Fuso New Zealand boss Kurtis Andrews reckons that the latest addition to the Shogun heavy-duty range is the first Japanese truck on the Kiwi market powered by “a true 500-horsepower” engine.

It’s a provocative claim for the new 510hp/380kilowatt engine – one that’s bound to ruffle a few feathers. Especially those of a certain rival Japanese manufacturer. 

After all, wasn’t the Isuzu Giga the first Japanese truck to break the 500hp barrier on the NZ market – way back in 2015, with its top-of-the-range Giga model….boasting 530hp? Well, yes it was. If you go by horsepower figures alone, that is.

Another claim that Fuso NZ makes for its new Shogun, powered by the OM471/Detroit DD13 engine, is that it will be “the most powerful Euro 6 Japanese truck available in NZ.” Okay, we get that: Isuzu’s 530 is still at the Euro 5 emissions level here.

Okay Kurtis – so how does this “true horsepower” business work then? Well, he and his team at Fuso NZ reckon their new Shogun – due to arrive on the NZ market within a few months – has got the wood on the Giga because it boasts 2500Nm of torque from its new 510hp engine.....

It’s not the most interesting truck to look at with its plain white cab…but it’s what’s underneath that matters – and why I’m here: To test the first 500-horsepower-plus FUSO on New Zealand roads.

The Daimler Trucks OM471 engine is one that the Daimler Group has had so much success with – and it now has it here in its three main brands.

My last experience with this engine was earlier this year when I tested the first Freightliner Cascadia on our roads – and was impressed with its performance as it powered a tractor unit and quad reefer north out of Dunedin, over the Kilmog.

So it’ll be very interesting to see how the FUSO performs on a hilly route, heading south from Northland, to Auckland – with a six-axle B-train, running at 47 tonnes all-up.

It’s at Waipu where I get my turn behind the wheel of this pre-production evaluation model. To make the test as tough as possible for this new Shogun, we’ll turn off SH1 at Wellsford and take on the steep hills and corners of SH16.

The cab is very similar to what’s on offer already in the Shogun. Cab entry is good with three well-spaced, deep steps and grabhandles on each side of the wide-opening door.