euro-5 driveline based around the 10 and 13-litre Cursor engines will remain unchanged for the time being - although for Euro-6, Iveco is promising to bring out a true 600hp+ ‘big-banger’ engine with a larger displacement than the current top-of-the-range Cursor 13 with its maximum rating of 560hp.
Speaking to truck journalists at the launch of the All Blacks sponsorship deal, Iveco boss Paolo Monferino confirmed that Iveco was capable of matching the kind of engine power and torque offerings delivered by Volvo and Scania from their 16-litre engines. However he insisted that the demand for that kind of power is limited, although demand could be accelerated if there is more usage of longer, heavier vehicles (60t/25.25m) within the EU.
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