Volvo FH540, a heavy truck with bonsai in the cab.

Author: Yu Zhanbo

When entering the cab, there is a pot of green plants on its center console. Yes, it is a bonsai.

Recently, in a Volvo truck 4S store, Shang Chabang saw a special truck, the Volvo FH540, saying it was special, not only because it is currently the top model Volvo trucks sell in China, but also because it is eye-opening in various configurations, but the most special thing is that when entering the cab, there is a pot of green plants on its center console, yes, it is still a bonsai.

Air damping of cab with adjustable height

The handle of the electronically controlled air suspension has a magnet, which is firmly fixed and easy to receive.

A very complex front air suspension

Let's first introduce the configuration of this car. Volvo FH540 is equipped with Volvo D13 Guo5 engine, maximum horsepower 540 (397kW) and standard 12-gear I-shift automatic transmission, which is currently the most powerful model Volvo sells in the Chinese market.

The truck looks a little different from afar. The front and lower part of its cab is only less than 10cm from the ground, and almost all of it touches the ground. It turns out that this Volvo FH540 is not only an air suspension for the double rear axle, but also an air suspension for its front axle, which is very rare in the domestic truck market. Although the high-top and large cab and 13L engine are of high quality, the complete quality of this 6 × 4 tractor is only 8870kg.

On the anti-skid mat of the center console, there is a bonsai made up of various plants.

Open the door and enter the car with four steps. As the author tried to drive this car when it was listed in Asia that year, I am already very familiar with the interior, but the interior of this car still gave me some surprises. It turned out that on the anti-skid mat of the center console, there was a bonsai made up of all kinds of plants, and the green appearance immediately made the cab full of life. This is the first time the author has seen such a scene in a truck and lamented the driver's love of life. Just imagine, running around on the road every day, with such a pot of green plants as a companion, will be a kind of adjustment to the hard and boring work. Why have not seen flowers in other cars, I think, in addition to the driver himself is a living person, there is another objective reason, this car uses a front air suspension, if the use of leaf springs, a pot of flowers can not withstand long-distance bumps. In addition, the Volvo FH center console has a lot of available space and is specially equipped with a basin-shaped anti-skid pad, which is a bit of a waste of these thoughtful designs without a pot of flowers. In addition, the car uses an air-damped suspension, driver seat and cab, and the overall damping has reached level 3.

A veritable multi-purpose steering wheel; the dashboard also has a strong Nordic style.

Safety is one of Volvo's core values, and it is also intuitively reflected in this FH. There is an alarm device above the left door, which is used to detect the concentration of smoke in the car. Once it exceeds the standard, it will give an alarm, mainly to prevent the exhaust gas from idling for a long time from causing poisoning accidents to drivers. In the previous news, similar accidents are often heard. There is a small radar device on the handrail on the right side of the co-driver, which is used to detect the blind area at the lower right of the vehicle. Once a cyclist or other small vehicle appears in the blind area, the vehicle will automatically alarm. The black device in the middle of the windshield is used to monitor the lane and the distance from the car in front of the car. Once it is not within the safe range, the alarm device above the instrument will first send out a light alarm. Because the car has an AEBS device, if the driver does not take measures after the alarm, the vehicle will brake automatically.

Smoke alarm

Blind area monitoring device at the front and lower right

Forward and lane departure warning device

Let's talk about the chassis layout of this car. In the chassis layout is very compact and ingenious, by moving the urea box to the rear of the cab, the gas storage tank moved back to the rear of the car, making room on both sides of the frame, just put down two oversized fuel tanks.

Automatic transmission has special water cooling device.

The chassis arrangement is very compact and ingenious.

Generally speaking, as a long-distance transportation tool, this Volvo FH has obvious advantages in power and configuration, and is worth learning from in some detailed design.