[ETS2] Trucks Technical Statistics Explained

After a very long experience of almost 900 hours in ETS2 I decided to explain stats that concern engines, axles, transmission etc… Since the game doesn’t do it perfectly.

I) Introduction

When buying a truck, in addition to the livery, interior decor and cabin options, the game offers you various technical options from the number of axles and traction to the engine power and transmission, on the right side of the screen is a list that shows the overall performance of the truck in various fields such as maneuverability and the truck ability to climb hills.
Since I am an engineering student, I'll explain all of these features in detail and in the simplest possible way, including their pros and cons so you can choose the best truck configuration of your dreams. :)
So let's start !

II) Torque

The Torque (or moment) is the rotational force that an engine creates. Think about a door, providing you keep a constant force, the further you go from the axis (or the center) the easier you can rotate it, this is simply the torque, calculated by multiplying the force (in Newtons) by the distance from the rotation axis. In Euro Truck Simulator 2 words this translates as the gear size, lower gears are bigger, thus the distance from the center is increased meaning more torque, the higher the gear, the smaller it is, and thus less torque is required to move the truck because it's already aided by its speed (Moving a truck from 0 km/h to let's say 50 km/h needs more power than keeping it at a steady 50 km/h that's why more torque is required at lower speeds), it's called inertia. This stat in the game shows the maximum torque that the engine can generate, higher is better.

III) Engine Power

In Internal Combustion Engines the power output they deliver per a unit of time is measured by horsepower, for electrical appliances it's measured by watts, they're the same, that's why the game includes both units. The higher the power, the faster the truck can go.

IV) Gears

When I talked about the torque, I said that while going uphill the torque is higher and the speed is lower, and vice versa in highways, the thing that allows to dynamically change speed and torque is the transmission, cars have generally 5 or 6 gears (in case of manual transmission), trucks have up to 16, in simple terms, the lower the gear, the lower the speed and the higher the torque (or rpm) and bigger the gear in size and number of teeth, the opposite is true, thus trucks need lower gear to go uphill, the more gears the more precision the engine can deliver the rpm to the wheels depending on any road situation, its also more fuel efficient if you ever activate the realistic fuel consumption. Always go for higher number of gears.

For example, the first gear is 13.28 times bigger than the engine crankshaft, the last one is obviously smaller, with a ratio of 0.8.
Gear ratio helps determine how much torque is reduced (for last gear) and increased (for first gear), higher first gear ratio allows to go faster uphill and to accelerate faster from speed 0, for the last gear the lower it is the faster your truck can go at high speeds.

In this animated GIF you can see how the gear size affects the speed, the green one of the left is the first, the red one is the last.

V) Differential Ratio

This one is similar to the gear ratio, except that in this case, it's the ratio between the driveshaft and the wheels, as shown in the diagram. The transmission delivers the rotation to a long tube called the driveshaft, which in turn transfers it to the wheels where the traction is (generally the rear wheels for lorries).

A higher differential ratio means the driveshaft will rotate more times compared to the wheels. This provides greater torque or pulling power to the wheels, making it easier for the truck to accelerate or tow heavy loads. However, the trade-off is that the engine will have to work harder to maintain higher speeds, thus consuming more fuel if you like to play realistically.

Conversely, a lower differential ratio means the driveshaft will rotate fewer times compared to the wheels. This results in less torque but allows the engine to operate at lower RPM for a given speed.

In other words, the differential ratio is kind of like a second transmission between the transmission and the wheels, the only difference is that it cannot be changed unless you modify your truck.

VI) Effective Wheelbase

This is the distance between the center of front and rear wheels, the bigger the distance, the more stable your truck is and more suitable for heavy loads, but the turning radius will be large, not suitable for small roads. The smaller distance between the wheelbases however will result in a smaller turning radius which allows your truck to make sharper turns, but the adherence on the road and stability will be weaker, best suited for lighter loads. This can be increased or reduced by command if you have liftable rear axles, I will explain axles below.

VII) Retarder

A Retarder is used to slow down or control the speed of your truck, especially when descending steep slopes or during extended periods of braking. It provides additional braking power and helps to maintain control over the truck when navigating downhill slopes or when additional braking force is required. This is very recommended to get as soon as possible, it comes with transmissions that have an R next to their name.

VIII) Axles

Axles are the shafts that hold two facing wheels, they are either rotational (allow for wheels to turn) or not, and either support traction (connected to the engine through transmission) or not, the game offers wide possibilities ranging from 1 to 4 axles, the more axles you have, the more grip the truck has on the road, the more stable it is, the more load it can carry, and the less maneuverable it becomes, since adding more axles will add more Effective Wheelbase thus increasing the turning radius. In general, the primary purpose of additional axles is load distribution.

You generally find the number of wheels written like this AxB, A means number of wheels (counting double wheels as one), B means the number of wheels that can have traction, this is important for heavy loads and uneven terrain by the way.

I will explain various axles options I have for my current truck, which is The New MAN TG3 TGX recently added by SCS, accompanied by pictures to visualize and get the idea.

a) Chassis 4x2:

- This is basically 2 axles, 4 wheels, 2 of them have traction (the ones on the rear).

b) Chassis 6x2-2 Taglift:

- Six wheels, 2 wheels with traction and 2 liftable wheels (the last axle), this is interesting since raising the liftable axle will do as a 4x2 configuration, and since this is a taglift, the turning radius of the truck can be increased or decreased thus allowing great maneuverability in tight areas, some brands use the dash '-', others use the asterisk '*' to refer to the same thing.

c) Chassis 6x2/2 Midlift:

- 3 Axles, 1 powered, 1 that can turn (the front obviously), the slash '/' indicates that the middle axle can be raised.

d) Chassis 6x2/4 Midlift:

- Same as above but the number behind the slash '/' indicates that 2 axles or 4 wheels can turn, which are the 2 front axles.

e) Chassis 6x4:

- 3 axles, while 2 have power (the two axles at the back), no liftable axles.

f) Chassis 8x4/4 Midlift:

- 4 axles, 2 that have power (rear) and 2 that can turn (front) while the second axle can be lifted.



As a general rule. The asterisk '*' or the dash '-' mean that the last axle can be raised (taglift). The slash '/' means that an axle in the middle can be raised (midlift), the third number means the number of wheels that support steering (always the front most).

For configurations that allow liftable axles, to do so, you need to press U button to raise/lower them according to the load you carrying.

For midlift, the liftable axles don't affect turning radius, however in taglift, they so since the wheelbase is increased/decreased in this case.

To demonstrate, notice how the mid axle is raised and lowered in this configuration

IX) Conclusion

I hope I made everything clear and that you found everything you've been looking for in this important part of the game that many tend to ignore due to unclear information here and there. A kind thank you in the comments and an award would be highly appreciated, thanks for reading till the end and happy truckin'
Note that if you ever play American Truck Simulator, this guide applies to it too.

[arvid1328]

@Niko Schrenker [HSR] you're welcome bro, I hope you benefited from the article

[Niko Schrenker [HSR]]

thank you so much, I play ETS so often but never really understood how transmissions work and what those numbers mean.

[JadonChan]

Great job! bro!

[john958]

Excellent work, I am going to read it completely and understand a little about this world of driving trucks.

[LaurneSS]

good job

[bruno828]

muito bom

[arvid1328]

@Ymira
My pleasure my friend, glad I helped

[Ymira]

I just start playing two days ago and I just bought the cheapest truck I found since I don't know which of the stats do.
when I buying next truck I will come back to read this again, thank you so much.

[adilson.prates]

Very good.

[arvid1328]

@bajawaja
you're welcome bro, and welcome to the game :)