Earlier this year, an 800hp tractor unit was unveiled in China, where, admittedly there are higher gross weights – not to mention more than a few cases of ‘overloading’ – and so it probably makes sense.
Here we currently have the 770S Scania at 770hp as the most powerful production series truck sold in the UK, although Volvo is expected to launch a 780hp model early in 2024. Such power is an extravagance not needed for 99.9% of haulage applications, but whatever the power there is no shortage of takers if it is the most powerful available. I’ve said before, Scania could announce an 800S tomorrow and the orders would come in regardless of whether operators needed it or not.
But it wasn’t always that way. Today, there is a sort of benchmark for a 10hp per tonne, so there are lots of 440-460hp trucks on the market – the Scania 460R, the DAF XD450, Mercedes 2545, Volvo FM460 and so on.
But back in the 1970s, 10hp per tonne – at a
