The T360 in ‘A‘ trim was certainly a popular drive.

The Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) was the scene this week for Kenworth‘s launch of the T360 and T410 products. The replacement models for the T359 and T409, the two new trucks take the T610‘s 2.1m-wide cab with all the space, safety, and ergonomic improvements that capsule brought to the scene a year and a half ago. The other three significant touch points at the launch were first and foremost the availability of the full Fusion safety suite, meaning there‘s not much you cannot have in terms of modern go-to safety options; things like accident avoidance and mitigation, lane keeping etc. Second, the new PACCAR 12-speed automatic manual gearbox, we won‘t say AMT because it‘s a brand new product and will only ever be an auto-shift transmission. And lastly, the absence of the Cummins option in the 410; it is an MX-13 truck (in 12 volt architecture) only. The T360 features the 9-litre Cummins ISLe5 engine.

T410 with PACCAR MX-13 and PACCAR 12-speed transmission. The ‘sloshy‘ tanker hooked up was intentional and demonstrated the new transmission‘s ability to be unfazed by the moving load.

Other areas where significant improvements have been made on the previous trucks are BBC lengths, turning circles, visibility, and access. Interestingly, Kenworth have deployed twin separate headlights on the trucks following customer feedback on the 610s.

“Consultation with, and involvement from our customers is ongoing and they have been an integral part of our test programme to make sure the new products meet their needs for their specific applications,” said Brad May, director sales and marketing, PACCAR Australia.

T410 in 8×4 guise. Likely to be a common sight on Kiwi roads and comes with a handy 70 tonne GCM.

Although customers can spec their T360 in a plethora of guises, there was certainly a leaning at the launch toward the ‘A‘ variant, the concrete agitator, sporting the Allison Automatic transmission option.

The 410 is rated for applications up to 70 tonne GCM, although you will not be able to spec that GCM with the PACCAR transmission as it is rated to 50 tonne GCM only currently. The T410 does not come in SAR guise at this stage. According to May, the order books for the 409 range with 15-litre Cummins power will close at the time of the Brisbane Truck Show.

Fleet spec trim.

Finishing back at the start, because the trucks will likely find many homes in fleet operations, there is a fleet spec cab trim option that comes with hard-wearing easy clean surfaces and not the woodgrain and diamond pleat.

Read a full roundup on the trucks and the launch in the May issue of New Zealand Trucking magazine.