1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154 
MAN 280
Page 70
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Impressive spec
OFTEN during CM tests, a vehicle will put up a good performance on most of the various test stages but will spoil the overall picture by returning a disappointing result on one stage only. Such an example was provided by the MAN 280.
This truck has an impressive specification with a turbocharged in-line six-cylinder developing 206kW (280bhp) coupled to a 13-speed Fuller gearbox. In sleeper-cab form, the 280 weighed in at a usefully light 6.2 tonnes (6 tons 2cwt), which gave a good payload allowance of well over 21 tons when Coupled to our Crane Fruehauf test trailer.
Overall the MAN recorded 41.1 lit/100km (6.9mpg) which was a good enough result, but as I mentioned earlier it was not quite that simple. When working hard on the motorway and on the hilly A68 section, the fuel consumption was excellent. As an example to illustrate this, the stretch from Forton to Gretna which is about 98 per cent motorway (and a comparatively hilly motorway at that) was covered at an average speed of nearly 55mph with a fuel consumption of 33.411it/ 100km (8.5mpg). However, on the 40mph trundle down the Al, the performance was poor. On this section, a relatively highpowered machine like the MAN is on the overrun for a lot of the time and it was evident from the fuel consumption figures that the 280 was not quite so happy under these conditions. Over the 90 miles of this section the MAN used literally twice the quantity of fuel that I would have expected.
Obviously, this affected the overall result, pulling it down below the seven mpg mark, which was a great pity as otherwise I think the overall fuel consumption would have reached 7.5 mpg.
With its axle ratio of 4.64 to 1, the 280 had a top speed of well over 70mph, which permitted a relatively lazy engine speed when cruising at the motorway limit. This had a beneficial side-effect in that the incab noise level was kept very low and thus justifying the MAN's reputation as the "Whisper Truck." Even when working hard up the steeper gradients, the engine noise was never excessive.