A Euro 5 compliant V8 pumping out more than 450kW; automated manual gearbox; antilock disc brakes; full low-drag aero body kit; ergonomically-designed leather accented interior; bi-xenon headlamps; plus LED daylight running lights and big alloy wheels... And world-first driver support technology that promises to improve your real-world fuel economy by up to 10 per cent... No, it's not the latest supercar from Europe... It's the latest super truck!

Once aligned with Saab but now part of the giant Volkswagen Group, premium truck maker Scania has drawn a line in the sand across the Australian trucking market as the first marque to offer Euro 5 emission compliance across its range of heavy trucks. Headlined by the brand-new R Series range of prime movers, Scania's latest range delivers Euro 5 compliant powertrains as standard equipment. And while Euro 4 versions of some models will still be available on order, the lion's share of the brand's local line-up will therefore roll down Aussie roads as some of the cleanest trucks in the world.

The new R Series and updated G Series prime movers and P Series 'heavy rigid' trucks were launched to the Australian trucking media and key customers and fleets last week, and go on sale next month. The Carsales Network scored an exclusive automotive media invitation, driving the big rigs at Linfox's proving ground at Anglesea (Victoria). It was an ideal opportunity to see how the other (bigger) half of road users live.

And we can vouch for the fact that there's no shortage of technology, refinement or innovation at the pointy end of the truck market. Indeed, with strong focus on fuel economy, safety, driver welfare and long-term reliability, there are lessons the car world (and in particular the light truck and all-wheel drive segments) can learn from its heavy hauling cousin: At least from cutting-edge marques like Scania.

Scania's R and G Series flagships are powered by a choice of high-torque 12.7-litre inline six-cylinder and 15.6-litre V8 turbodiesel powerplants. The P Series features a range of 9.3-litre five-cylinder inline engines.

The big V8s are rated up to 620hp (456kW) and 3000Nm, but it's the XPI EGR sixes that are the company's latest and greatest. Available in 360-480hp (265-353kW) variants, the new sixes feature high-pressure (2400 bar) common-rail direct-injection, variable geometry turbocharging and pump out up to 2500Nm at just 1000rpm!

Like the very best powertrains circa-2010, they are matched to automated manual gearboxes that not only make driving easier (as a tenderfoot, the writer was thrown in the deep end and given a R480 semi with 34 tonnes onboard to drive!), but ensure maximum efficiency and minimum wear and tear.

Marketed under the name of Opticruise, the Scania gearbox is available in two versions -- a three-pedal system that gives the driver control of the clutch for take-off (and in difficult traction conditions); and a two-pedal version that is as easy to drive as a small car automatic. Once motoring, both versions shift automatically and even have hill holder functions and power ('Hill' in truck-speak) modes.

But it's not Euro 5 compliance, supersized paddle-shift gearboxes or astronomical torque outputs that are the big story of the R Series range. With the arrival of the latest heavy haulers from the Swedish brand, the company is also debuting its unique Driver Support System as standard equipment across the range.

While automotive brands like Audi are offering 'smart' systems that encourage the driver to close windows and/or switch off the aircon <<<<<<link to JD's story>>>>>>>>> and many makers now using shift indicators to prompt economical driving, the Scania system goes several steps further, actively grading the R Series operator's performance on the road and providing coaching on the move.

Scania says Driver Support aims to encourage drivers to improve their driving efficiency and does so by monitoring and 'scoring' the driver (in real time) across several areas: gear selection, braking, anticipating traffic conditions and fuel consumption. In fact, it claims in testing with experienced truck drivers, improvements in fuel economy of up to 10 per cent have been achieved.

Considering a line-haul truck operating on the mainline Sydney-Melbourne route can chew up more than $250,000 worth of diesel each year, it's little wonder fleet owners' ears have pricked up! And though the scale's a little different, there's nothing here that couldn't readily be applied to cars or at least light commercials, vans and the like.

Across the various truck ranges, Scania offers three different Driver Support information displays. The top-of-the-line is a high-contrast multifunction colour presentation that wouldn't look out of place in a luxury car.

Measuring anticipation (via analysing the time between release of accelerator and brake application -- "A sharp release of the accelerator and sharp application of the brakes reflects poor anticipation," says Scania), brake usage (grading the driver by how he or she uses the engine brakes when decelerating) and gear selection (in manual vehicles), Driver Support grades the driver in real time via a star rating system. Instant feedback is delivered and the various categories grade in percentage terms -- 100 per cent is a perfect score.

The system is smart enough to gauge the driver's performance when climbing hills -- and deliver a hill driving score. This is based on detecting and 'rewarding' a driver when he or she has backed off the throttle to allow the truck to use its momentum to 'coast' over a crest.

As the scoring is delivered, the system also offers "helpful hints" to allow the driver to log better scores in the future. Messages are delivered, relatively unobtrusively, in plain English via the main display.

Scania's philosophy suggests driver training is the single most effective means to reduce fuel consumption -- to this end; all of its latest trucks include training in their purchase price. But says the company: "gaining a long-term benefit from limited training has been difficult". Scania Driver support is the missing link it suggests.

Back in the new car showrooms, the closest thing to Scania Driver Support that we've experienced is the 'green' gauges used on the latest Toyota Prius and Honda insight models. But even those fall short of the anticipatory analysis by which the truckies will be graded.

In our short drive of the R480 on closed roads (but in almost real world conditions) we were able to improve our hill climbing performance from 50 to 73 per cent in a relatively short time and score close to 90 per cent on braking by ensuring the retarder (engine braking system) was employed appropriately and (equally importantly) switch off when not required. Our Scania 'experts' suggested in short order we'd have trimmed our fuel usage by at least 5 per cent thanks to these actions.

Better qualified drivers would have no doubt performed better, but savings are savings.

Is this therefore the sort of software we can expect in the next round of eco-cars then? May be... With savings as tangible as those claimed by Scania, it'd be a brave automotive engineer that would dismiss Driver Support out of hand.

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi