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Tester's impression: It says a lot about a vehicle when
Page 43
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you're more concerned with its marketing position than the workings of the truck. But the fact is that ne one builds a 'bad' truck nowadays, so buying decisions have as much to do with personal preference and customer relations as with purchase price, functionality, driver retention or residuals. The ERF ECT10.35, complete with it MAN 020 344hp engine, is badge engineering at its most conspicuous.
Mind you, this could be the best ERF-badged vehicle MAN has produced. With the relationship between Cummins and MAN-ERF uncertain, the D20 is, an ideal successor. It has bags of low-down torque, is hard working and in this application its 344hp equates to 10.75hp/tonne so it's plenty powerful enough for road going activities. But the 020's real strength lies in its torque, with 1,750Nm on tap from 1,000-1.40Orpm. At this point peak power takes over —you can depend on 344hp from 1,000-1,900rpm so drivers facing tough hillclimbs can choose between lugging down or powering through. ERF advises you to use the torque. We prepared for our hill climb with a quick drop to 8L and made two full changes on the way up. A 16-speed splitter might be a tad too much at 32 tonnes with splits only useful at the top end, but it does offer all the versatility a driver might think he needs.
The 10.5-litre 020 lump is small for its class; apart from Volvo, which fields a nine-litre engine, the competition relies on 11 litres-plus for just about all tipper operations.
For extra strength and
durability, with little loss of payload, MAN-ERF specifies a waisted chassis. As far as we know no other heavy truck manufacturer takes this route, but Ws in keeping with lightweight operations, backed up in this case by alloy wheels and a day cab, with an aggregates/asphalt body for enhanced versatility.
The Wilcox Wilcolite Smooth is insulated with a second skin which has a split tailgate for road laying. Its about 250kg heavier than its single-skinned aggregates stablemate: Wilcox reports that the smooth body makes up 95% of its production for aggregates and asphalt tippers.
The parabolic suspension helps supply a pretty smooth ride from a fully freighted tipper. With the windows up at 50mph the engine is barely audible so once the cruise control is up and running all that's left is to find an alternative to Radio Two.
The day cab for this event came fitted with an air suspension seat and central locking with electric wing mirrors and windows. It's all a far cry from the traditional tippers. While the comfort and the standard spec is all well and good you can't help thinking that the main issue here is the fact that you're driving a TGA —which can hardly be a bad thing.
It might well be that hardened ERF operators are happy with the new look and the D20 engine but you can't please all the people all of the time. This tipper is ERF in name only, and that could prove ominous.