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steps do push you slightly over to the left as you climb up.
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Inside, the Atego is sensibly finished with thick rubber flooring, a solid dash and plenty of storage space behind the seats. Other nice touches include pop-out can holders and flexi-cup holders in the centre tray. To adjust the steering column you press a button on the steering column— rake is fine but we'd have liked more vertical movement.
The instruments are generally OK, although the digital dash display can be hard to see in bright sunlight.We like the Hymix "egg-timer" mixer control, which is simple to use. Once you've engaged drive and selected barrel speed you can raise the engine's revs by the cruise control stalk.
On the downside, mounting the reversing camera monitor on top of the mixer control box makes the supporting frame too wobbly and frankly we'd question whether it's the best place for it anyway, not least as the electronic tacho's card tray can foul it when it pops out. The "flat" screen monitors we've seen mounted on sunblinds seem a much better approach and they're easier to see.
Out on the road with 6rrr' of sand in the back, the Atego's 330hp sixpot pulled well and is generally well matched to the eight-speed-plus crawler box. We can see why Mixers prefers the 7.2-litre engine. Equally, we've no complaints about its general driveability or ride and handling. The Atego's first gear is quite deep, but if you don't cane the clutch you can pull away in second before hopping to fourth. Otherwise 1-3-5 is a good starting sequence. With less than 1,400km on the clock it's not surprising that the Merc box was a touch clunky, but the gate felt precise.
Along the M54 at 80km/h the Atego's engine was clearly spinning outside the solid economy band between 1,200-1,700rpm, although at 64krn/h it was in the middle of the green at 1,500rpm. While it's obviously geared for urban work, if you do indulge in any highspeed bursts keeping to 80km/h will save fuel.
Visibility is good, aided by the wide gap between the mirror and the A-post —a boon at tight junctions and roundabouts.The Mercedes' disc brakes provided good stopping power when loaded and we like the way you can work the exhaust brake via the steering column lever too. Keep the revs up and it provides good retardation.
We rate the Atego highly as a lightweight mixer chassis, but it's not perfect.There's not enough room to the left of the clutch pedal for the driver to rest his foot, which suggests once again the shortcomings of a right-handdrive conversion.And an electric window for the driver to match the powered passenger window wouldn't go amiss.
There are no internal controls for the working of the mixer trailer inside the Actros 2546 6x2 tractor, although for safety reasons a screen for a reversing camera may well have to be added at some point.
The Megaspace cab would be any mixer driver's dream: with a walnutfinish dash and flat floor it combines the feel of a luxury car with the space of a one-bedroom flat.
If the driver decides to have a wander around the cab he will find, in no particular order, two bunks, tinted glass, a CD player, and "luxury velour seat fabric". As well as four external lockers the interior has storage under the bunk, the side doors and in various places around the instrument panel. Just imagine the dash you'd cut on a building site... Down in the basement, there's a V6.12-litre DI, charge-cooled turbo-diesel with 456hp of power controlled by its Telligent electronic engine management system (or the driver). Torque peaks at 2,200Nm and feels at its best around the 1.080rpm mark. Out on the open road changing down from 1.300rpm for a split or 1,600rpm for a full gear drops you right into the power zone. The 16-speed direct-drive 0231 gearbox should offer more than enough options for hill climbs and working your way up through the box.The driver has a nudge option or can use the paddle that sits at the end of an armrest it can be slotted back out of the way when you intend to amble around the cab.
With lOm' of sand on board, the 2546 powered up its hill climb in fine style, slow ing gradually and working its way down to 6L. Coming down the other side the three-stage exhaust brake coped easily with just a single downshift to assist it.
While the air management kit behind the cab certainly helps when hauling box and curtainsided trailers, it proved a bit of a nuisance as it reduces the view of the trailer.That apart, outward vision is excellent.
The results
Logic suggested that the 6x4 would turn in better fuel figures than the artic (see table left). In fact, the Actros just shaded it, although this is probably due to a number of factors including the fact that the Atego had less than 1,400km on the clock.
Likewise, its double-drive bogie was soaking up more fuel than the Actros's single drive-axle, which was also geared better for high-speed running and this must have helped along the M54. What's more. the Atego was working far closer to its gross weight than the Actros and that clearly can't be ignored. Either way, both end figures are highly commendable, if a little confusing!
However, we did end up with a good taste as to what it would be like to run the attic mixer in real life. If we were to repeat the exercise with the right 6x4 tractor and a lOm' load of concrete in the barrel to bring the combination up to 44 tonnes, we've no doubt that the Atego would finish on top on fuel, if not productivity. Meanwhile, we've added a -What if?" to the vehicle productivity column of our results table to give you a closer idea of what to expect from a 6x4 artic. And don't forget that an artic will also need fewer trips to shift the same amount of product..