Kevin Swallow
Page 36
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The MAN TGX has a strong driveline, pleasant handling and ride characteristics and a decent cab. But it’s difficult to look beyond the fuel consumption. It’s by far the best economy figure we’ve ever seen at 44 tonnes. The MAN delivered consistently strong fuel results through every section of the test. It is impossible to say how much of that is owed to external factors. Excellent weather conditions and little traffic congestion allowed us to make smooth progress.
We suspect MAN’s encouragement to make timely interventions to the automated gearbox’s shifting strategy also paid dividends. It remains a moot point whether this policy is correct in the wider world or whether a “leave it in auto” policy is better when judged across the whole piece. Automation helps bring the worst drivers up to speed, but does little to enhance or reward the skills of the best. It is up to transport managers to work out a way of tapping into those abilities to optimise fleet performance.
A big “pull-forward” is expected in the run-up to Euro-6 as operators act to beat the price premiums those trucks will carry. On the evidence of this test, we suspect some of the fattest order books might be found on the desks of MAN truck dealers. Come Euro-6, MAN is employing an SCR system (CM 27 October) so ‘add nothing’ becomes AdBlue.