MA Fo RE SSE CONS by Toby Clark • The
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Atego 815 impresses as soon as you enter the cab—the single step is so low, and the door opening so wide, that access is easier than with practically any other vehicle. Once you're in, the view is expansive, the seat is comfortable and the controls are clear. Obviously, a great deal of thought has gone into the design of this cab. The higher-mounted cab of the 12 and 13tonne models is equally easy to enter, and the cabs are all excellent offices, with good accommodation for two or three. The high-roof sleeper looks like a capable long-distance cab for the lone driver.
Once on the road in the 815, other qualities become apparent: ride quality is very good (rather like a van's) and steering is sharp and precise, despite the long front overhang. The cabin is quiet too: it's easy to hold a normal conversation at A-road speeds. But the very quiet of the cabin makes unwanted noises more prominent: rattles from the bodywork, buzzing from the gearlever, wind noise on the motorway and an ominous creaking from the chassis round right-hand bends. This Atego had done only 570km, so the cab mountings may not have been bedded in, but it needed better preparation—let's hope customers' trucks are right first time. Other examples showed some of the same faults (buzzing and rattling, particularly from the gearlever aperture) but were otherwise fine. The 170hp engine is noisier, with an ever-present turbo whistle, but both versions are strong and crisp. Rapid gearchanges are needed to keep up, although the 815's fivespeed box has a substantial "hole" between third and fourth.
The Atego is clearly well designed; perhaps it's a real leap ahead of the rest. But it will need consistently excellent build quality to fight its way to the top. Your move, Mercedes... on cab access.