Truck Test 2014 all round

After a very successful first day, where the nine participating vehicles ran fully laden from Umfula One-Stop (Engen Hartbeespoort) to Belfast Engen and back again, Truck Test 2014 continued with the excitement …

Day two, April 9, saw all the participants and organisers return to Engen Hartbeespoort, where the 4×2 vehicles (with a gross vehicles mass of between five and nine tonnes), lay waiting for more action-packed testing.

However, this time round, the Truck Test 2014 “Thunderbirds” weren’t going too far as they made their way to the Gerotek Testing Facility – 34 km “down the road” – for another laden analysis.

This leg of the test wasn’t originally part of the Truck Test 2014 plan, but it was later decided that Gerotek would once again be used to simulate rigorous stop-start driving under controlled conditions (4×2 carriers are predominantly used in these types of circumstances, so it made sense to include Gerotek once more).

After having a group photo taken (all the Truck Test 2014 snapshots will be uploaded onto our website) the drivers and co-drivers were bundled on the back of a Gerotek “lorry” and driven around the course.

From here, the nine participating vehicles each got to do two warm-up rounds and then four timed laps – with the fuel consumption being recorded for all six circuits. (Be sure to grab a copy of FOCUS May as the results will be presented in a far more comprehensive and informative way than ever before.)

As with day one, everything ran smoothly and, before we knew it, the day’s testing was done. All the trucks made their way back to the Engen Hartbeespoort base, where they refuelled, before heading back to their respective premises for offloading …

But Truck Test 2014 isn’t done quite yet. Click next for a glimpse of the third day’s performance.