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MAN NEWS
Page 58
Page 59
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At the giant IAA truck show in Hanover next month MAN will make a number of revisions to its line-up, Andy Salter has had a preview of the changes.
As is the current vogue among truck manufacturers, MAN is continuing the evolution of itsTGA product range and at Hanover the German truck builder will unveil a number of modifications. None of the changes announced at the recent pre-IAA Show press conference are huge, though they do indicate a willingness by the manufacturer to continually strive for improvements.The D20 engine, for instance, will be displayed in full Euro-4 guise, the transmission is being updated and a new lightweight front axle will be offered. In addition, there will be a number of improvements to the storage options on-board TGA, tackling a number of driver complaints with the truck.
Let us begin with the engine. Earlier this year, we outlined MAN's all-new D20 common-rail engine range and while this engine was showcased at the CV Show in Birmingham in March, at Hanover MAN will display the product in anew guise, ready to meet the forthcoming Euro-4 emissions legislation.
MAN and Scania are the only two engine manufacturers in Europe to have publicly stated their intention to use exhaust gas recirculation technology to meet the new emissions regulations.The rest will adopt selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technotogy.The key development in MAN's employment of the technology is the addition of a PM-KAT particle trap in the exhaust stream, which serves to capture the carbon particulate matter (PM) and through a catalytic process convert it to carbon dioxide.
The advantage, says MAN, is that its system takes up exactly the same space as the Euro-3 solution it replaces, is much lighter —as much as 200kg it claims— than the equivalent SCR package used by rival truck builders and has no consumption penalty compared with the Euro-3 compliant engine. Initial volumes are likely to be small. though MAN is forecasting some take up in Germany as operators take advantage of the road toll rebates for Euro-4 trucks due to commence in January next year.
Transmission changes
As well as the engine developments MAN has continued its work with ZF on transmissions and announced a number of tweaks to the line-up, including a new high torque TcTronic version of the 12-speed semi-automatic manual transmission ASTronic, capable of dealing with the high-output engines MAN will launch next year (see box).
A couple of years ago, MAN made a big play on a new retarder it had developed with Voith. The new PriTarder combines MAN's effective EVB engine brake with a new integrated water retarder. In trials however, the system failed and it was rapidly taken out of production.MAN has now revised the product and is relaunching it at Hanover.
Elsewhere on the chassis, a new lightweight 7.1-tonne capacity front axle is offered, with a 23kg claimed weight saving over the conventional offering. MAN has followed the rest of the market in the UK in offering a Hendrickson 19.5in centre axle for 6x2 models, saving approximately 250kg compared with a regular 22.5in 6x2 unit.
According to MAN, some drivers had been complaining of a lack of storage both inside the cab and out and the manufacturer has moved to address those concerns. Inside the TGA there's a host of new options, including enhanced under-bunk storage. better pockets and cubby holes and a new rail for hanging clothes in the bunk area. On the outside the company has developed a new lockable, watertight storage box concept for mounting on the side of the truck chassis Other product developments MAN will unveil at the show include the new low-entry refuse truck as revealed last week, a new 'rest bunk' version of the M-cabTGA featuring a fold-out bunk and a payload friendly 8x4 chassis for concrete mixer applications, said to be 570kg lighter than previously. •