International's on-highway flagship, the LT Series, is getting its first significant design tweak since its 2016 debut.
An updated front-end design – one that includes a new bumper and grille style – is probably the only one you'll notice strolling through the truck stop unless you have a keen eye for aero, but this design change makes me sad. It looks great, but the classic vertical ribs in the grille were distinctive and carried some gravitas. Old school cool International cabover grilles had horizontal bars, but the vertical bars seemed like a reasonable middle ground on a conventional. Welcome to the future, I guess, as we're on the brink of powertrain technologies that won't require a grille at all.
"We wanted the introduction of our new powertrain to be visually different," said Brian McGreevy, program chief engineer for the S13 Integrated Powertrain. "People will know when you have an S13 Integrated specified in your LT Series."
The medium-duty line has already undergone this facelift (or nose lift as it were), so this change aligns the two segments.
Steer wheel closeouts and a modified lower skirt trim improve underbody airflow.
Driver safety enhancements include an electronic parking brake that automatically engages the vehicle and trailer parking brakes if the driver forgets to set them and an airbag affixed to the steering wheel.
I took International's new-look LT for two hot laps around the 1.5 mile track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, or as hot as you can get in a semi on a track with nearly 30 degree banked corners and about 10 minutes of seat time. This wasn't as much a test drive as it was a demonstration. My quick drive was dovetailed into a dealer and customer product launch, so I was just happy to get some seat time considering that everyone waiting behind me was either a buyer or seller of International trucks. I hope to get some quality seat time with this configuration before it goes into production next year.
