Renault Trucks T

Renault Trucks’ corporate site describes one long-haul range made of two vehicles: “The Long haul range comprises the Renault Trucks T … and the Renault Trucks T High”. The German T High page says it is the cab that sets the T High apart from the T — a cab “ohne Motortunnel”, without an engine tunnel — and in the May 2023 brochure’s range poster that is the flat-floored High Sleeper cab; reading the High Sleeper rows as the T High is our step. The T was presented on 11 June 2013, when Renault Trucks, “taking advantage of the switch to the Euro 6 standard”, renewed its entire range at once — a renewal in which the Volvo Group, which owns the brand, invested “over €2 billion”, in the Volvo Group’s release of the next day. That release calls the new long-haul offer “a single vehicle” and names the T, not the T High; of the documents behind this page, the first to carry the second name is the Renault Trucks release of 12 December 2018. The brand’s ownership by the Volvo Group is set out in who builds trucks in Europe. Renault Trucks made “major changes in 2021” to the design and comfort of the T, T High, C and K, and the DE11 and DE13 engine generation followed, announced on 17 November 2021. The T was launched in 2013 with DTI 11 and DTI 13 engines; Renault Trucks’ release of 12 December 2018 has the T and T High version 2019 “already fitted with DTI 11 and DTI 13 Euro 6 Step D engines” — engines distinct from the DE11 and DE13 described below. The photograph above is of the earlier front — chrome grille bars, a solid chrome diamond and separate rectangular headlamps — and not the one shown in the brochure these figures come from.

Three engine families, two of them on the T High

The figures below come from the May 2023 T / T High brochure; the February 2025 T, C and K brochure on the same site has no technical table at all. The May 2023 spread prints a full table for each family: displacement, cylinders, bore, stroke, compression ratio, weight with oil, every power step with its torque, and a curve for each step. Its back cover qualifies all of it: “Dimensions and characteristics are only indicative”, and the manufacturer “reserves the right to modify them without notice” — words the 2025 brochure’s back cover repeats.

The DE11 is the 10.8-litre. Three steps: 285 kW (380 hp) with 1,800 Nm, 323 kW (430 hp) with 2,050 Nm and 344 kW (460 hp) with 2,200 Nm. It is the light engine — 965 kg with oil — and it belongs to the T alone: the corporate long-haul page lists it under the T and not under the T High, and the range poster agrees.

The DE13 is the 12.8-litre: 330 kW (440 hp) with 2,200 Nm, 360 kW (480 hp) with 2,400 Nm and 390 kW (520 hp) with 2,550 Nm. Both the T and the T High are sold with it, and 520 hp is its top step for both in the May 2023 brochure, on the corporate long-haul page and on the German product pages, which say “bis zu 520 PS”.

Every one of those steps is published as a kilowatt figure and a horsepower figure on the same line, so nothing on this page is converted from one unit to the other; how the two units relate is set out in how truck power figures are measured.

Turbocompound option

The DE13 TC is the third table, the turbocompound engine. Same displacement, same two power steps — 330 kW (440 hp) and 360 kW (480 hp) — but 2,500 Nm and 2,700 Nm against the plain DE13’s 2,200 and 2,400 at the identical outputs. That is 300 Nm more at each step, and the subtraction is ours: the brochure prints both tables and does not print the difference.

The same page gives the engine masses. The DE13 TC weighs 1,196 kg with oil against the DE13’s 1,067 kg — 129 kg more, again our arithmetic — and at the 440 hp step its curve shows the full 2,500 Nm available from 900 rpm. Two footnotes restrict it: the DE13 TC is “available as an option on 440 and 480 hp”, and it is “not available on Day cab”.

The UK T High product page puts “up to 10% fuel savings” against the DE13 Turbo Compound engine. Renault Trucks’ release announcing the same engine generation, in English and in German, frames it differently: up to ten per cent for the new DE11 and DE13 engines combined with new technologies and dedicated services, measured against “the previous generation of Renault Trucks engines”. Both documents give the same figure; only the second names a baseline.

