VOLVO FH16 Trucks For Sale in United Kingdom

Volvo FH16 - An Overview

2009 Model Year

From 2009, Volvo's big beast, the FH16, was given even more power and torque. However, the FH16 delivers its power in a surprisingly composed and refined manner, due to some typical Volvo engineering excellence. The Volvo FH has been with us since the early 90s and it has been a favourite of operators almost since its launch day.  

It had a raked and rakish windscreen which made it stand out from its competitors and the range of trim options available in the cab was a welcome change from standard fleet operator fare. Time and HGV regulations move on, though and the FH16 eventually needed an upgrade to keep its place at the front of the pack. All truck manufacturers seem to want to have their time in the sun by having the most powerful truck on the road and even the cool Swedes at Volvo seem to have succumbed to this temptation. The 700hp Volvo FH16 is yet another example of that desire.

The 2009 makeover of the Volvo FH16 added some chrome detailing to the truck's exterior but inside the truck the cabin got a more convincing facelift. There are leather upholstered seats and a reworked bunk with a comfortable recliner setting and a classy-looking leather steering wheel. Roll-shut storage bins are a welcome change from the usual slam-shut type. Under the skin you have Volvo's big D16 16-litre leviathan, producing that fabled 700hp and delivering a full 3150 Nm of torque at the low 1,000 to 1,450 rev range, which could probably tow the moon down to the earth. When you add the proven I-Shift box, you can see why Volvo was so confident that it was on to a winner.

With all those horses and mountains of torque, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Volvo FH16 is a beast to drive, but it is actually extremely refined. The driving experience is relaxing and almost laid-back, as the wonderful I-Shift selects the ratios for you and lets you get on with the job of pointing the Volvo FH16 at the corners. The Volvo FH16 achieves its maximum 90km/h speed quickly every time it accelerates and that means that journey times can be shortened considerably because you don't have to wrestle the gear box up to cruising speed. If all that power has a drawback it is that you need to keep a close eye on the Volvo FH16 under acceleration and down slopes. Powering on to the motorway from a slip road or away from the lights, you will find that you hit the limiter very quickly. On long motorway descents you can also find that the Volvo FH16 700 will go over the limit if you are not careful.

For some, all that extra power might be a bit of an irrelevance or even an expensive luxury. If you work to the industry rule of thumb that you should have 10hp per tonne then 700hp for 44 tonnes could fairly be thought of as overkill. On the other hand, it means that everything else doesn't have to work that hard and that could reduce wear and tear enough to make the Volvo FH16 700 a reasonable and sensible proposition.