MAZ-5440 is a fairly popular truck in the countries of the former USSR. The car has been in serial production since 1997. This truck tractor is produced in several modifications. One of these is M9. This copy was presented at the ComTrans exhibition in 2014. MAZ-5440M9 is a new generation tractor with a modernized cabin, reliable engine and gearbox. The manufacturer claims that the machine is suitable for use not only in the CIS countries, but also in Western Europe (since it meets Euro-6 standards). What is a MAZ-5440M9 truck? See photos, review and technical specifications further in our article.
Design: first impressions
The appearance of this truck has been radically redesigned. Belarusian engineers took the design of the MAZ V9 (shown in the photo on the left) as a basis.
The new product features a reinforced cabin frame, new air supports and cladding elements. One of the features of the new MAZ-5440M9 is an enlarged cooling radiator. Its width is about a meter. Due to these dimensions, engineers had to redo part of the cabin. The radiator grille has also been expanded. On all versions it is painted black. The tow hooks are hidden behind rubber plugs in the bumper.
Please note: the MAZ logo and the bison emblem are placed separately, at a great distance. But this is not a design whim at all - these details significantly reduce the cooling area of the radiator.
From the side, the cabin resembles the contours of a Volvo FN-12 from the mid-2000s. By the way, side boxes appeared on this MAZ for the first time. They are located on both the right and left sides. Their total volume is 400 liters. Here you can place all the necessary tools, technical fluids and a gas cylinder for cooking on the go. Between the front and rear axles there are two fuel tanks with a total volume of 1100 liters. They are covered with a decorative skirt. Experts say that this solution has a positive effect on fuel efficiency. Consumption is reduced by 5-6 percent. The truck tractor is also equipped with a side and roof spoiler. The rear-view mirrors received a different shape and became more informative. The driver can monitor all blind spots. On this type of truck, this is the space near the front right wheel and the right side of the bumper. The architecture of the mirrors reminds many of Iveco Stralis. If we compare these cars in more detail, we can assume that the mirror was taken from the original without a single alteration.
Nevertheless, they provide a good overview, which was so lacking in the previous MAZ. It wouldn’t hurt to have a small “window” at the bottom (at least on the passenger door side).
Optics
The optics deserve special attention. She is being released. Now MAZ has separate lenses. On previous generations, the headlights were solid, with lensed low beams.
According to reviews, the quality of optical lighting is at a high level. There is also a strip of running lights next to the headlights. It is located separately from the headlight unit. Previously, only Ford used such a solution with round wheels on Cargo truck tractors. Well, the optics on the MAZ look great.
Interior of MAZ-5440M9
The reader can see a photo of the cabin interior below. Getting into the cabin is comfortable - there are handrails and footrests (on the second one you can store a change of shoes, since the door completely covers them). The seats are located high. I would immediately like to note the similarity of the design with the Mercedes Actros - the same rounding of the panel, instrument panel and console design. The steering wheel is completely identical to the Aktros.
As you can see from the photo, the interior of the MAZ-5440M9 is strongly tied to the exterior - there are no rough shapes or lines here. At the same time, there are no such modern solutions as in the fourth “Actros”. The only exception is the instrument panel with a digital display. By the way, it is made to order by a Polish company. Also in the cabin the number of shelves for documents has been increased - now there are two. There is also a cup holder on the panel.
Ergonomics, comfort
Reviews note the ergonomic arrangement of the keys - you can reach each one without leaving the back of the seat. The seats on MAZ also underwent modifications. They can be adjusted in different planes. But the upholstery is only fabric, and this is frustrating.
Among other features, it is worth highlighting the presence of a “Start-Stop” button. This is the first time the Minsk Plant has used such a solution.
Due to the wide radiator, the layout of the entire front part had to be changed. So, engineers expanded the cabin supports. This improved the smoothness of the ride. Noise insulation in MAZ is at an average level. It is better than the previous generation B9, but it is still far from the level of the Aktros. The cabin has two berths. But the top shelf does not lock in several positions.
