• HANDLING
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The power assisted steering is a delight. It has just the right amount of assistance and provides good feedback from the front wheels. Road behaviour is generally very good; the 215/75 R17.5 Continentals offer plenty of grip.
The improved aerodynamics must help stability. Around our Welsh middleweight test route conditions were fairly gusty, but this was barely noticeable from the inside of the Mercedes cab.
Suspension is the same front and rear; parabolic springs, telescopic dampers and an anti-roll bar. The resulting ride is quite smooth with fairly soft damping rates. This is something we noted back in 1984 when we first tested the 814 and it may not be to everyone's taste.
For technical reasons not associated with the vehicle, we had to abandon our usual brake testing procedure. As might be expected from a full-air system, stopping is powerful, effective and gives no cause for alarm.
By contrast, the optional exhaust brake had little noticeable effect in use.
As with all air systems it is difficult to feather the brakes and pull up smoothly, particularly in heavy traffic and stop-start conditions — this effect is probably accentuated by the 814's soft damping.