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Driving impressionl
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• When Commercial Motor recently needed a tractor for a special project— to be revealed shortly—M-8 came to our aid with an exclusive pre-launch drive in a new Actros. Not just any old new Actros either, It was an 1858 MegaSpace with the fully-automated Telligent transmission.
This example's MegaSpace cab was In single bunk form with integral kitchenette. Equipment includes microwave oven and coffee maker and an array of cupboards, including an insulated one. The large pull-out drawer beneath the hunk's spring mattress doubles as a table, If needed. As well as the obvious advantages of moving easily around the cab, aided by the folding gear quadrant, the flat floor also has benefits for storage, with two large compartments under the bunk, as well as external lockers beneath them. It was nice to see that certain major parts of the cab, such as the curvy over-screen lockers, have been properly designed for right-hand drive, rather than simply using a modular' building block approach. We could spend all day describing the cab's attributes, but it contains just about everything the solo driver could wish for.
With 470 true imperial horsepower shifting 40 tonnes, and no gears to worry about, we were expecting an easy drive around parts of the Scottish test route—and we weren't disappointed. What it meant in reality was tackling the hilly M6 section from Charnock Richard to Carlisle without dropping more than 3mph from the limiter. Although the transmission offers the choice of manual or fullyautomatic operation, manual override is only a button press away. But as we weren't measuring fuel on this run, we took the opportunity to experiment with the various modes and found the auto-shift to boon top of the job in most situations, and would have climbed Kiln Pit hill on cruise control if we hadn't been baulked.
Overall, the chassis was very impressive, although we felt the steering was slightly over-light, especially noticeable on badly-rutted surfaces. Brakes were extremely powerful, and the standard hill hold function proved surprisingly useful. Hard braking did tend to provide a fair degree of cab nod syndrome, however. The Actros dash is a paragon of Information provision, only displaying speed, revs, fuel and air until there Is a problem, when the steering wheel controlled display panel wakes up and tells you what you need to know.
We topped up the driving experience at the Oxford-based press launch. A 2650 MegaSpace reinforced the experience of the range-topper, although naturally its performance at 44 tonnes with 80 fewer horses proved slightly less exhilarating, but still more than adequate for most UK operations.
More appropriate for the UK was an 1844, with Long Distance cab and Teillgent manual transmission. The low floor means that all of the useful dashboard storage spaces below knee height are lost but there's still plenty of space left above the screen. Incidentally, although our test trucks had open fronted storage, proper production vehicles will be fully enclosed.
Our only serious criticism regards the manual pre-selector Teillgent transmission, which seemed determined to repay any change it wasn't happy with by selecting neutral. That, and the light steering, apart, the new Actros is a good drive, built to a high standard despite the promise of highly competitive pricing. It should provide more than enough to keep both driver and operator extremely happy.