In general, the interior of the MAZ-5440M9 cabin deserves high praise. The interior is very ergonomic, with a good stove and comfortable seats. But there are still “childhood diseases” here. This is hard plastic and a huge engine compartment lid, which significantly hides part of the car's interior.
Tractors in Korean
The offensive of Chinese long-haul tractors on Russia failed ingloriously, but now the “Koreans” are rushing to us: two models debuted on Comtrans at once - the Hyundai Xcient and the Tata Daewoo Prima.
The Hyundai Xcient tractor has a “native” 410-horsepower Euro 4 engine and a 16-speed ZF gearbox
The interior is very stylish and high quality
Light upholstery is a controversial decision, but it feels like a “European”
The cabin is quickly tilted by an electric drive.
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Both look similar: two-axle, with their own high cabs, rear air suspension, 16-speed ZF gearboxes and Jost hitch saddles. But how different the execution is!
Hyundai Xcient is the first tractor from Asia, which in quality and design reminded us of the “Europeans”. The cabin, under which the “original” engine stands, is installed on a four-point air suspension and equipped with an electric lift; the interior is very spacious (from floor to ceiling - 1895 mm, bed width - a decent 80 cm) and the finish is of very high quality.
Of course, some technical solutions are a bit old (ZF gearbox with a “double H” shift pattern) or unusual (Lincoln central lubrication system, a rather low-mounted pneumatic system dryer and the output for the power take-off, which is already rusty). And a German journalist, who studied the car before us, managed to break off the driver’s seat adjustment knob.
The front trim “opens up” like a Scania: the pneumatic elements of the cab suspension are visible
By the way, one of the first copies arrived to us (VIN ends with 00028), and from Belarus: the shown tractor belongs to a Belarusian distributor, and the vehicles specially ordered for Comtrans did not have time to be delivered from Vladivostok. Company representatives do not yet know how much Xcient will cost: they only know that it is “cheaper than the cheapest European tractor.” By the way, Xсient will also be a dump truck: there was such a chassis at the exhibition.
Avtotor is going to start production of Tata Daewoo Prima tractors. Engine - 440-horsepower Cummins ISM Euro 5, gearbox - 16-speed ZF
The front panel is unpretentious
There is a refrigerator in the middle of the salon
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But the Tata Prima is made more in an Asian way than in a European way: colored transparent fuel pipes look frivolous, there is an equally frivolous protective bar at the back, and in the cabin there are huge windows in the rear wall and behind the cabin doors (which means there will be a dubak here in winter) . The quality of the upholstery is so-so, and in the middle of the engine tunnel there is a hefty refrigerator, the lid of which is not fixed, but is equipped with a limiting chain. I accidentally tore it off while taking photographs, and then, again by accident, I crushed the plastic plug inserted into the floor under the rug with my heel. And when I stuck my hand into the right glove compartment above the windshield, I discovered that there was water there, which had clearly leaked through the roof after washing! Yeah...
Kaliningrad Avtotor declares that from January 2014 it will begin assembling Tata Daewoo trucks: the declared production volume is up to 2000 vehicles per year, the estimated price of the tractor is 4 million rubles. Very expensive! After all, for 3.2 million rubles you can get a much more solid and high-quality new Ford Cargo with an Iveco engine, and for 2.8-2.9 million rubles you can get a MAZ or KAMAZ with Mercedes engines and components.
MAZ-5440M9 - technical characteristics
German diesel engines in our cars are far from uncommon. The installation of Mercedes engines has long been practiced at the Kama Automobile Plant. Now it’s MAZ’s turn. The Belarusian truck tractor is equipped with an OM-471 engine. The same engine was used on the Aktros. The engine has proven itself to be good. This is a reliable and resourceful unit. OM-471 is a six-cylinder in-line engine with a displacement of 12.8 liters. The engine is equipped with a 12-speed G230 robotic gearbox. Again, this is a box from Aktros. The car has an electronic limiter that cuts off the fuel supply at speeds over 90 kilometers per hour. This feature is inherent in all European truck tractors.
