A transmission software package developed for New Zealand roads is proving a popular upgrade for Fuso HD Euro operators.
Prior to the developments, some operators found that the software struggled to select the required gear in steep hill country or had a tendency to ‘hunt gears’ on the flat.
Over the next few months, all HD Euro owners will be contacted and offered the free upgrade, which will be standard in all new models. The change requires the replacement of the ECU, which houses the software.
Fuso national sales manager Mike Davidson explains that customer feedback led to an unprecedented response from Fuso HQ in Japan.
“Mark Golden from Silverdale’s Golden Contractors, was one of the first operators to alert us to the difficulties he was having,” says Davidson. “We got in touch with Fuso in Japan and, not long after, they had engineers out here to investigate.
“Once they’d seen the terrain Mark was operating in, which I think surprised them a little, they went back to Japan to devise a plan,” Davidson adds. “After a couple more visits, and a few laps of Mark’s favourite hills, they’ve delivered a solution that’s generated an overwhelmingly positive response.
“The change that’s been made to the truck is unbelievable,” he says. “When the engineers first came for a ride with me, they were truly shocked by the size and grade of the hills, the quality of the roads and how the truck was performing.”
Fuso technical services advisor Pete Rees explains: “The original settings for the transmission software had the gear-change threshold at 1500 rpm, in both auto and manual modes, and the change itself took 1.3 seconds,” notes Rees. “That was resulting in Mark, and other operators working in steep hill country, finding that by the time the change occurred, the truck had lost too much momentum for the gear that was selected.
“The engineers came back a couple of times,” says Golden. “The last time they had laptops, cameras and inclinometers. I was stopping every 15 or 20 minutes, while they worked on the ECU via a laptop. Eventually, the gears started shifting faster and at the right time in auto and I was also able to manually select gears higher in the rev range.
“We just kept working on it,” the operator says. “We got to the point where we approached Johnstone Hill [a notorious climb north of Auckland] in auto – and in economy mode – and the truck came out of the bottom corner and really got stuck into the hill.
“It took two gears as it sensed the climb we were coming into, because the revs were dropping so quick, and then it took another two gears to find the one I needed to be in.”
Once all the necessary information was obtained from the tests, the Fuso engineers developed a prototype ECU for the transmission of Mark’s 6×4 FV470K1. Since then, two more ECUs have been installed in customer trucks. One into Ongarue Transport’s FS470S2 8×4 and the other into Hilton Haulage’s FS470S2 combination truck and trailer 9-axle HP rig (operating up to 53 tonnes).
“The reprogrammed software in the new ECU now delivers a 0.9 second gear change at 1800 rpm,” says Rees. “A reduction of 0.4 of a second may not sound like much, but makes a big difference when you’re losing momentum going up a hill.”
Operators have been quick to approve of the update.
“The improvement has blown me away,” says Ongarue Transport driver Allan Warea. “Before, it was a real effort trying to get up Ponga Hill [on SH41 between Taumaranui and Turangi]. I couldn’t shift gear until the revs were low enough, by which time the truck had slowed right down. I had to select the right gear before I started to climb.
“I noticed the difference straight away,” Warea says, after the new ECU was fitted. “I went up the hill in auto and it shifted gear right when I would have if I’d been driving in manual. Now it’s running in that sweet spot, you can feel the full power of the truck and it’s definitely going faster!”
Hilton Haulage driver Craig Porter is also pleased.
“Before the change, it used to be chopping and changing gears, which would hamper my momentum,” says Porter. “Now I’ve got the confidence to drive it in auto 90% of the time.”
