Fuso FJ 2528C

It’s not just the exterior design of the Fuso FJ 2528C which has been retained completely with the smaller FJ 1823R. Even the entire cabin design, as well as equipment list, are complete lift-offs from the smaller medium-duty truck, which again is not a good thing when it comes to the factor of individualism for the Fuso FJ 2528C. 

The dashboard of the Fuso FJ 2528C has a wide design, for the left and right portions of the dashboard flow all the way towards the center console. While the four-spoke steering wheel is a boring unit with a no-frills design, it is ergonomically well placed with both tilt and telescopic adjustments for it.

The rectangular instrument console placed behind the steering wheel looks simple but has a pretty informative orange backlit MID cluster in the middle of it. The center console has a protruding out a design for it, and comprises of rectangular AC vents, with controls for AC and provision of music system placed below it.

With contemporary features like height-adjustable driver’s seat, tilt and telescopic adjustable steering wheel, power windows and door locks and cruise control, the Fuso FJ 2528C are quite feature-rich for a segment to which it belongs.

The Fuso FJ 2528C looks exactly the same as the smaller medium-duty truck from Fuso, the FJ 1823R. While the overall design of the Fuso FJ 2528C is not something to find faults with, the fact that there is not even a single differentiator in design with respect to the smaller FJ 1823R robs off some of its individuality.

The front fascia of the Fuso FJ 2528C is divided into two halves. The upper half of the front fascia of the truck is entirely covered by the huge windshield, which has a slightly curved design and comes with rounded edges at the top and angular edges at the bottom.  The long horizontal black panel positioned below the windscreen consists of two grab handles as well as mounts for the windshield wiper.

Talking about the lower half of this front fascia, the primary part here is the large and wide front grille, which has a trapezoidal lower design with a long horizontal portion above it, which extends through the width of the truck. The grille, with its T-shaped black garnish and honeycomb mesh pattern inside it, gives a busy looking front end to the truck. The long and rectangular front bumper has small trapezoidal headlamps placed on its corners. These headlamps have been incorporated daytime running LED strips in their inner edges. 

Coming to the sides, the Fuso FJ 2528C gets a simple design, the main components of which are the small window panel with curved edges towards the rear as well as dual rearview mirrors on either side, the mounts for which are placed on the upper and lower corners of the side windows. The full wheel arches at the front are shaped in a semi-trapezoidal manner, with them getting heavy grey colored fenders and cladding work.

The Fuso FJ 1823R comes fitted with a heavy-duty suspension setup of parabolic leaf spring with shock absorber and anti-roll bar and reverse Elliot axle at the front and Tandem Bogie and anti-roll bar and fully floating axle at the back. For the purpose of braking, the Fuso FJ 2528C is fitted with pneumatically operated spring actuator with hand brake valve acting on the rear axle.

The Fuso FJ 2528C shares its 6.4-litre inline-six diesel engine with the smaller FJ 1823R, however, it is in a different state of tune here. Coupled to the same 6-speed manual gearbox, the engine here makes 285 PS of maximum power and 1120 Nm of maximum torque.

Apart from anti-lock braking system (ABS), the Fuso FJ 2528C has been equipped with the collapsible steering column, cruise control, side-impact beams and three-point seat belts, which makes it a safe vehicle of high standards.

The Fuso FJ 2528C tries to appeal to both the kinds of buyers – those who value form and function – with its well-executed design on the outside as well as on the inside as well as a very potent, torquey and reliable diesel engine.