Heavy Duty Trucking, November 2018

HDT NOVEMBER 2018 42 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM TEST DRIVE The Endurant is a completely new clean sheet design conceived as an automated transmission Its a 12 speed twin countershaft design weighing just 657 pounds Direct drive is in 11th gear with 12th gear offering a 077 1 overdrive as a manual with add on shift actuators Its a 12 speed twin countershaft design weighing just 657 pounds Direct drive is in 11th gear with 12th gear offering a 077 1 overdrive Our test drive took us along I 86 between Jamestown and Erie Pennsylvania That stretch has loads of rolling hills and a couple of climbs long and steep enough to prompt a downshift or two in some cases The engine model was an Efficiency Series X15 450 SA 450 hp with 1550 1850 lbs ft of torque @ 1000 1400 rpm It also had the full ADEPT feature suite including SmartTorque 2 SmartCoast and Predictive Cruise Control Overall a pretty typical fleet spec powering a pretty typical 65000 pound gross vehicle weight load As innovative as it is Endurant is still just a box full of gears until its programmed and bolted to a Cummins engine Ill get to the latest feature updates shortly but first here are my basic driving impressions of the X15 Endurant powertrain Behind the wheel If previous generations of Eaton automated transmissions left a bad taste in some mouths the Endurant is like a bottle of mouthwash The closer ratios between the 12 gears allow for more skip shifting opportunities and much smoother shifts to boot It launches very smoothly whether the driver is kind to the throttle pedal or just stomps on it The level of acceleration changes with the aggressiveness of the throttle application but its all carefully managed to not push the engine out of its optimum operating range The new calibrations favor using as few gears as possible while accelerating based on weight and grade and are actually more inclined to skip up through the gears if the driver is firmer on the pedal My first few runs through the gears were fairly gentle in keeping with my driving style I think I skipped two gears on the way from 2nd to 12th My guide and instructor Mike Hicks a vehicle systems integration calibration engineer at Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies suggested I try driving it the way most drivers would and sure enough all the odd numbered gears seemed to disappear On one launch from a stop sign I floored the pedal and we hit 6th gear on the second shift and then went right to 8th I went from 2nd to 8th in two shifts and the engine revs never got carried away I hate to admit it but I think my driving style has gone out of fashion The team that put this calibration together recognized that many of todays entry level and junior drivers are going to drive this truck the way they drive their cars and they have wisely tuned the calibration to that driving style It responds really well to a more aggressive throttle application and when cruise control is set it settles into a more seasoned driving style basically invisible to the driver New features The quick shifting fast accelerating performance is new to the product thanks to two new features The first called Engine Assisted Shifting uses the turbocharger as Cummins X15 for 2018 offers several calibration updates that improve driveability and performance when paired with an Endurant transmission