T here was a gap of about 18 months between the
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end of the Mercedes-Benz 3025Ks production run and the "official" introduction of the 3229K in January 1992. But Ecoclear, part of the privatised Southern Water company,
managed to get one four months earlier and allowed us to test it. The bored-out unblown 0M442 vee-eight engine was to be used as a stop-gap until the new LEV engines came on line The 8x4 was the only Mercedes model fitted with the big vee-eight engine to use a manually operated version of Merc's new G125-16/14 transmission—in all other applications it was specified with the ekctro -pneumatic EPS gearchange The increase in power and torque were disappointing A torque plateau extending from 1,000 to 1,600rprn sounded impressive but in practice road speed dropped of rapidly below 1,500rpm and engine speed needed to be kept above 1,600rpm to get the best out of it. Maintaining the
.1 motorway limit was easy enough at about 1,800rprn but overall journey times were only average Although better than the previous 3025K, fuel consumption was mediocre at 7.49mpg (37 7lit/1001em); it was better on motorways than A-roads. Designed for 32 tonnes, the Merc's body payload of 21.25 tonnes at the 30.49-tonne limit couldn't even come close to contenders from the likes of ERF, Leyland Daf or Scania