If you read my Tuck Sim posts regularly you will have seen and maybe felt my pain at the issues with the Freightliner FLB’s mirrors after the map-rescale of American Truck Sim. It truthfully was a serious loss in my game – I loved the FLB. If you play this game regularly you do get to know each truck you drive. One of my football friends asked me about this and how having a wheel affects the game. I have to say that most of the trucks behave a little different and how the wheel acts is controlled by how the truck is programmed. The ATS trucks are heavier on the steering than their European counterparts – there’s nothing quite so disconcerting as turning into a corner on a single carriageway road in the Renault Magnum and feeling the steering go light! Not something that I ever encounter in American Truck. But, back to the Freightliner FLB and its broken mirrors – eventually it will get fixed but in the meantime I was left with the stock trucks and searching for a viable replacement.
The search threw up the Kenworth K200 and the K108 as options that are popularly driven in the game. They are both great looking cabovers but as far as I can research they are proper to the Australian Market rather than California. In fact you can see a K108 in action on the Outback Truckers channel on YouTube. In the US it appears that the Kenworth cabover offering was the K100 Aerodyne. The good news is that this truck is available as a mod download.
There are a couple of versions available of which I prefer the version by Solaris36. There is one immediate issue with this truck – the advanced coupling doesn’t work… but I can live with that 🙂 I chose to equip my K100 with the Caterpillar 3406 475HP engine and a 13sp Eaton-Fuller box with Retarder. The sounds aren’t quite right (at least I think so) – the engine makes nearly no sound in lower gears until 1000 revs is reached then the rumble and turbo scream cut in. I have heard this done better in another truck and I guess this is just an issue of importing the correct sounds mods. I was using the same engine in Purple Rain and it sounded good there so I’d guess it’s just a tidy-up. That minor complaint out of the way… This truck sounds great once you get into changing gears proper on the highway.
The interior of the cab looks good, but in the basic version is very reminiscent of the FLB – I suspect some file sharing here! The upmarket version is brightly orange! That’s not for me – Looks like something I would find in a brothel! No Thank you – I’ll stick with the understated version The exterior is beautifully presented and is a masterpiece of the mod makers art – well done to all involved!
The K100 handles nicely – pitching into corners fast as expected with a cabover. Steering is much more direct than the Kenworth W900 or the other conventional trucks. Parking trailers is easy for the same reason. She feels nice but… The FLB felt better – another indication to doubters that the trucks do handle differently.
I will be keeping the K100 – Name for her yet to come – but I will also be wishing for the FLB to be fixed :-) Here’s my K100…
Images from Finchley 