Tachoblog

In 2012 Volvo will begin to produce the Volvo FH16 750 which will be its and the world’s most powerful truck.

2012 is also the 25th Anniversary of the launch of Volvo’s 16-litre engine which we first saw in 1987 in a Volvo F16-470.

So how much has changed in that 25 year period?  There’s only one way to find out.

Tachoblog’s good friend Brian Weatherly (former editor-in-chief of ‘Commercial Motor’ and ‘Truck & Driver’, freelance writer, founder of the Biglorryblog – oh and he’s the UK’s International Truck of the Year jury member too)  put the original Volvo 470hp F16 head-to-head with the new Volvo FH16-750 in a heritage haulage challenge.

[How come we never get to try things like that wonders Tachoblog]

Both trucks were driven a distance of 2,200 metres on a seven per cent gradient, up one of Sweden’s toughest ascents – known as the Gothenburg hill located just outside Jönköping.

Now click below to see what happened when the Volvo FH16 750 took on the F16 470…

For Brian, driving the Volvo F16-470 again, after so many years, brought back a great many memories and served as a reminder of how advanced the original 16-litre was when it was first released.

However, the relative ease with which the Volvo FH16-750 powered up the Gothenburg hill really hit home and showed just how much progress has been made since then.

And you can see Brian’s video report below.

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