In the Australian market, DAF is the ‘other’ brand that sits beside Kenworth within the PACCAR stable. With its headquarters in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, DAF trucks now run down the PACCAR manufacturing line in the Melbourne suburb of Bayswater, and the latest in the DAF lineup is the XG+ 660.
We first saw the XG+ at the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show where it made a guest appearance on the PACCAR stand. We were fortunate to be able to jump the lengthy queues and get a preview of the truck that impressed more than just us on its first showing.
If the level of sophistication and high grade of fit and finish of the show truck were anything to go by, then this would be one of the star trucks launched in 2024/25.
Part of the big news of this truck is its engine. It’s a 15-litre Cummins that has been tweaked and developed by PACCAR specifically for this truck. Called the PX-15, the ‘new’ engine puts out more power and torque than the regular X-15 that we’re familiar with in PACCAR’s Kenworth trucks.
The PX-15 has been developed by PACCAR and Cummins in China but will be sourced from Columbus, Indiana. It puts out 660hp (485kW) and 2360 lb/ft (3200Nm) of torque as opposed to the 550hp and 2050 lb/ft from the X-15 in a K220.
The PX-15 is also 225kg lighter and more fuel efficient than the X-15, we’re told.
The new PX-15 is mated to a ZF 16-speed TraXon auto transmission with Meritor 3.42 diffs. Holding up the rear end is Electronically Controlled Air Suspension (ECAS) Airglide 460 suspension, and the brakes are discs all round.
Who’s it for
When we went to pick up the XG+ from PACCAR Australia we were treated to a very personalised run-through of the truck from various executives, including Chief Engineer Brad May who was a driving force behind the truck.
May said that the DAF XG+ with the PX-15 engine was very much an ‘Australia only’ truck, however its development was also a global project taking in expertise from DAF head office in Eindhoven in The Netherlands, China, Cummins in the US and Australia as well as PACCAR Australia.
“For a long time in this country we’ve prided ourselves on being Aussie engineers for Aussie trucks and doing it our own way. But the nature of product development and the nature of the complexity of new products means that we as PACCAR Australia need to be more global in the way we approach product design,” Mr May said.
“This engine had to sit in a truck so that the truck was a DAF in every sense of the word.
“So there has been a lot of development in collaboration with Cummins to develop the software to suit the DAF truck… which is very different from the software that is used in a Kenworth truck,” he added.
Mr May said that one of the design criteria was that it had to be able to handle the busy line haul route here in Australia including the East Coast. To that end, the truck needed to have a minimum of 1100 litres of fuel and a corresponding amount of AdBlue.
So, as you can see, the truck is very much designed for Australia and hence Mr May pointed out that it could slot into any fleet to do any number of jobs, both intrastate and interstate.
Tech and Safety
The new XG and XG+ get entirely new, thoroughly modern cabs that have been designed with aerodynamic efficiency in mind. In fact, the new cabs are 22 percent more efficient than the previous cabs. In European testing with the 13-litre engine, the new cabs proved to be 11 percent more fuel efficient than the existing cabs.
Inside, the design of the cabs aims at getting better vision, more room and better ergonomics with a low floor and full-standing height.
The cabs will be imported from Eindhoven, and then the trucks will be built at PACCAR Australia’s manufacturing plant in Bayswater.
Being from Europe, the cabs are fitted with the latest in technology and safety.
The steering wheel is multi-functional with cruise control buttons on the left and audio and screen controls on the right. The fully-digital dash can be set up in different configurations so the driver can select how he or she wants it to look and what information is displayed.
However, this dash setup can only be done when the truck is stationary. DAF has a philosophy of ‘hands on the wheel, eyes on the road’ which also means there are no touch screens.
Obviously, the new DAFs have all the safety you’d expect in a truck of this calibre including driver airbag and seatbelt pretensioners, Brake Assist, Lane Departure Warning System and Emergency Brake Lights as standard, as is the third-generation advanced emergency braking that reacts upon a possible collision with both stationary and moving objects when travelling at speeds of up to 100km/h.
