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Volvo Trucks’ D17 780 brings plenty of grunt

Warren Aitken hops behind the wheel of Volvo’s new D17 780hp model to discover the power of the brand’s latest addition

I reckon the best way to start off this commentary on my recent experience with the new Volvo D17 780hp is to share part of one of the many interactions I had with Matt Wood, Public Relations and Media Manager for Volvo Group Australia. This conversation took part with Matt in the passenger seat while I was behind the wheel, pulling out onto Geraldton Mt Magnet Road in the 780hp Volvo with a Western Australian C-train in tow.

“Have you actually put anything in these trailers mate?” I said.

“Yeah, 106.8 tonnes,” Matt replied.

“You’re telling me I’m pulling 106 tonnes behind me?”

“106.8.”

“I call BS, no way.”

“I loaded it myself mate. Bang on 106.8 tonnes.”

That’s where I’ll cut the chat off, for the next couple of comments contained multiple expletives as I accused Volvo’s Media Manager of waxing lyrical and pulling the old weekend fisherman’s trick of ‘I swear it was this big bro’. However, when you put yourself in my shoes, I had just flown 4500km across the country to test drive Volvo’s latest evolutionary engine. I was being told by a PR professional that it was 106.8 tonnes, yet under my feet I had a road train pulling up the highway feeling quieter, smoother and less hindered than my car with a heavily packed lunchbox. How could I not question the validity?

Image: Warren Aitken

It turns out that Matt was right — it was 106.8 tonnes and Volvo’s new D17 engine, with 3800nm of torque, was eating it up like Patrick Bertoletti at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

I had been invited over to Geraldton, Western Australia to be impressed, and it took all of about three minutes on the road for that task to be achieved. The rest of the ride out to Mt Magnet was used to solidify my first impressions of this top torque engine and quiz Volvo guru Matt on exactly what was impressing me under the floorboards.

Be warned, 95 per cent of this writeup on Volvo’s latest iteration of the popular FH line is going to be under the drivers’ feet rather than what was wrapped around me. The test truck I had my happy hands on was the newest version of the long running Volvo workhorse, but very little has changed. According to Matt, there are several aerodynamic adjustments added for efficiency, however those were hidden by the far less aerodynamic cowcatcher bolted to the front. Inside the Volvo I found all the creature comforts that have made this series of truck so popular — ergonomics aimed at drivers who appreciate comfort, practicality and a bass booming stereo system.

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All of the stuff that you take for granted with the Swedish truck maker was on hand and in action. What I went to experience was their new D17 engine and G-series I-shift transmission — a product designed with the future in mind. As many are aware, at the start of 2025, Australia will have a whole lot of new safety and compliance requirements rolling into law. One at the top of the food chain is the necessity for new heavy vehicles to meet the Euro 6 standards.

Volvo has had a Euro 5 and a Euro 6 version of its 16-litre engine available for quite some time and it could’ve quite happily rested on its laurels. However, as Matt explains, it’s just not in the brand’s DNA.

“The motivation behind the 17-litre and 780 is all about sustainability and efficiency,” he says.

“Volvo has made the D17 engine ‘slipperier’, with less friction and drag. It’s more powerful and has a lower drag transmission, which means better economy and efficiency.”

Image: Warren Aitken

The D17 continues Volvo’s strive for market leading efficiency and world leading technology.

When you look at the stats for the new D17, it is pretty impressive. It features the same crank and block as the previous D16, however the white coats in the Volvo engineering laboratory have made some major changes. The extra displacement comes from a 5mm larger cylinder bore diameter and the added efficiency comes from the low friction cylinder liners, the Volvo patented wave-top pistons and the new fuel injector design. Couple all of that with the updated G-series I-shift and you have a winning formula.

Another big difference between the Euro 6 D16 engine and the Euro 6 D17 is the turbo system. The D16 came equipped with a twin turbo system and found its sweet spot in the 500-600hp market. Although there are several 700hp variants working the tough gigs over here, we never got to see the big 750hp that some countries got, mainly because of the truck breaking conditions we have here in the land of hot and heavy loads. The new D17, however, is fitted with a whole new VGT Turbocharger system, which means it is more than capable of handling the toughest of Australian conditions, with the biggest loads we can throw at it. It also means we finally get to appreciate the biggest torque output the big Swedish scientists can pack into a 17-litre internal combustion engine.

As I mentioned before, the D17 tops out at 780hp and 3800Nm of torque. You can also get the D17 at 600hp and 700hp, putting out 3000Nm and 3400Nm respectively. It is definitely the torque numbers that deserve all the attention because that is what you can feel when you get behind the wheel of the big 780 Volvo. The moment you put your foot down, the truck gets into the job. Peak range is from 950-1450rpm and the smarter-than-me G-series I-shift does a fantastic job of working the torque curve. You can feel the I-shift changing gears, but in the same way an old school trucker would change gears, doing it smoothly and timed perfectly so there is no break in momentum. It’s almost therapeutic. If you want to take a bit more control or let the big motor rev out a bit more, you still have that option available, but truth be told, the Volvo doesn’t really need any gear changing tips.

The Volvo 780 will garner a lot of attention for the fact it’s made it to the highest horsepower number to date. While being able to wave that Everest size flag is important, for the drivers and for the owners there are going to be two very different markers on the Volvo D17 Litmus test.

For the owners it will be about the numbers, specifically the fuel numbers. It is a bigger, more powerful engine than Volvo has had before, but the technology and efficiency inside it has been designed to make the latest Volvos even more fuel efficient than we’ve seen before. Obviously, I can’t quote numbers, as every application is going to be different, but across the board, the D17 is delivering on its design goal of improving fuel efficiency and that’s the important thing for owners and companies.

For the driver’s litmus test, the verdict all comes back to chasing that hot damn hill feeling. That feeling of having a fully laden truck dropping gears as it reaches the pinnacle of whatever legendary jump up you travel, watching the revs drop down and down, waiting to feel another gear, and then noticing that instead of dropping, the engine has just dug in, holding on and hooking into the hill like it’s stolen your lunch and you’re not letting go. There is something in that feeling that all drivers know and the 3800Nm of torque oozing from the new 780hp Volvo will ensure you get that feeling on every hill you hit.

106.8 tonnes. I believe it now, colour me impressed.

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