Pedal to the metal

Day 7 is the day of turning around. Or in other words, beautiful I84 going east. And a new truck, the yellow safety truck Cascadia, that I can call mine for the next 4 days. Or should I say "ours" ? My fellow colleague and good friend Dave is joining me as a co-driver. It guarantees interesting conversation while being on the road, more driving hours per day and therefore getting back home to Michigan one day sooner and last but not least truck powertrain analysis. Dave and I share a common professional background of truck powertrain component matching and integration. Driving trucks is key to overall vehicle competence and coming up with a new ideas for future development. Nothing beats bouncing those ideas of another expert while experiencing present truck technology real time and first hand.

If you put two powertrain nuts together, the first thing they look at is the gearing of the truck - speed and rpm gauge. The yellow Cascadia is geared for 55 mph at 1375 rpm. For Oregon with a 55 mph speed limit that is quite OK. For our almost coast to coast trip, it is definitely not. A faster rear axle ratio would suit the truck really well.

Speaking of speeds and rpm's, the safety truck makes it all the more interesting. While driving, we discovered that the pedal controlled road speed is governed at 65 mph. Looking forward to driving the straight flats in Nebraska it is kind of, well, disappointing - at least from a perspective of getting home in time. It got even more interesting when I found out that the maximum set cruise speed with cruise control is governed at 60 mph. From a safety point of view, this is definitely and without a single doubt an excellent set up. 60 max at cruising, accelerating up to 65 with the pedal for conditions like passing another truck that is also cruising at or near 60.

Not only is it good for safety, it is also great for fuel efficiency. I had already found out last week how much of an effect speed has on fuel economy. Governed road speeds and cruise control set speeds make you drive in a very fuel efficient way.

Knowing all of this, it also means that your maximum speed is 65 mph and that you can only hold that speed with the right foot, not with the cruise control button. In other words : pedal to the metal.

The yellow Cascadia is equipped with a 10 speed automated manual transmission - Eaton Ultrashift. Easy and comfy to drive and absolutely interesting to watch how it shifts. I filmed it going up a hill and mountain just to show you how far it lugs the engine down. And with the DD15 and its great driveable torque range down to 1000 rpm, this is absolutely perfect. Eaton and Detroit Diesel worked hand in hand to create the perfectly fuel efficient shift map for the DD15's fuel map. And the results are impressive. Detroit Diesel takes powertrain integration very, very serious.

Miguel