December 6, 2006 Vol. 2, No. 25

It’s nearly the end of 2006, so I thought I’d take a second look at just a very few of the year’s best new products, some of those that, in my humble opinion, stand out. It’s probably foolhardy of me to do this because I’m necessarily going to leave out a big bunch of worthy contenders and somebody will take offence. But what the heck…

Let’s start with a truck, the long awaited new flagship highway tractor from International that was finally unveiled at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville last March. After five years and $300 million in development costs.

International boasted that its new ProStar line would “revolutionize the class 8 on-highway market in North America.” Bold words, but the replacement for the 9400 series – and eventually the 9200 too – does some things pretty darned well. It’s built, by the way, at the company’s plant in Chatham, Ont.

With its clean aerodynamics, the truck should be good on the fuel front, and in fact International claims a 4% gain over similar models and as much as 9% over its own 9400. After much computer work and 1/8-scale wind-tunnel testing for basic shape development, the engineers went to a full-scale wind tunnel with a trailer attached. That revealed an 8% drag reduction improvement compared to International’s previous best-in-class model.

Get in the truck and you’ll immediately see that the sloping hood and especially the fenders do some good things for forward vision. The cab is also spacious and bright and the dash very well laid out.

Drive it for a bit and you’ll see that the company’s promise of a superior ride was not an empty one. International says the seat and the cab and chassis suspensions have been integrated and tested to complement and enhance ride and handling characteristics.

The ProStar’s best features may be on the cost-of-ownership front, however. International says more than 60 efficient repair and maintenance features were incorporated in the truck. For example, transmission replacement time has been reduced by 90 minutes; headlight bulbs and windshield wiper blades can be replaced by a driver or mechanic without tools; and the four-piece bumper allows maintainers to replace only damaged pieces rather than the whole bumper. And that bumper tilts out and away to provide a walk-in engine compartment, allowing easy engine and underside access.