What upgrades are necessary?

[LukeTheDuke]

What upgrades are real? Do tires matter? Exhaust? Chassis? Do even engine and gearbox matter?

[Nono54Fr]

Tires : yes, i feel a big difference between factory and higher brands.
Engine : what kind of people ask if they should get a bigger engine ?
Gearbox : in a tight relationship with the engine. Retarder or not is up to you.
Chassis : some people do feel a difference, some don't.
Exhaust : aesthetics.
Bullbar : usefull if lights added; if not, aesthetics.
Roofbar : usefull if lights added; if not, aesthetics .
Sunvisor : don't know, never drove without.
Front mirror : very useful.

[sandips1274]

Originally posted by Nono54Fr:

Tires : yes, i feel a big difference between factory and higher brands.
Engine : what kind of people ask if they should get a bigger engine ?
Gearbox : in a tight relationship with the engine. Retarder or not is up to you.
Chassis : some people do feel a difference, some don't.
Exhaust : aesthetics.
Bullbar : usefull if lights added; if not, aesthetics.
Roofbar : usefull if lights added; if not, aesthetics .
Sunvisor : don't know, never drove without.
Front mirror : very useful.

Thanks for the info, this will come in handy. I do feel a difference using 6x4 chassis compared to 4x2. The truck feels heavier and is generally more stable and less prone to flipping over in turns at high speed (90+ km/h). Also the turning radius is much larger on the 6x4, this is easy to notice when trying to line up the truck with the trailer at the depots.

[San Sany4]

Well, I think, that tires actually do nothing - or they would not be in decorations section. I haven't noticed any changes.
Engine is matters, of course - just buy truck with 320-380 hp, drive for a while and then upgrade to 600-700 hp, you will feel the difference. Or just try to get 25 tons load out of quarry on 310 hp IVECO.
Gearbox differs just by having or not a retarder - additional brake. It's a nice thing, but it's not necessary to have it.
Chassis is a big deal - 4x2 has a big fuel tank, also it have skirts. 6x2 is more stable, but has small tank and big turning radius. 6x2-4 is mostly like 6x2, but with less turning radius because of its turnable middle wheels. 6x4 has small tank and biggest radius of turn, but better traction and stability.
Bullbar and rollbar are mostly aesthetic, like said before, but additional lights are really making road brighter. Also, I like small flashing beacons on rollbar. Mirrors are useful. Exhausts are aesthetics.
Cabins are aesthetics too, I think. But I don't really know - maybe better cabin has better aerodynamics.
Interior is important - steering wheel can be left or right. Also, right-wheeled cabins have speedometer in mph, left-wheeled in km/h. But not display - it uses gameplay settings. Exclusive edition or not - it's question of money and taste. Some trucks have a navigator in expensive version. Personally I like most of exclusive interiors - especially MAN's and Majestic's.

[zbobg]

There is a video comparing the turning radius of the three chassis variations. See post #3:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/227300/discussions/0/864980734560517774/

What is revealed is that the 4x2 and 6x4 have exactly the same turning radius. The 6x2-4 has a much larger turning radius. This is totally contrary to what you might think and I'm not sure that it's true for real trucks, but that's what it is in the game.

So the only other significant difference is the fuel tank size with the 6x4 and 6x2-4 generally having half the capacity of the 4x2.

I have not found the fuel tank size to be a problem, there's lots of gas stations. My preference is the 6x4 partly because of good looks and partly because it does seem more stable.

[San Sany4]

Originally posted by zbobg:

There is a video comparing the turning radius of the three chassis variations. See post #3:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/227300/discussions/0/864980734560517774/

What is revealed is that the 4x2 and 6x4 have exactly the same turning radius. The 6x2-4 has a much larger turning radius. This is totally contrary to what you might think and I'm not sure that it's true for real trucks, but that's what it is in the game.

So the only other significant difference is the fuel tank size with the 6x4 and 6x2-4 generally having half the capacity of the 4x2.

I have not found the fuel tank size to be a problem, there's lots of gas stations. My preference is the 6x4 partly because of good looks and partly because it does seem more stable.

Well, turning radius depends on wheelbase, and it differs from brand to brand, from truck to truck. I didn't drive Volvo much, I drive MAN and Majestic. In video you can see that 4x2 and 6x4 Volvo have same wheelbase, and because of it they have same radius. Majestic's 6x4 has a way bigger wheelbase than 4x2, so it has bigger radius, like I said. MAN's 6x4 chassis has bigger wheelbase and turn radius too. Also, in video 6x2-4 have not so much larger turning radius, but I can't really say why it's larger. If I'll have a time, I can try another trucks.

About fuel: yes, there is a lot of gas stations, but big tank is better anyway. On my old MAN with 450 litres and 540 hp I have to refuel up to 3 times per haul and I have to buy fuel when I have to - I can't refuel in a county with a cheap diesel and then run all the way to another cheap country. 700 km of the autonomy vs 2500 km is a big difference.

[LukeTheDuke]

I feel better traction with the 6x2-4 chassis on the MAN truck. I drove ammunition from Strasbourg to Aberdeen here the other day and I know that I would've tumbled at some close calls had I still had the 4x2. But the low fuel capacity is suprisingly low. Is the difference between the two chassis congruent to reality?

[ArcticBliss]

Originally posted by LukeTheDuke:

But the low fuel capacity is suprisingly low. Is the difference between the two chassis congruent to reality?

The options the game gives you are basic, but gives a general good picture of reality. In the end a customer can to some extend specify configuration, and IRL gas station in Western Europe at least are not that far apart.