Idiots + cars = LOL

aah, yeah, those mirrors is what i thought of.
Most trucks in Europe is a flat nose, so they can carry more cargo, there's a limited amount of length a truck can be on the road, so without a huge nose, they can take more cargo, as the trailer can be longer instead.
We also put engines in our trucks :p



Front view mirrors are mandatory here, they actualy work very well......then again if you are stupid enough to get so close to a trucks frontend the driver can't see you you deserve everything that will happen next, and no, you will not notice an ecobox stuck to the front of it......other people will get annoyed though.

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meanwhile the guy being kidnapped in the back is desperately waiting to hear the sirens that indicate his imminent rescue :eek:
 
AiR, how the hell did you find that video of the guys in the bridge?!? :lol:
 
We also put engines in our trucks :p

Yeah, this is strange. The US is known for big and powerful passenger cars (and pickups) but in the truck market it seems to be the other way around. American semis seem to top out at around 500 horses. They're also not very big compared to our cab-over-engine big rigs.

The range-topping Volvo FH right now extracts 750 horses from its 16 liter i6, and Scania isn't far behind with 730 horses from its 16 liter V8. I guess fuel prices are forcing us to try to shift as much cargo as possible per drop of diesel fuel. This means bigger loads and more powerful/efficient engines.
 
There's a big distinction between normal point-to point trucks, which are quite small, and cross-country long haulers, which are massive and scary. I can't find much info about it but I've seen quite a few of these on the road, I believe one company has a fleet of them:

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But that's just an example.
 
Yeah, this is strange. The US is known for big and powerful passenger cars (and pickups) but in the truck market it seems to be the other way around. American semis seem to top out at around 500 horses. They're also not very big compared to our cab-over-engine big rigs.

The range-topping Volvo FH right now extracts 750 horses from its 16 liter i6, and Scania isn't far behind with 730 horses from its 16 liter V8. I guess fuel prices are forcing us to try to shift as much cargo as possible per drop of diesel fuel. This means bigger loads and more powerful/efficient engines.

You can for example get a 15.6l Detroit Diesel with 600hp over there :dunno:
 
It's not the horsepower that they care about, but torque. There is also, once again, stricter emissions controls on US market engines than are in Europe in this class - some of your engine makers are offering those engines here, and once they're EPA 2010 compliant, well, they don't make 700+ HP any more either. That Volvo D16 Perc mentioned above is a 500-550hp class engine here, not 700. Which is less than the Cummins ISX15 inline six or Detroit Diesel DD16. More importantly the thing only produces 1850lb/ft of torque - the ISX15 produces over 2000 (2050, to be exact.)

Also, our over-the-road rigs are much, much larger than your COE types, especially the types with sleepers. See the Freightliner Century Class, just to name one.

This is a "daycab" model intended for short hauls, hot-shot duty, local usage, that sort of thing.
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These are sleeper cab models intended for interstate service and long hauls. Something like this is what we usually think of when someone says "semi tractor".
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They can get larger than that, too.
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Wow, you can put a lot of meth and dead hookers in one of those! :p
 
Must spread some Hookers and Blow around....
 
AiR, how the hell did you find that video of the guys in the bridge?!? :lol:

It wasn't as exotic as I'd like it to be, altough I'd like to have said I had to wade through the Amazon to get it one of the largest car magasines put it on their front page. Gutsy driver in that Volvo.


I watched American Loggers yesterday, a show that despite airing on Discovery isnt completely shit. Strip away all the re-enactments and you're left with a pretty decent show. I think Discovery couldnt find a way to get the Pelletiers to act according to the Discovery Scripted Drama? that they usually use to ruin all their shows. Anyway, those trucks they use are tiny, but more importantly, in a situation where you're hauling logs (that should be better stacked, honestly) in the forest during (dangerously long) night sessions, those guys need more lights! The boss man with the fancy truck has extra lights and some of the others but a few only have the standard craptacular lights. The darkness ahead from within the cab in some of them are apparent.

Trucks need lights like mars needs women (alot!).


Decent amount of lights for logging.

Also why do Discovery have "American Loggers" (which seems to be in Canada mostly?) and "Swamp Loggers"? Do you guys have "Discovery Logging" or something? Actually, it'd probably be better than regular Discovery Drama?.

Bonus video
 
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It's not the horsepower that they care about, but torque. More importantly the thing only produces 1850lb/ft of torque - the ISX15 produces over 2000 (2050, to be exact.)

Engine torque is irrelevant, unless you are certain that the gearing is identical.

Also, our over-the-road rigs are much, much larger than your COE types, especially the types with sleepers.

Over here, we don't care about the length of the penis extension tractor, we only care about the volume of the trailer. For example, people have started using smaller trailer wheels to allow for a greater interior height when transporting light goods where volume is the limit rather than mass.
 
Engine torque is irrelevant, unless you are certain that the gearing is identical.

The gearing for all of them is buyer-selected - you select what engine, gearbox, and gearing you want when you purchase one of these things (at least over here). You aren't limited to just the manufacturer's in-house engines, either. Example - the Freightliner (owned by Mercedes) Cascadia is available with the Detroit Diesel/Mercedes DD line of diesels, but it is also offered with the more powerful Cummins (no connection to Mercedes) ISX15 diesels. Other heavy truck manufacturers offer as many as seven or eight engine manufacturers' products in their trucks.

In other words, the gearing issue cancels out.

Over here, we don't care about the length of the penis extension tractor, we only care about the volume of the trailer. For example, people have started using smaller trailer wheels to allow for a greater interior height when transporting light goods where volume is the limit rather than mass.

Tractor length is (IIRC) not regulated in the US, only the overall weight, width, height and trailer length is. The largest rig that can be normally used on a highway without an oversize permit (though not the Interstates) is two 14.6 to 16.2 meter trailers plus however long the tractor is, called the "Turnpike Double" configuration. The largest normal single trailer (and the most common size) is 16.2 meters. Larger double sleeper cabs aren't usually penile extensions as you pay for them not only at time of purchase but in increased fuel use and potentially reduced payload - only people that can make use of them order them (such as tandem or quad driving teams or family operators).
 
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It's not the horsepower that they care about, but torque. There is also, once again, stricter emissions controls on US market engines than are in Europe in this class - some of your engine makers are offering those engines here, and once they're EPA 2010 compliant, well, they don't make 700+ HP any more either. That Volvo D16 Perc mentioned above is a 500-550hp class engine here, not 700.

That's not even the same engine, they haven't introduced the 750 HP engine in the US, as of now it's european market only, (source) (Australia are still evalutating whether or not to go for it as well, source
Oh and the 750HP engine got 3550Nm of torque (2618 lb ft)
 
Big Rig thread time?
 
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Example - the Freightliner (owned by Mercedes) Cascadia is available with the Detroit Diesel/Mercedes DD line of diesels, but it is also offered with the more powerful Cummins (no connection to Mercedes) ISX15 diesels. Other heavy truck manufacturers offer as many as seven or eight engine manufacturers' products in their trucks.

Freightliner says they both make 600hp, so it's not more powerful.

In other words, the gearing issue cancels out.

Engine torque is meaningless without gearing. Your claim of the US engines being better based on engine torque without considering the gearing is useless.
 
Engine torque is meaningless without gearing. Your claim of the US engines being better based on engine torque without considering the gearing is useless.
The more torque the engine has the more [potential] torque you are going to get at the wheels, you can torque multiply all you want but eventually you will hit a ceiling. Also more engine torque means lower consumption typically since you don't have to work the engine as hard.
 
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