Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

Tatra.. Pablo do you remember them with air cooled engines in SU? that was crap.. if you don't do speeding your engine is not enough cooled. And do you remember the suspension ? ugly, ugly and nasty

 

yes

I used to drive old tatra dump truck

driver must avoid low rpm

 

that was fun.
what about new tatras? same way smart* engineered ?

 

the driver must avoid low rpm
the driver must take 2-3 shots of alcohol before driving so he can easy take engine's vibration, heat and noise,

 

No longer.
I have driven a Tatra,the latest model.
Off road it is as smooth as a car on a highway.

 

where did you drive it ?

 

In Lugansk.

I found it hauling coal, where Volvos, Macks and Kraz truck works

And I wanted to have a test drive of vintage Tatra.

No plastic. All is made if steel, very noisy engine fan, smell of hot engine in cab, and unique independent suspention 6x6 chassis.

No any European ore US truck can do this mudding

Tatra used to make conventinals and cabovers

all 6x6.

 

Ah, Tatra. An absolutely unique brand. No other brand builds trucks the way they do. A massive central tube contains the driveshafts and differentials. No driveshafts that can get damaged. Independent suspension on all wheels, air suspension combined with coil or leaf suspension.

That central tube makes the chassis completely rigid. A conventional truck chassis can twist, and in some cases they can twist a lot. A Tatra chassis can not twist, a magnificent design.

They still sell a V10 air cooled diesel in some special trucks, but today their 'standard' truck is the Phoenix. A very apropiate name. When you look at the picture you will see the DAF CF cab, and its also uses DAF/Paccar MX engines with ZF transmissions. The same setup as in DAF trucks. In fact DAF owns 20% of Tatra, and it sells Tatra in the Netherlands (just a few so far I'm afraid).



Look at the suspension:



And now a technical animation how it works, you may have to watch it a few times before you understand everything:

 

Pablo do you remember blue vans with white plastic roofs ? what was the name ? it was from Europe too

 

Dear Ceasar
I have few owner - operator friends from Russia. On Russia's roads you can see all European made trucks (from Daf to Turkish benzs). My Russian friends say after American truck you would not like to go back to European cabover. Most loved trucks are Freightliners and N/A Volvos. Most loved engines are Detroit pre 07 and isx pre 07 engines. if you don't believe me see what truck has Pablo he does not drive super-puper state of the art electronics loaded DAF or something else. European cabovers or other trucks are good for you not for Americans. Nobody will pay a cent for these trucks because of many reasons(part availability and cost, maintenance,....)