Introducing the UD Quester
The Quester is produced by UD Trucks, a Japanese commercial vehicle solutions provider, which is active in more than 60 countries on all continents. The company was formed back in 1935.
The first LD1 diesel truck was completed in November 1939 – and therein lies an interesting story. Apparently the founder of the company – a chap called Kenzo Adachi – decided to take the truck for a 3 000 km test drive across Japan. “The majority of Japan’s roads at the time were unpaved and the country was full of narrow roads and bridges that were barely wide enough to fit a horse and cart. The course selected for the test drive was riddled with steep slopes and curves traversing perilous mountain passes. With the entire journey clocking in at a distance of 3 000 km, or 1.5 times the length of the Japanese archipelago, it marked an endurance test the likes of which the nation had never seen,” UD’s website reports.
There was no reason for the trepidation. The truck completed the test drive without a single fault or breakdown – which brings us to the company’s name change. Initially called Nissan Diesel, its name was changed to UD – which stands for “Ultimate Dependability” and which Adachi proved without a doubt some 84 years ago.
Fast forward to 2023, and UD’s headquarters are located in Ageo, Saitama, Japan. While it manufactures trucks all over the world, the vehicles we get in South Africa are built at UD Trucks Southern Africa’s assembly plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria, which is also home to a competency development centre that provides ongoing training to staff, fleet drivers, as well as dealer technicians, parts and sales personnel.
The truck in a nutshell
The Quester – a heavy-duty truck that combines first-class fuel efficiency with durability – is suited to a variety of applications and segments such as general cargo, long haul, construction and waste management. In May last year, the vehicle got a real shot in the arm when UD Trucks Southern Africa unveiled a new Euro 5 range for the well-established Quester. The latest truck is said to offer improved uptime, enhanced efficiency, as well as optimised Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), all while lowering the vehicle’s environmental impact.
Exterior
The cab looks robust, and we reckon it looks a bit like Ford’s F-Max morphed into Hyundai’s XCIENT. Interestingly, it is available with the largest cab in UD Trucks’ history – which is great for driver comfort. There are three well-placed stairs to enter or exit the cab and ingress and egress are easy. The engine service points are located behind the grille for ease of service while the oil dipstick is conveniently located at the back of the cab. The cab tilts (electrically) to an angle of 58 degrees for ease of access to the engine.
On-road models come with a three-piece moulded composite bumper. Its aerodynamic design and low ride height are said to contribute to better fuel economy. Front under-run protection is standard while fog lamps are available as an option.
Interior
The Quester features a new instrument cluster and it’s really nice. It is both clean and functional. There’s a large, easy-to-read 4.5-inch screen integrated into the instrument cluster. It provides a wide range of vehicle, diagnostic and trip information, as well as fuel coaching and data logging. Given the ever-increasing price of diesel, the fuel coaching function is especially useful; it provides drivers with immediate and specific feedback on driving techniques that are more fuel efficient.
The dashboard is well designed and all the most important controls and switches are within easy reach of the driver. I found it easy to adjust the steering column to the perfect driving position. There’s cruise control, which is super handy, and I found the driver’s seat – the Quester features a new air-suspended seat with lumbar support and an optional armrest – to be comfortable.
There’s lots and lots of storage space, which is really convenient (you can store items under the bunk and there’s also storage space above the windscreen).
Drivetrain
While the latest Quester has lots of noteworthy features, the big news is its 460 hp/2250 Nm engine – because it’s a Euro 5 drivetrain. It comes with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), which means that the nitrogen oxide levels emitted are greatly reduced. Essentially, the SCR system sprays AdBlue on the exhaust gas reducing pollutants before they are released into the atmosphere, converting nitrogen oxides into harmless nitrogen and water vapour in the process. The AdBlue – a colourless, odourless, non-toxic fluid made with 32.5% urea and 67.5% deionized water – is available at all authorised UD dealers. There’s an AdBlue indicator on the instrument panel, so you always know if you need to top up the tank (consumption of AdBlue is approximately 4 to 5% of diesel used).
Transmission
The Quester GWE 460 comes with a 12-speed Escot automated manual transmission, which is just plain terrific. Escot actually stands for “Easy and Safe Controlled Transmission” and that pretty much sums up the way it works. It features a non-synchromesh manual gearbox that has an electronically regulated pneumatic gear-changing system and an automatic clutch. The secret of seamless gear changes lies in the intelligent electronic control unit, which controls the pneumatic system that handles the clutch and shifts. By constantly receiving information about speed, acceleration, weight, road condition, torque demand and more, the Escot can carry out every shift with extreme precision. It also communicates closely with the engine to adjust the revs and engine brake effect for fast, comfortable, fuel-efficient gear shifts. Gearboxes like this are the future; I don’t think that even an experienced truck driver can achieve better results with a manual transmission.
Safety
Safety levels are very good but it’s worth highlighting the cab, which provides first-class all-round visibility, the Front Underrun Protection System (FUPS), which prevents smaller vehicles from being wedged under the front in the event of a collision, and the fact that the Quester is fully ECE (Economic Commission for Europe) compliant. Practically, this means that cab safety, braking, ADR, lighting and noise requirements are all certified and approved to European standards. ECE R29 for cab strength is part of this certification.
Verdict
UD Trucks Southern Africa had an outstanding 2022 and products such as the Quester GWE 460 are one of the reasons why. Its purchase price is fair. Operating costs are good – UD Trucks reckons that, when the Escot is confined with the truck’s lighter tare weight and optimised driveline, fuel consumption can be 10% lower than that of previous Quester models. There are many other value-added services that we haven’t even detailed here (UD Telematics, driver training and mobile workshops, to name but a few). This is a vehicle that slots in neatly between the entry-level Chinese and Indian trucks and the premium European vehicles – and it certainly warrants consideration.