The OM-471 engine allows you to adjust torque and power in flexible ranges, depending on the modification and customer needs. In our case, the power of the unit is 476 horsepower. But as practice shows, this engine can easily be boosted to 530 horsepower. Such flexible settings are made possible thanks to the presence of composite camshafts and the X-Plus injection system. An asymmetrical turbocharger is used as an air blower.
The engine on the MAZ-5440M9 is equipped with a particulate filter with active exhaust gas regeneration. Thanks to this, the machine complies with Euro 6 requirements and can be legally used in the Baltic countries, as well as Western Europe. The particulate filter works together with the AdBlue system (colloquially “urea”).
Transmission
The engine is combined with a robotic 12-speed gearbox Mercedes-Benz G230-12 AMT. But in general, there are three types of gearboxes: two manual and one automatic.
German production on the MAZ-5440M9 and the leading rear axle is a hypoid Daimler R440. Although the manufacturer states that in the future MAZ plans to produce its own analogue.
Other Features
The use of modernized injection allowed not only to increase power, but also to reduce overall fuel consumption. Thus, per 100 kilometers of travel, the MAZ-5440M9 truck tractor consumes 26.7 liters of fuel. For comparison, the 5440 model consumed 30 liters of fuel. Note that fuel injection is carried out according to the Common Rail type. “X-Plus” is an electronic unit that regulates the geometry of the collector. Fuel is supplied at a pressure of 1160 Bar. The maximum value is 2.7 thousand. The injector nozzles on this engine have eight holes. Engineers also changed the geometry of the cylinder piston. This made it possible to increase the compression ratio to 18.3. The rate of exhaust gas recirculation has also increased.
All these and many other improvements made it possible to increase engine thrust. Thus, a torque of 2.3 thousand Nm is realized already at 1.1 thousand revolutions. The machine easily overcomes steep climbs when fully loaded as part of a road train.
Reviews note that the machine has a good resource reserve. The service interval is 150 thousand kilometers. The engine itself is highly powerful, which allows you to easily transport loads weighing up to 20-25 tons. The new MAZ-5440M9 tractor also features engine braking. This allows you to reduce the load on the pads in emergency situations.
Lawn Next and others
Sales of Gazelles Next are gaining momentum, and in the meantime, the Gazelle workers have equipped a medium-tonnage “lawn” with the same cabin: it’s called the Next Lawn. You will inevitably smile!
This truck with a cab from Gazelle Next is the heir to the famous “lawns”. In the middle of the cabin - that's a gearshift lever
The truck remains five-ton (load capacity is 4.7 tons for the short-wheelbase version and 5 tons for the long-wheelbase version), but the design has changed. Under the hood - either Cummins 3.8 or YaMZ-534, clutch - Sachs, integral steering mechanism, ZF brand, brakes both front and rear are disc with German components, front springs have become longer for better smoothness. We made a couple of suggestions to the GAZ designers: the high-raised cabin lacks handles that are comfortable to hold on to when landing, and the rather narrow and sloping steel bumper is uncomfortable to stand on (but the GAZ team promises to make “rough” linings). Production of Lawns Next will begin next year, and they secretly told us the price: less than a million rubles!
Standing on the bumper is not very comfortable. Under the hood is the Yaroslavl “four” YaMZ-534
Interior - like Gazelle Next
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In the meantime, GAZ is preparing a lot of other new products. Among them are the all-metal Gazelle and Sobol Next, the production of which will begin in 2015, a joystick instead of the gear lever for the Gazelle and Sobol Next, and a new Evotech gasoline engine. This is a familiar Ulyanovsk UMP, but with a deeply redesigned design: the working volume is reduced from 2.9 liters to 2.7 liters, fuel consumption is reduced by 5%, the promised service life is 400 thousand km. At the same time, only the main components will be Russian, but the price of the motor will not increase.
