10½ Inches – What a Difference!

News

10 May

Scania adds premium longer cabs for increased comfort

We’ve owned a caravan or two over the years. Our first was 7’6” wide, which we thought was OK, until we traded up to our second which was 8 foot in width, We were amazed at how much more spacious the van felt with a mere 6 inches added. It really did make a difference in terms of storage and moving around inside as well.

Scania obviously have had the same thought, and now their R Series cabs have swallowed the trucking equivalent of that little blue pill, and can be specified with 270 mm or 10½ inches extra length. Produced exclusively by Scania’s subsidiary, Laxå Special Vehicles, Scania says the cab offers premium driver comfort for high-end, long-distance travel.

“With the introduction of the new CR23 cab variant, Scania has raised the bar for premium trucks even higher,” said Benjamin Nye, Director of Sales for Scania Trucks in Australia. “We have blended some of the capabilities from our four-door Scania CrewCab into our R-series premium cab, adding generous space that brings extra comfort.”

**Might be hard to pick the difference from outside, but inside is a different story**

Scania’s decision to offer extended cabs built in small volumes was based on a persistent demand from several markets, notably Australia.

The added cab length will answer persistent driver calls for an even more spacious interior, especially from those who spend many nights away from home on long interstate drives.

The extra space is created by adding existing cab components, which is possible thanks to Scania’s renowned modular system.

The Scania expandable bed that can be pulled out to 100 cm wide, now no longer needs to be retracted to move the seats back into a driving position, allowing the bed to remain made up, all day.

The addition of 27 cm to the initial length of 200 cm (which is measured from the pedals to the rear wall) represents an increase of more than 13%, something that makes an appreciable difference once inside.

“The most obvious benefit is of course for long-distance drivers, they are always on the lookout for comfortable premium solutions,” Ben says. “Since we announced the creation of the CR23 to the Australian market in 2021 we have received many serious enquiries from existing customers, such that we are undoubtedly the biggest global market for this variant.

“The factory has been working flat-out to meet our demand, and the first examples have already arrived and been delivered to their very excited new owners and drivers.

“Despite the extra length of the body and extra metal, the recent weight reduction programmes within the V8 engine and all new alloy transmission ranges, which means that we continue to comply with Australia’s front axle weight limits.”