The Volkswagen Constellation is the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

truck produced by the Brazilian manufacturer

Volkswagen Truck & Bus Volkswagen Truck & Bus Indústria e Comércio de Veículos Ltda., formerly known as Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus, is a Brazilian commercial vehicle manufacturing company based in Resende, Brazil and a subsidiary of Traton. It manufactures h ...

since 2005. The line covering the 13-57 tonne

gross combination mass Vehicle weight is a measurement of wheeled motor vehicles; either an actual measured weight of the vehicle under defined conditions or a gross weight rating for its weight carrying capacity. Curb or kerb weight Curb weight (American English) or k ...

(GCM) segment. It is produced at Resende in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and is primarily for the

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n market. The truck, a " cab-over-engine" released in September 2005, was designed in

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

Design Studio at

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxon ...

Headquarters, but engineered by Volkswagen Truck and Bus, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and mainland

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

- on a rigorous 7 million kilometre test phase over a four-year period. In 2006,

Renato Martins Renato is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Latin name Renatus. Notable people with the name used mononymously include: * Renato Mirze (born 1982), International brand chef, TV presenter * San Renato, a saint of the Catholic Church ...

won the Brazilian

Fórmula Truck Fórmula Truck is a Brazilian Truck racing series promoted by GT Truck. It originally ran from 1996 until 2017, when it folded due to various disagreements, and was reorganized into the Copa Truck. The series returned in 2021 as a separate ch ...

Championship in the Constellation's first season racing.

Variants

The cab is available in daycab and

sleeper cab A truck sleeper or sleeper cab is a compartment attached behind the cabin of a tractor unit used for rest or sleeping. Origin In many countries, drivers are subject to work-time regulations which limit the amount of time they can drive before ...

configurations. It is available in the following

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...

payload Payload is the object or the entity that is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of t ...

configurations: 13.180 and 15.180 with

MWM International Motores International Indústria Automotiva da América do Sul Ltda. is a Brazilian company specialised in the manufacturing of diesel engines for automotive applications. Until 2005, it was known as MWM Motores Diesel Ltda. History MWM was founded as ...

; 17.250, 24.250 6x2 and 19.320 Titan with or

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, electric vehicle components, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipmen ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s. A further three models were subsequently launched in 2007; a 19.370, 25.370, and 31.370, with a

Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus Volkswagen Truck & Bus Indústria e Comércio de Veículos Ltda., formerly known as Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus, is a Brazilian commercial vehicle manufacturing company based in Resende, Brazil and a subsidiary of Traton. It manufactures ...

engineered and MWM produced Volkswagen NGD 370 diesel engine.

Powertrain

VW NGD 370 engine

The

NGD 370

turbodiesel The term turbo-diesel, also written as turbodiesel and turbo diesel, refers to any diesel engine equipped with a turbocharger. As with other engine types, turbocharging a diesel engine can significantly increase its efficiency and power output, ...

engine premiers new attributes for the heavy trucks sector. The high "flat"

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...

at low engine speeds is improved by a variable geometry turbo-compressor: the Multi Turbo System - MTS. Its

cylinder head In a piston engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders, forming the roof of the combustion chamber. In sidevalve engines the head is a simple plate of metal containing the spark plugs and possibly heat dissipation fins. In more modern ...

features four valves per cylinder, displaces (9.4 litres), and generates at 2,000 rpm. It also comes with the Dual Power Brake – DPB. It features an exclusive high pressure

direct fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All co ...

similar to the ''Pumpe Düse (PD)'' system found in Volkswagen's car engines, the Hydraulic Electronic Unit Injector - HEUI – with electro-hydraulic digital unit injectors and extended durability, developed by the partner company

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

/ VDO. An important advantage is the removable wet

cylinder liner In an engine, the cylinder is the space in which a piston travels. The inner surface of the cylinder is formed from either a thin metallic liner (also called "sleeve") or a surface coating applied to the engine block. A piston is seated inside e ...

s which will assist with easier maintenance and lower costs. Its Multi Turbo System (MTS) turbine with variable vane geometry, is electronically controlled. This helps achieve faster responses, better performance, and better

thermal efficiency In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency (\eta_) is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, steam turbine, steam engine, boiler, furnace, refrigerator, ACs etc. For ...

. This also works as part of the engine brake retarder in the exhaust system. The water-cooled

exhaust gas recirculation In internal combustion engines, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a nitrogen oxide () emissions reduction technique used in petrol engine, petrol/gasoline, diesel engines and some hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicle, hydrogen engines. ...

(EGR) system, coupled with the

cylinder block In an internal combustion engine, the engine block is the structure that contains the cylinders and other components. The engine block in an early automotive engine consisted of just the cylinder block, to which a separate crankcase was attach ...

, reutilises part of the exhaust gasses, producing combustion at lower temperatures with less discharge rates. It includes a new engine brake system, the Dual Power Brake (DPB) fed into the cylinder head, is electronically integrated into the turbocharger. It is claimed that the advantages are: increasing the operational average speed, the brake force, safety, retaking with fuel reduction, and speed on downward slopes. This means less gear shifts, lower maintenance costs, and helps improve the service life of the brakes and

tyres A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over w ...

Transmission

Clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...

es on all variants are the hydraulically operated with pneumatic assistance single-plate diaphragm type. All are supplied by

ZF Sachs ZF Sachs AG, also known as Fichtel & Sachs, was founded in Schweinfurt in 1895 and was a well-known German family business. At its last point as an independent company, the company name was Fichtel & Sachs AG. In 1997, the automotive supplier w ...

, and range in diameter from to . The engine output is routed through a variety of transmissions. One option is the ZF 16S 1685 TD 16-speed manual synchromesh transmission. This latest ZF box is lighter than existing models, due to its all-

aluminium alloy An aluminium alloy ( UK/IUPAC) or aluminum alloy ( NA; see spelling differences) is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There ...

casings. It has a

handling capacity of . The 6x2 variants use a

Meritor Meritor, Inc. is an American corporation headquartered in Troy, Michigan, which manufactures automobile components for military suppliers, trucks, and trailers. Meritor is a Fortune 500 company. In 1997, Rockwell International spun off its aut ...

MS 23-185 tractive rear axle, and this has a maximum capacity of 60 tons. It includes a series differential locking system when used on the VW 25.370 tractor unit. The 6x2 variants also have the facility for partial or total lifting of the third axle, which helps achieve better traction, particularly on slopes. This Extra Traction Device (ETD) ensures part of the third axle load, during partial lifting, is transferred to the tractive axle. 6x4 variants utilise Meritor MD/MR 25-168 tractive rear axles, and are located via Randon S.A. rear

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Car suspension * Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology * Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...

(

bogie A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets (two Railroad wheel, wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes ...

type rigid shafts in tandem).

Specifications

References

External links

Volkswagen Constellation International portal
{{Volkswagen Truck and Bus

Constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

Cab over vehicles Tractor units Trucks of Brazil Vehicles introduced in 2005