PEGASO MIDER 1226T
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The Pegaso Mider 1226T was undoubtedly the odd one out in our Eurotest. Of the group, it is the only one not on sale in this country, it was the only one presented for test with a day cab, and it was by some way the least powerful of the trucks.
Readers are probably familiar with the top-of-the-range Troner, now distributed by Seddon Atkinson in the UK, but Pegaso's Mider and Tecno models are less well known. Though they share the same basic cab, the Mider differs from the Teeno in using a 10.5-litre charge-cooled engine introduced in 1989.
Aimed unashamedly at the fleet market, the Mider is available in 4x2 form only for tractive unit or drawbar operation; a sleeper-cab is available. Pegaso's 95R1 AX in-line six pumps out a modest 189kW (253hp), though its torque output of 1,177Nm (868Ibft) puts it a bit closer to its rivals (all of which boast more than 1,350Nm). It drives via a 16speed ZE box and a steel-mounted Pegaso single-reduction drive axle. With a sleeper cab, it is lighter than all but the 1733.
The 189kW Pegaso, running at 40 tonnes, was always going to be at a disadvantage compared to its more powerful competitors, and sure enough its driver certainly had to work hard.
The tachograph trace showed quite clearly that the Mider was unable to maintain a steady 80km/b (50mph) for any length of time, and lost a lot of speed on the long motorway inclines. As a result its average speeds were significantly slower than the other trucks, and its hill climbs were the slowest.
On fuel consumption, however, the Pegaso was far from disgraced, and though it used the most fuel on the Aroad sections, it was (just) the third most economical on the motorways. Overall it ranked fifth, returning 36.411it/100km (7.76mph) at 57.2km/h (35.6mph).
Much of the credit for this result, though, must lie with the driver, for the rev profile shows he did amazingly well to restrict himself to a maximum of 1,600rpm using the 16-speed transmission; the result sheets suggest the observer lost count of the gear changes over the A-road sections.