The three digits carried on the badges immediately raise high expectations. And it’s only a few minutes into our Big Test before the truck starts confirming its capability.

I’ve climbed into the passenger seat of a new Volvo FH16 780 for the first time near Rainbow Mountain to join Self Loader Logging day shift driver Andy Southgate from Taupo.

It’s early on a mid-December morning and Andy finds a gap in the State Highway 5 traffic to turn right. The blue and red Volvo smoothly gains pace as we head north towards Rotorua.

Less than five minutes later I’m still writing the first of my notes when I look up and realise that we are climbing.

I think every truck enthusiast was excited when Volvo announced the new 17 litre engine range with a 780hp version as the performance flagship. And it isn’t just the latest benchmark in the horsepower race, but is accompanied by increased torque as well and fuel economy benefits.

But there are always some questions to be answered. How does the 780hp in-line six match up to its closest rival – the 16-litre Scania V8 with 770hp? I was sceptical, even down to a dinner discussion the night before this test, but a day on the road with a Self Loader Logging unit put me right.

We caught up with the first FH 16 780 logger to go on the road in New Zealand to spend a day on the road and in the bush, just before the Christmas shutdown. This is the best environment to test the new engine given the weights this truck operates at – on the highway it works on a 58t permit.