The launch of the S-Way had been one of the industry’s worst kept secrets. For the last 18 months there has been speculation, sightings and even potential legal action by IVECO to stop efforts to reveal its new heavy truck product prematurely.
All that came to an end as IVECO finally took the wraps off its new and impressive looking long-haul cab to replace Stralis. Branded as the S-Way and part of the burgeoning Way range, this long-haul cab goes into production from September at the Pegaso factory in Madrid and will be available as a right-hand-drive for the Brits in spring 2020.
There is no change to the engines; Cursor 9, 11 and 13 drivelines, and the choice of fuel (diesel or gas) remain the same as before, and the S-Way cab is the same kerb weight as the outgoing Stralis.
As for S-Way, Marco Liccardo, head of IVECO medium and heavy trucks global product line, says the design of the new cab “takes every opportunity to reduce fuel consumption, maintenance and running costs”. There are many changes to its design, he explains, starting with the ‘cube’ (or skeleton of the cab) that has new side, front, roof and floor sections, as well as new external panels. At the back of the cab are longer collars designed to reduce the open space between the truck and trailer. Across the width of the cab is a new one-piece central grille with rounded corners. The airflow deflector is relocated down next to the headlamp. These changes, claim IVECO, have helped reduce the drag coefficient by 12% and improved fuel economy by up to 4%. Liccardo says lower roof versions, a narrower 2.3m-wide cab and a day cab are in the pipeline, and revealed exclusively that the best part of €300million (£270m) has been spent getting this to market.
A three-piece bumper replaces the one-piece design on Stralis, which should reduce costs if one part is damaged. There is a fold-down step at the bottom part of the central grille for the driver to stand on to reach the windscreen.
The doors are now longer covering two of the three steps into the cab, and the lower part of the door is angled inwards and aligned with the repositioned airflow deflectors.
Gone are the two windowpanes in the side doors, replaced by a single piece of glass, improving visibility.
Inside the cab the focus is on space for the driver to both work and relax. The cab floor is raised 110mm, which in turn reduces the engine tunnel height to 95mm. Standing room on the engine tunnel is 2,150mm, 80mm more than Stralis. Better soft-touch plastics have been used for the switches but otherwise it’s fairly standard; dark colours in the footwell and dashboard to hide dirt and grime, and lighter colours used around the walls to make it feel bigger.
IVECO has also joined the ‘connected community’ with a connectivity box fitted as standard that works off a Microsoft service platform. Fourteen sensors fitted to cab and chassis send truck health information back to IVECO.