‘Raise engine power, lower emissions and maintain fuel consumption at the same level as before.’ That was the brief that Volvo Trucks’ engineers were given in the spring of 2006, meaning they had three years to develop the world’s most powerful truck, without compromising on either emission requirements or fuel economy.

With its 700 hp and 3,150 Nm of torque, the new Volvo FH16 is the most powerful commercially-produced truck in the world. Its D16G engine builds further on Volvo’s previous 660 hp 16-litre engine by being given another 40 horsepower to ensure that Volvo Trucks is the first truck manufacturer to break the 700 hp barrier.

However, power and torque are all very well, but the major achievement is that Volvo’s engine designers have succeeded in combining this increased engine power with lower emissions and unchanged fuel economy.

“Simply increasing engine power output is one thing, but doing so without raising emissions or fuel consumption is a far more difficult task,” says Henrik Lindeberg, Chief Project Manager for the new D16G engine.

A classic dilemma
One absolute requirement was that the new truck must meet Euro 5, the European emission legislation that comes into force on October 1st 2009. This meant that oxides of nitrogen emissions had to be cut by just over 40 per cent.

Volvo’s engine experts thus faced a classic dilemma: in order to reduce fuel consumption, it is important to make the combustion process as efficient as possible. However, this has the downside of increasing the engine’s oxides of nitrogen emissions. In order to deal with that, it was necessary to expand the capacity of the exhaust after-treatment system. Developing and improving an engine is largely about creating an optimised solution, from fuel injection all the way to exhaust pipe, in which each and every measure must be considered very carefully to ensure that the complete finished product is as good as possible.

Extreme tests
The project group behind the new engine worked very hard to develop, test and evaluate various solutions, ensuring that from concept to prototypes and from lab analyses to field tests took just three years. Since the new Volvo FH16 is built for the very heaviest and most demanding of haulage tasks, the field tests were conducted in operating environments that offer tough, some might say extreme, conditions.

“The new Volvo FH16 has hauled heavy road trains through Australia’s deserts, carried timber in northern Sweden, operated in severe cold and was tested at altitudes of up to 3,600 metres (11,800 feet) up in the Rocky Mountains,” explains Henrik Lindeberg.

Project reaches its goal
So how did it all go? The project group handled the task brilliantly and the results speak for themselves. The new Volvo FH16 has not only become the world’s most powerful truck, it also meets the Euro 5 requirements and last, but not least, it offers highly competitive fuel economy.