Manufacturer Tatra Class Heavy truck | Production 1999 - present Body style conventional | |
 | ||
Assembly Kopřivnice, Moravia, Czech Republic Engine Tatra diesel air-cooled V8
270kW-325kW | ||
Tatra T 163 Jamal (dubbed after the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia, Russia) is a heavy truck made by Czech company Tatra. It uses the traditional Tatra concept of rigid backbone tube and swinging half-axles giving independent suspension. The vehicles are available primarily in 6x6 and alternatively also 4x4 variants. It is marketed either as road-legal heavy truck (tipper or semi-trailer truck) or as working machine (to be used i.e. in mines). The T163 is continuation of tradition started with Tatra T 111, which played crucial role in effort to rebuild Central and Eastern Europe after the WW2 as well as in conquering the Russian Far East.
History
At the beginning of the 1980s both conventional Tatra T 148 and COE Tatra T 813s were succeeded by the single line of COE Tatra T 815s. However Tatra aimed to develop a conventional heavy dump truck for use in the hardest of conditions (i.e. mines). This led to the Tatra T 162 prototype, which wasn't introduced into serial production. Later in 1995 the first prototype of the upcoming T 163 line was constructed, though it was designated as T-815-24BSK8. The traditional design offers higher safety for the driver and easier access to the engine. The bonnet is made from a light laminate and it folds forward.
A truck with conventional setting of cabin was demanded especially by Tatra's customers from Russian Siberia (where Tatra's air-cooled engines require less maintenance compared to water-cooled ones). The main reason, why the conventional cab is preferred, is that the driver may warm up in the cabin even during a potential on-road engine repair (the cabin has independent heating).
During 1995-1998 a number of prototypes were manufactured. Since 1997 a prototype was tested in the most demanding environment of Arctic Siberia, later to be handed over to a gas drilling company. In 1998 the bonnet is shortened by 295 mm to comply to directives concerning maximum length of truck and trailer. In 1999 the truck is certified for use on the roads of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia and later the same year the full production began.