At first glance you won’t see much difference when a new T7 HD pulls up. However, if you take a closer look, there are some subtle changes on the outside: for instance, the more spacious steps; or the new roof line with up to 14 work lights; and the windscreen wiper, which is now located at the bottom. But we’ll get to these items later.
Under the bonnet of the HD-frame T7 lurks the same FPT six-cylinder, 6.7-litre motor. The big difference is that it now complies with Stage V exhaust emissions thanks to its new Hi-ESCR2 technology; there's no EGR and the particulate filter is maintenance-free. All good stuff, yet most users will be more concerned with what power the new flagship T7.315 HD produces and how much fuel it burns. To answer these key questions, we called in the boffins from the DLG test centre to do the measuring.
Of the 221kW/301hp rated output from the brochure stats, 199.2kW/267.1hp arrived at the rear pto when hitched to the DLG dyno — great — especially since the motor’s power increases significantly when the engine speed falls to 1,800 revs as it reachs a maximum pto output of 215.9kW/289.5hp.
Supping juice
Even if these results are not as good as the old model's — mainly because of the stricter emission gubbins — we were still very happy. Fuel consumption remains impressive: 225g/kWh (+22.2g/kWh of DEF) at rated power and 218g/kWh (+22.7g/kWh DEF) at