Axles and weights

Four tractor profiles are drawn in the chassis table: 4x2, and three different 6x2s — trailing axle, pusher axle and steering pusher axle. The straight-truck chassis in the same range is offered as 4x2, 6x2 steering axle and 6x2 trailing axle; the 6x2 steering axle is drawn for the straight truck alone, which is why the list above marks it so. Pusher and tag axles are explained in axle configurations explained.

The May 2023 brochure draws no 6x4, no 8x4 and no driven-front-axle T.

The range poster gives gross vehicle weight by silhouette: 19 t for the 4x2 and 26 t for the 6x2, tractor or straight truck. The corporate page writes the span as “GVW 18/19 > 26 t”.

Optidriver, and the 2027 model year

The May 2023 range poster lists one gearbox in every row — “Robotic gearbox, Optidriver (12)” — and the German product pages say “12-Gang Optidriver-Getriebe”. On those documents a single automated manual is the whole offer.

The gearbox is renewed for the 2027 model year. Renault Trucks announced a new generation of Optidriver on 4 June 2026, alongside the DE13 R, with gear changes “up to 20% faster” than on the previous generation. The engine brake goes with it: the DE13 R “is fitted as standard with a more powerful engine brake (Optibrake+)”, and the difference between an engine brake and a driveline retarder is worked through in retarders and engine braking. Renault Trucks’ release of 1 July 2026 announced the 2027 T High with the DE13 R as a world premiere for IAA Transportation in Hanover, 15 to 20 September 2026; its release from the show says the new powertrain “is introduced across the Renault Trucks T, T High, C and K ranges for the 2027 model year”.

Four cabs

The Day cab is a short cab with a standard roof; the Night & Day cab is a deep cab with the same roof; the Sleeper cab is deep with the high roof; the High Sleeper cab is deep, high-roofed and flat-floored. The published interior heights are 1,605 mm for the first two and 2,136 mm for the other two, and the table puts no asterisk on them.

The asterisk belongs to the drawings beside that table, and those carry the exterior figures. Each cab is dimensioned twice from the ground — 3,167 and 3,246 mm for the Day and the Night & Day, 3,477 and 3,677 mm for the Sleeper, 3,722 and 3,898 mm for the High Sleeper — under a single footnote reading “For 4x2 tractors”, and nothing on the page says what separates the two figures in a pair. The plan views give 2,423 mm across the Day cab and 2,464 mm across the other three, over cab lengths of 1,799 and 2,309 mm. The drawings give no vehicle length; they give six heights for four cabs on one axle configuration.

The table puts the first three cabs over a 200 mm engine tunnel and gives the High Sleeper a flat floor, and the High Sleeper is also the only cab listed with four steps rather than three. What a flat floor means in practice is set out in truck cabs explained; this range adds a restriction of its own, since the brochure footnotes the turbocompound engine as “not available on Day cab”.

Equipment and options

Renault Trucks’ corporate site describes the T as intended for “regional and national organised transport” and the T High for “on demand and international haulage”. Both are listed with “Class A+ tyres” in the 2025 T, C and K brochure; the UK T High product page states “Category A+ tires as standard” — a grade that is not among the A to E classes of the EU label set out in truck tyre labelling — and the same page adds optimised axle ratios and aerodynamic features.

The May 2023 brochure documents an earlier update to the Optidriver gearbox, ahead of the 2027 generation described above: “the latest update of the Optidriver gearbox” is said to allow “30% quicker and smoother gear shifts”, paired with “dedicated Optivision software”. Optivision itself is map-based: “data transmission to the on-board computer is automatic and continuous throughout the journey, before starting each new incline … and for driving downhill”, and it optimises “the gear shift, acceleration and speed strategies”. Cruise control is offered with two selectable modes on the same pages — Fuel Eco On, the default, which “optimises fuel consumption by intervening with certain driving actions such as acceleration, gear shifting, cruise control or even deceleration”, and Fuel Eco Off, which “can change the way the vehicle is being driven” and shows an indicator for the driving style adopted.

The brochure’s aerodynamic-design spread lists, as fitted to the vehicle: roof deflectors of adjustable and fixed types with folding lateral deflectors, an inclined windscreen, a bumper with an integrated spoiler, a trapezoid cab shape, fairing extensions on the frame and door, a deflector built into the headlamp unit, and wheel arches described as improving air flow and reducing water splashes.

