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FOLLOWER of FASHION

11th November 1993
Page 36
Page 36, 11th November 1993 — FOLLOWER of FASHION
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

6 4 370hp fleet tractor? You must be

joking! What do you think 1 am...an owner-driver?" Ten years ago that would have been the typical response from your average big fleet buyer to the idea of putting any more than 320hp in his 38-tonne tractor.

Times have changed. Traffic congestion, speed limiters and just-ii-time delivery have all helped push up fleet tractor power outputs Nowadays 370hp isn't considered unusual for bread-and-butter top-weight haulage.

Ironically that growth in power has created some tricky marketing problems for the truck makers While today's fleet buyer may be happy with 370hp he doesn't want the full-width allsinging all-dancing top-of-the-range cab that has previously sat on such powerful engines. He wants it with the no-frills, narrow cabin on his 320hp machine.

Three years ago MAN filled that gap in the market by launching the 17.372 tractor with its ECO engine range. Here was a tractor with a powerful, 12-litre engine beneath a narrow cab—the same cab as the 10-litre 17.322, which is an archetypal fleet machine.

CM has recently had a good run of MAN F90 tractors: in July we tested the 17.422; a month later it was the turn of the fire-breathing 17.502 with the premium Roadhaus cab.

This week's test of the 17.372 gives us a chance to see what the Munich truck maker's fleet artic of the future drives like today.

IN PRODUCT PROFILE The 17.372's charge-cooled D2866LF(05) straight-six engine is the lowest powered offering in MAN'S 12-litre line-up, but with 272kW (370hp) and an impressive 1,520Nm (1,1221bft) of torque on tap between 1,200 and 1,400rpm it's hardly a gasper.

The engine map displays a characteristic flat-topped curve with little power increase above 1,800rpm. Behind the six-pot comes an asbestos-free single dry-plate 430mm clutch and, in place of the standard 16-speed ZF Ecosplit synchro box, our test tractor sported the semi-automated (SAMT) version of the popular Eaton Twin Splitter 12-speed constant mesh transmission.

The SAMT box carried the designation STSO-12612A. Translated into English that means it's got the latest profile gearing to help meet Austrian 80dB(A) noise levels, The 12Series Twin Splitters were introduced in 1990 for 44-tonners with torque ratings up to 1,730Nm so it has plenty in reserve. The drive axle is MAN's own single-reduction design: •

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Locations: Munich

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