The 9th International Tuned Truck Show, “Master Truck”, took place in Poland at the end of July 2013. The airport near Opole welcomed creatively painted trucks, ornamented delivery vans and unusual, historic trucks. Autogas was strongly represented at the event, which attracted more than 50 000 visitors.

This year’s Master Truck Show started on Friday and lasted uninterrupted until Sunday night. More than 250 trucks competed for numerous titles and awards, while several thousand of other vehicles and trailers and semi-trailers filled the rally car parks. Sunny weather encouraged several dozens of thousands of people, mostly families, to spend the weekend among beautifully tuned machines. Gazeo.eu – an online platform for Autogas and natural gas in transport – could not be missing from this event, as it was a perfect chance to fulfill its mission of promoting Autogas among rally guests and participants.

The flagship vehicle of the gazeo.eu stand was the Volvo VN semi-trailer truck with a protruding bonnet, typical of American trucks. The six-cylinder 12-litre engine is fitted with the Oscar N-Diesel installation by a Polish company, Europegas. A 180-litre LPG container dedicated to trucks, painted bright orange to match the colour of the chassis, was mounted to the frame.

The Volvo VN Gasodiesel semi-trailer truck

The bonnet was kept open all the time to encourage visitors to have a look at the fitted installation and to talk with the representatives of the company.  Not only fans of trucks, but also professional drivers took advantage of this opportunity to ask detailed questions concerning not only the operation of a gas-diesel installation, but also the impact on performance. Many people were amazed to learn about the benefits from such a system in the form of more power coupled with reduced running costs.

There was also a large group of drivers and carriers already familiar with the idea of a gas-diesel fuel system, but not entirely convinced about the efficiency of the system. In view of this, it would make sense for ongoing initiatives to promote Autogas installations in diesel engines to focus on further promotion of this solution amongst people working in the road transport sector.

The new Mercedes Sprinter and Hyundai i20 fuelled by Autogas

This year, for the first time at the gazeo.eu stand, cars with factory-fitted gas installation were put on display. The popular segment of passenger cars was represented by the Hyundai i20. The Mercedes Sprinter LGT was also displayed. Both cars are equipped with sequential gas installations, which, being factory-fitted, are covered by the car manufacturer’s guarantee. Many people succumbed to the temptation to look under the bonnet and check the Autogas installation. The most common questions concerned the guarantee, driving experience and durability of the engine.

The new Mercedes Sprinter

The moment of truth – engine test stands

The inclusion of the engine test at the gazeo.eu stand turned out to be a great way of showing that a vehicle fuelled with Autogas does not differ in any way from its petrol-fuelled equivalent. The cars presented by gazeo.eu had to demonstrate this by undergoing a test, which involved several checks of power and torque at the portable V-tech engine test stand – a fast unloading, instant assembly facility, typically associated with fully equipped specialist service stations, that appeared in the middle of Opole airport.

Each measurement involved the use of gasoline and Autogas. In both cases, before presentation at the Master Truck rally, the cars were not subjected to any additional regulation. It turned out that the factory settings of gas installations are adjusted in such a way that the driver is not able to notice any difference between Autogas and gasoline while driving. The results for mileage differed by only  1-1.5 kilometres! What’s more, visitors could see that both of the brands on display present the operational parameters of their vehicles in a very reliable way, since the values stated in the manuals did not differ from the measurements during the rally by more than 1 kilometre.

Measurements taken in the presence of viewers and supported by a commentary encouraged participants to ask questions and familiarise themselves with the Autogas systems displayed.

Up, up and away – Autogas takes to the air in a balloon!

But the biggest attraction of the gazeo.eu stand was free balloon flights! Thanks to the collaboration with Gaspol (part of the SHV Energy group), a hot-air balloon, naturally “fuelled” with Autogas, appeared in the rally area! It was not certain until the last moment whether the weather conditions would allow the balloon to take off. But at about 8 p.m., a Gaspol Team pilot, Arkadiusz Iwański, champion of Poland, finally took a decision to fill the balloon with hot air and take off. The interest was so huge that the flights took place even after dawn then next day.

The “Balloon tickets” distributed at the gazeo.eu stand were the hit of the evening. More than 100 people (mostly children and their caretakers) could experience the power of Autogas, capable of raising a balloon with passengers into the air.

Master Truck – a great place to showcase Autogas

The Master Truck rally is a perfect place to promote Autogas and win driver’s hearts. More than 50 000 visitors, including young people, families and enthusiasts, enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and direct contact with present and future users of cars fuelled with Autogas. This enabled us to help combat negative stereotypes and promote modern gas installations.

Next year the jubilee 10th Master Truck rally will take place. Make a note in your diary now!

For more information about the Master truck show, please visit http://gazeo.eu/up-to-date/reportages-interviews-road-tests/reportages-and-interviews/Master-Truck-2013,report,7096.html.