The same document sets out the maker’s factory service program: three service contracts for diesel vehicles 0 to 5 years old — Reference, Performance and Excellence. Its parts-coverage table lists preventive maintenance under all three tiers, repairs added under Performance and Excellence, and wear-and-tear parts added under Excellence only.

Safety and driver-assistance systems

The May 2023 brochure gives the T and T High a dedicated spread, “Technology serving security” and “Safety equipment to support you”, introduced as “the latest driver assistance technologies and the most efficient braking systems”. It lists, item by item:

• Automatic Emergency Braking System (AEBS) — “warns of a possible collision, then brakes and stops the vehicle if any action from the driver. The hazard warning lights are activated automatically.”
• Driver fatigue detection and lane departure warning system (LDWS/DDAW) — “audible and visual warning if a lane departure is detected or if the vehicle is following an unexpected trajectory.”
• Hill start assist — “automatically manages braking when starting to climb, making it easier to set the vehicle in motion and prevent it from rolling back.”
• Antirunaway mode — “emergency parking brake application”, described as “stopping the vehicle in case of driver’s mishandling.”
• Mechanical anti-intrusion locking (optional) — “for greater safety in the cab when the vehicle is parked.”
• Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), marked “NEW” — sensors on the truck’s and the body’s rims that “warn you and alert you on any problems about tire pressure or temperature.”
• Speed Assistance (ISA), marked “NEW”, available “depending on geographical location” — “the camera recognises the prescribed speed limit and warns the driver if this is exceeded, to avoid any accidents or penalties.”
• Driver Airbag, marked “NEW” (optional) — “deployed in the event of a serious frontal collision.”
• Radars and cameras located all around your truck, marked “NEW” — warn the driver during manoeuvres, with the option to add digital cameras to monitor the load or the fifth wheel for docking, or an analogue camera for the trailer, both “on request for adaptation.”
• Automatic activation of headlights and windscreen wipers — “improves visibility and allows the driver to concentrate on the road.”
• Yellow painted cab access steps and handles (optional) — “improves safety when getting into and leaving the vehicle.”

Source notes

The gross combination weight above is not one vehicle’s plate, and gross vehicle weight has no single figure: the range poster gives 19 t gross vehicle for the 4x2 and 26 t for the 6x2, and prints 40 t / 44 t / 60 t as a single gross combination column spanning every cab, silhouette and engine without tying a figure to a vehicle; renault-trucks.de states 44 t for both ranges but calls it zulässiges Gesamtgewicht on the T page and zulässiges Zuggesamtgewicht on the T High page, which are two different quantities. The DE11 belongs to the T alone: the May 2023 brochure and the corporate long-haul page list the T High with the DE13 and the DE13 TC only. The DE13 TC is an option on the 440 and 480 hp steps and is not available with the Day cab. Four cabs are published — Day cab, Night & Day cab, Sleeper cab and High Sleeper cab — with interior heights of 1605 mm for the first two and 2136 mm for the other two, a 200 mm engine tunnel on the first three and a flat floor on the High Sleeper, which is also the only one reached by four steps rather than three. Engine weight including oil: 965 kg for the DE11, 1 067 kg for the DE13 and 1 196 kg for the DE13 TC. A DE13 R at up to 540 hp and 2800 Nm was announced in June 2026 for the 2027 model year; no kilowatt figure is given for it in Renault Trucks’ 2026 releases, so it has no row above. The DE11, DE13 and DE13 TC rows are the generation Renault Trucks announced on 17 November 2021 as new Euro VI Step E engines, after its 2021 changes to the T, T High, C and K; the T was launched in June 2013 with DTI 11 and DTI 13 engines, and Renault Trucks’ release of 12 December 2018 has the T and T High version 2019 “already fitted with DTI 11 and DTI 13 Euro 6 Step D engines”. The brochure publishes exterior dimensions only as cab drawings — six overall heights from 3167 to 3898 mm across the four cabs, footnoted “For 4x2 tractors”, and cab widths of 2423 and 2464 mm and cab lengths of 1799 and 2309 mm — so no single length, width or height is recorded above. The brochure’s back cover says “Dimensions and characteristics are only indicative” and that the manufacturer “reserves the right to modify them without notice”.