We drive Hino’s safest truck ever: the 700 Series
We drive Hino’s safest truck ever: the 700 Series
Hino’s new 700 Series truck is the company’s safest truck ever, as COLIN WINDELL discovers when climbing behind the wheel.
The sudden flash of red brake lights and a vehicle slowing – or skidding to a stop – is something most drivers fear. But, for a truck driver carrying a full load, this is worst nightmare territory.
Now, while it is nothing new or unique, Hino is justifiably proud of the fact the new 700 Series ships with autonomous braking as part of the standard package. This is just one of the many new features found in this locally assembled truck, which competes in the extra-heavy vehicle category.
Autonomous braking works in conjunction with cruise control and the front-mounted camera and radar. When a vehicle ahead slows down, the truck reacts by decelerating via the inbuilt retarder and intarder systems and, if necessary, applying the brakes.
In normal traffic situations the truck will slow to a stop as traffic grinds to a halt, before automatically accelerating as the gap between it and the vehicle in front opens up to a safe distance. FOCUS experienced this in action in a safe environment and came away extremely relieved: even when the vehicle in front braked harshly, the speed and efficiency of the system kept the entire rig in a perfectly straight line, slowing it enough to avoid a crash.
A major feature of the Hino 700 is the cabin ambience and comfort: something akin to a luxury SUV – only bigger. Much of this revolves around the driver’s seat, which is now air-sprung to practically eliminate any bounce or shake on questionable road surfaces.
The seatbelt is integrated into the seat (as opposed to being attached to the cab itself) so there is no compromise or discomfort for the driver when the seat is moved forward, because the belt moves with it.
Another aid for the driver is the carefully positioned array of mirrors. We had a chance to see just how well these worked while navigating a slalom course on the skidpan at Zwartkops Raceway. Correctly positioned mirrors virtually eliminate any blind spot and allow the driver to very accurately manoeuvre the vehicle around obstacles – even if they are just plastic cones.
Part of the skidpan course allowed for a demonstration of the Hino 700’s impressively tight turning circle – as well as its stopping ability on a wet surface – with the standard anti-lock braking system working overtime.
For fleet owners, Hino has launched the 700 with an improved service interval of 40,000km (based on operation) along with a three-year unlimited kilometres driveline warranty and an expectation that the service plan cents/km cost will be around R0.37 over 480,000km.
There are three derivative options for the new 700: a tipper, a freight carrier, and two truck tractor variants. These are aimed at construction, mining, FCMG, and regional haul business operations. Sales and support comes via 65 dealers nationwide, who recently voted Hino to its fifth Platinum Award in the national Dealer Satisfaction Index competition.
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