Promising Sable Next, and all-metal
And in the future, hooded Urals will get the cabin from Gazelle Next! “In any case, this cabin is wider than the current Ural one,” comment the designers. In the meantime, Ural has carried out a mini-restyling of the cabover model with an ancient licensed Iveco cab. It looks like the designers were inspired by the Ford Cargo... It's a pity that the interior of the Ural remains the same - outdated and rough.
For now, the promising Ural exists in the form of sketches. But the cabin will be from Gazelle Next, and the appearance will be “based on” armored Typhoons
Oh, by the way: what are the prospects for ordinary Gazelles and Sables? “We will produce them for another three to five years, and then, perhaps, we will transfer production to one of the third world countries - for example, India,” say the Gazovites.
Restyling for the veteran: the model with the old Ivekov cabin will be called Ural-M. And here is the promised gearshift joystick for the Gazelle and Sobol Next
Chassis
The car is built on a ladder-type frame. At the front there is a dependent suspension with leaf springs. At the rear there is a bridge with pneumatic cylinders in a total of 4 pcs. What’s noteworthy is that the vehicle’s towing device was manufactured by the domestic company Gidromash in the city of Kobrin. The tractor is standard equipped with Matator tires with a diameter of 22 and a half inches.
As reviews note, these tires have a good service life and do not emit excessive noise when driving on the highway. Thanks to the air suspension, the car handles smoothly on uneven surfaces. But without load, increased rigidity is felt (especially in the front, where the beam has springs).
Price
The price of the MAZ-5440M9 truck tractor is 5 million 650 thousand rubles. The car is covered by a warranty for a period of two years or 200 thousand kilometers. The package includes a digital tachograph, an autonomous liquid heater, a fairing and a basic set of tools. Reviews note that the price of this car is at the level of three-year-old foreign cars.
The same MAZ V9 (the previous generation, which is still in mass production) is available at a price of 3 million 600 thousand rubles. Yes, there is a spring rear suspension, and the cabin is not as progressive in design as the M9. But the payback period for this tractor is much higher. And this is one of the main deciding factors when purchasing commercial vehicles.
Alternative to diesel fuel
The trend of the current exhibition was the massive appearance of cars running on gas, not liquefied, but compressed methane. The spring decree of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on the introduction of gas transport is being implemented: just over a year ago there were only about seventy methane gas filling stations (CNG filling stations) in the country, but now there are already two hundred of them! In addition, methane is approximately three times cheaper than diesel fuel.
It is not surprising that Iveco offers trucks powered by methane (at the stand there was a delivery Eurocargo for transporting Nestle water), and even minibuses. KAMAZ, in turn, has prepared a whole range: tractor, dump truck, bus, grain truck, garbage truck.
KAMAZ has a whole range of vehicles with methane engines
This is the chassis of an experimental electric KAMAZ
The electric KAMAZ has batteries under the red cover, the electric motor is visible on the right
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Manufacturers operate with impressive figures: it is stated that a passenger-kilometer on a methane minibus Iveco Daily will cost only 5.5 kopecks (two times less than a diesel Ford Transit, and four times less than a diesel Gazelle), and the owner of a gas KAMAZ over ten years of operation it will save exactly 6 million 715 thousand rubles on fuel (is it really that much?).
It’s just a pity, methane vehicles are expensive: at the exhibition they asked for a KAMAZ-6520 gas dump truck about 3.5 million rubles, while the diesel equivalent is 700 thousand rubles cheaper.
Would you like to refuel with electricity? At the KAMAZ stand there was a prototype KAMAZ-4308 Electro, developed together with the Austrian company AVL. Behind the cabin there are Swiss batteries, under the frame there is an electric motor. It charges from a 220 V outlet, and then travels... as much as 60 km. True, the designers promise to increase the power reserve to 120 km, but this is hard to believe, and the price of such an electric car is clearly prohibitive.
