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
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210 
M AN's contender created a great impression before it had even
Page 44
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
turned a wheel.The Five Star cab's metallic burgundy paintwork, a tasteful choice on any vehicle, was set off by just enough chrome trim on the grille lo be distinctive but not vulgar.
Until this 1,000-Point Test yours truly had only driven a D20-poweredTGA on a couple of laps of Bruntingthorpe airfield, but it only took a few hundred metres out of the Hochwald service area to realise that the D20 was something special. The initial shove in the back as we moved up through the gears was enough to indicate the nature of the torque curve —dead flat from 1,000 to 1,400rpm.
Effectively a purpose-built Euro-4 EGR engine running in the interim at Euro-3, the 1)20 has a considerable advantage on paper which translated into a real advantage on the hills, as it could be seen catching and even overtaking some of its rivals as its reserves of torque flattened the slopes either side of the Mosel valley.This gave an ease of driving further enhanced by effective integration of the EVB engine brake with the transmission.
Engine apart, the only significant change on this TGA was the first sight of the revised transmission controls.As with competing applications of the ZFAS-Tronic automated transmission, MAN now has a simplified rotary control knob. Gone are the slightly confusing D1,D3 and D5 settings, replaced by D,N and R for normal use, with DM and RM positions at each end of the range to access the new more controllable manoeuvring mode.
There are two main areas in which the TGA excelled. One is that torquey 1)20 engine, resulting in the best journey times and the lowest overall fuel consumption (not always achievable at the same time).The second string to its bow is weight: it's a clear quarter of a tonne lighter than the Mere and Volvo.These factors give the TGA the lowest running costs.
Not everything in MAN's garden is rosy, however. Despite its high specification levels, the one area where the TGA scored substantially lower than any of its rivals was in cab interior quality and finish. It takes more than a hand-stitched leather steering wheel and a few dollops of timber appliqué to disguise the fact that it's high time for an interior revamp.