Additional DAF active safety features include an automated electronic park brake, where the park brake automatically initiates when the engine is off, or when it detects that the driver’s door is open, thus helping to prevent accidental roll-aways.
On the Road
When I first climbed up into the cab of the DAF XG+, the initial feeling was one of space. The cab is big and wide with plenty of room around the driver. The wide, curved windscreen provides a great view and the low waistline of the doors also adds to the visibility and feeling of space.
The sleeper is similarly roomy with an electrically-controlled bed that tilts up at the touch of a button, so you can read or watch tele in comfort.
There is an abundance of storage in the cab with three big lockers up front and plenty of other storage areas including a handy pull-out tray as well as a charging slot for your phone. There are numerous USB ports around the cab as well as 12-volt plugs.
Our test truck was running a B-double set of trailers and weighed in at 57 tonnes on the weighbridge.
DAF has done a wonderful job of insulating the cab from the engine noise. Sure, there is a bit of a rumble from the big PX-15, but the quiet, smooth ride is up there with the best of the Euro trucks on the market.
The TraXon transmission is terrific with quick shifts and smooth downshifts. There is a three-stage engine brake which works well under load and I found that, along with a couple of hits on the stalk to downshift, it can almost bring the rig to a stop.
Torque from the big six-cylinder is fantastic and a look at the torque curve shows that the maximum torque is held from 900rpm right through to 1400rpm, which is really impressive. This means that the DAF will haul up hills in the overdrive top gear and lug right down to near 1000rpm before downshifting. In many cases on our test, the truck just marched up hills in top gear without shifting. And this was at 57 tonnes.
Cruising on the highway the PX-15 is spinning at just a smidge over 1400rpm at 100km/h which is still in the max torque range, so the DAF is really well geared.
Steering is another good aspect of the DAF. It’s light and direct on the highway and very easy and manoeuvrable at low speeds.
Driver comfort is right up there with the best. The seat is great with two arm rests and a stack of adjustment. I spent two days behind the wheel and never felt uncomfortable or sore. It really is a great workspace.
Our test took in a bit under 700 kilometres around Victoria and a bit of NSW including a short run on the Hume. All up we achieved fuel economy of around 2.2km/litre which is commensurate with the test trucks that have been in fleets for a year or so. They recorded between 2.1 and 2.2km/litre.
Fleet Verdict
The DAF XG and XG+ are welcome flagship models to the DAF range. They have been redesigned and repowered to suit the Australian market by the experts at PACCAR Australia who certainly know a thing or two about building trucks for our conditions.
The ‘new’ Cummins engine is a beauty. It provides plenty of power and torque for anything that our fleet owners can throw at it. And it does it economically.
All the PACCAR components from the chassis, through to the suspension, diffs, cooling and even the air-cond are proven in the existing DAF and Kenworth trucks, so reliability should not be a problem.
If you’re looking for something to slot into a fleet as a great all-rounder, be it in prime mover or rigid form, the DAF XG is well worth a test drive. You won’t be disappointed.
2025 DAF XG+ 660 Quick Specs:
- Engine: PX15 six-cylinder in-line 14.5 litres
- Power: 660hp (485kW) at 1800rpm
- Torque: 3200Nm between 900 to 1400rpm
- Transmission: ZF TraXon 16-speed auto
- Diff ratio: 3.42
- GVM: 28,400 kg
- GCM: 97,000 kg
- Max. front: 7500 kg
- Max. rear: 20,900 kg
- Brakes: Ventilated discs front and rear PX engine brake
- Park Brake: Electro pneumatic
- Suspension front: 7.5t parabolic leaf spring, DAF 165N steer axle
- Suspension Rear: 20.9t Electronically Controlled Air Suspension (Airglide 460) Meritor MT21-165 drive axles
- Fuel 725L and 425L (total 1150L)
- AdBlue: 130L
