Driving the new middleman
Page 16
Page 17
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Last week Commercial Motor revealed the story behind MAN's latest middleweight truck—the M2000—which is officially launched in the UK in September.
The new range comes with a choice of two cabs based on the compact Steyr L cabin already used on MAN's L2000 6-10 tonne range, and the larger M cab, taken from the F2000.
Seven years ago CM wrote that Steyr's attractive 17-tonner deserved to succeed in the British market. A lot has happened since then. The cab used on that truck now belongs to MAN, following its takeover of the Austrian manufacturer and it features large on the M2000.
For dedicated distribution work. MAN fits it on 12, 14 and 17-tonne M2000 chassis powered by either four or six-cylinder engines. However, for operators needing a long-haul mid dleweight, there's the wider (and heavier) F2000 cab on a 17and 23-tonne rigid as well as a 4x2 lightweight tractor.
How do the new MANs perform out on the road? CM has been to a snow-swept Vienna to try out the M2000 in all its guises.
First out of the starting gate was an L-cabbed 18.264 17tonne rigid with the most powerful 260hp 6.8-litre in-line six and Eaton nine-speed box.
Entry into the Steyr-cabbed M2000 appears easier than in the smaller L2000. MAN has worked on the step wells and although the door still doesn't open a full 90, entry is straightforward. With all that power on tap, the 18.264 romped round the mixed motorway and A-road test route with intermediate gears in low range invariably unnecessary.
On moderately steep hills, the MAN six-pot pulled hardest at around 1,500rpm and lugged down well enough to 1,200rpm at the bottom of the green economy band—but there's nothing to be gained by letting it drop any lower.
With the engine on full load at 1,200rpm, it becomes eerily quite inside the cab—although at other speeds the noise from the six-pot is more noticeable.
The nine-speed Eaton box may seem a luxury on a 17-tonner, but it's light, and easy to use, and we can't see why drivers shouldn't take to the double-H pattern. All the trucks supplied for test had an overdrive top gearbox which left us with the impression that they were overgeared. MAN Truck & Bus (UK), however, says it has yet to decide on British axle ratios; this may overcome the problem.
The steel-sprung 4x2 rigid had a typically Continental "soft" ride although roll wasn't excessive.
While the steering is light, it's precise enough—notwithstanding its attempts to deal with the ruts worn into the Austrian motorways by heavier and wider tracked wagons.
The driving position in the compact L-cab is generally good. Our only moan is that the low headlining at the top of the screen can be a problem for drivers who like their seat high up—it's a criticism we levelled at Steyr's middleweights all those years ago.
MAN has revised the heater in its middleweights and on a cold misty day, it was well up to the job—even if the controls are just a little too far away from the driver for our liking. The L2000 hasn't got the advantage of the F2000's curving binnacle. Its higher engine hump also makes cross cab access more difficult.
Followers of MAN's no-nonsense interior design can rest easy. The M2000 keeps up the tradition of providing a practical, hard wearing fleet-friendly workplace. The M2000 dash is also a lesson in clarity—if you can't see it, you can't be looking.
To see how its big brother performed, we next tried an 18.264MLC with the same engine but F2000 cab. While there was no difference in performance, the extra headroom and storage space is immediately obvious, as is the lower engine bump. It's also quieter too, especially around 1,500rpm when the most obvious noise is from the turbocharger.
Our two-axle rigid had air suspension on the back axle although of the two 17-tonners, we preferred the steel-sprung Steyr-cabbed version which overall felt more taut out on the road.
Having tasted the most powerful chassis, we next took a spin in a 220hp tipper with a six-speed Eaton box.
Interestingly, the driveline seemed to offer the best match of all the 17.tonners we tried and for anyone looking for a top-weight rigid that's equally at home on motorways and in city centres, the 18.224 looks a good bet.
One M2000 that's better suited to driven by MAN's 4.6-litre fourcylinder engine. On the road, the 160hp four-pot must be worked hard to get the best from it With a six-speed gearbox, there's not much point trying to change up before the revs reach 2,200rpm—it pulls its hardest above 1,500rprn—and it shows in terms of vibration and interior noise. That said, our boxbodied test truck had no trouble keeping up with the grand-prix traffic around the outskirts of Vienna.
The lack of air assistance on the clutch was also noticeable after the 17-tonner. CM finished its acquaintance with the M2000 by trying out a 18.264 tractor with a 14m tandem-axle trailer.
Urban artics aren't known for their good ride and handling but on ours, it was excellent, helped by a long 3.8m wheelbase and F2000 cab's four-point coil spring cab suspension—on the M2000 rigids only the rear of the cab is coil sprung. At 26 tonnes GCW the 6,8-litre had to work hard on some of the steeper Austrian motorway drags although the ZF 16-speed box was well matched to its torque characteristics.
With three engines and two cabs on offer, MAN Truck & Bus (UK) is keen to increase its middleweight sales in a market that has up till now been one of the most important for the German manufacturer outside its home turf. Sales of the old M90 range were running at around 700 a year and MAN Truck & Bus (UK) boss Jurgen Knorpp has set a target of 850 M2000s in its first full year.
According to Kriorpp, the old M90 suffered from being heavy and expensive. The compact L cab M2000 will remedy that situation. Marketing & sales operations manager John Baker says the 18.264 M2000 tractor will also replace the current 17.272 lightweight tractor at up to 36 tonnes GCW.