It’s time to put the new Western Star 49X through its paces. In this review, I get drive this “Big Red” heavy hauler. The total weight is an impressive 125,000 lbs. It’s more than four times heavier than the heaviest 1-ton dually truck and trailer I have driven before.
I also get to experience the latest Detroit Assurance 5.0 driver assistance suite of technologies that includes emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and blind-spot warning with pedestrian alert. It’s one thing to use adaptive cruise and the rest of these features in a car or a pickup truck that weighs 3,000 – 6,000 lbs. It’s a whole different game when you are in command of a vehicle that weighs 80,000 – 125,000 lbs!
Thanks to Western Star and Diamler Trucks North America for inviting to this event and providing their Oregon proving grounds and the trucks for testing.
The Western Star 49X is completely redesigned with an updated chassis, suspension, cab, hood, and the latest 12-speed automated manual transmission. The engine options are staying mostly the same as they were. The truck I am driving is equipped with a DD16 inline-6 turbo-diesel with a rating of 600 hp and 2,050 lb-ft of torque.
Check out the video for all the details.
