Industry media and selected fleet personnel were able to experience several pre-production models of the T409 series powered by Paccar's own engine in mid-2013. At the time, the testing program had accumulated only about 150,000 kilometres over a number of trucks, making it hard to evaluate the long-term performance of the new engine. Since then, however, some 1.6 million kilometres have been covered by the test fleet of MX-13 powered trucks, making for a solid data foundation. The result is unambiguous: Only some very minor fine-tuning and adjustments were needed to get the all-Paccar Kenworth models ready for the official roll out in July.
Some of the field-test trucks have now passed the 250,000 kilometre mark and were subjected to a range of heavy-duty applications in all seasons and many different environments. Every test truck was fitted with sophisticated in-cab data acquisition technology to provide on-going feedback to Kenworth engineers.
The MX-13 is by no means a new engine. It has been available in DAF trucks since 2007, and more than 1,000 have been powering DAFs in Australia since then. As a result, the MX-13 has been serviced by Paccar dealers for the past seven years in DAF applications, so the dealer network is ready to go with trained technicians, tooling, diagnostic equipment and parts inventory to support the engine on a nationwide basis.
The Paccar engine is available in the same two ratings of 460 horsepower and 510 horsepower as it is in a DAF. The respective maximum torque ratings of 1,700 and 1,850 lbs/feet are developed at 1,000 rpm and only start to drop off at just over 1,400 rpm. The Supplementary Catalytic Reduction (SCR) AdBlue system including urea injection has been taken straight from the DAF.
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