Hino SS1EKSA

The Hino SS1EKSA comes with the same bland and sparsely equipped cabin which is there in the rest of the 700 series of heavy-duty full-size trucks. The cabin, though not a modern-looking one, impresses with the ergonomics and practicality it packs in. The entire cabin is finished in a dull and cheap-looking shade of grey, which further reduces its appeal.

The Hino SS1EKSA has a driver cockpit that comes with a two-spoke steering wheel as well as a simple and elaborative-looking instrument console placed behind it. The large center console is tilted slightly towards the driver's side, which tries to enhance the driver’s reach and usage of all the controls placed on it. This center console comes with a number of rectangular knee recesses, which can be used for storing things, and also has a provision for fitment of an infotainment system.

The Hino SS1EKSA comes adorned with the same design language which has been carried out for the whole 700 series of heavy-duty trucks. With a decent profile in actuality, the Hino SS1EKSA has got a good road presence and looks modern enough to make sure it belongs to the current times.

With a tallish personality when viewed from the front, the Hino SS1EKSA definitely manages to look at the part as a full-size heavy-duty truck just by its presence. There are a lot of geometrical influences in the overall design of the Hino SS1EKSA, thus making it look proportionate.

The biggest highlight of the entire exterior design of the Hino SS1EKSA happens to be the large and intimidating-looking front grille, which covers a majority of the portion of the front profile. The grille has been garnished with three thick and horizontal slabs placed one over the other, all of which are finished in chrome. A round-shaped Hino logo is placed just in the middle of the top-most slab of the grille.

Talking about the lighting units of the front profile, the Hino SS1EKSA comes with triangular-shaped turn indicators placed on the lower edges of the front apron, just above the front bumper. The front bumper looks decent and simple and comes fitted with headlamps with rounded edges on either corner.

The side profile of the Hino SS1EKSA features trapezoidal recesses on the door panels, which try to enhance the otherwise simple-looking design here. As with all the other heavy-duty full-size trucks, the Hino SS1EKSA too comes with steps for climbing on the cabin and thick molding for the wheel arches. The rearview mirrors with their mounts on the door panels as well as door handles are finished in black.

The Hino SS1EKSA has been bestowed with a capable chassis under the skin, which is supremely capable of carrying heavy loads with ease. The truck comes with a suspension combination of semi-elliptical leaf springs with shock absorbers and stabilizer at the front and semi-elliptical leaf springs with torque rods at the rear.

Talking about the brakes, the Hino SS1EKSA has been equipped with a service brake setup of leading and trailing shoes for front and rear wheels with auto brake shoe adjuster and full air dual circuit ‘S’ cam type. The Hino SS1EKSA has been equipped with a spring brake acting on the front and rear frontward wheels for parking purposes.

The engine which has been used to power the Hino SS1EKSA is a 13-liter inline six-cylinder water-cooled turbocharged diesel engine. This engine is present in other 700 series of heavy-duty trucks from Hino, however, here in the Hino SS1EKSA, it is in its most powerful state of tune.

The engine is coupled to a 16-speed manual gearbox, and churns out 450 PS of maximum power and 1912 Nm of maximum torque, thus making it the most powerful engine from the Japanese commercial vehicle maker.

The Hino SS1EKSA comes equipped with ABS, which happens to be the only safety feature present in the truck.

The Hino SS1EKSA rightfully deserves to be the flagship truck from the Japanese commercial vehicle major, with the most powerful engine powering it enough to make it fit for the purpose. However, being a flagship vehicle, we would have expected the Hino SS1EKSA to come with better equipment levels.