New Mercedes heavy trucks! Well ALMOST new. Anyway latest spy photos of the replacements for Actros and Axor.
SCOOP!!!! Well not quite as we ran spy pictures of Mercs new heavies in
Commercial Motor back in November 2007! Anyroadup, having been sent these latest 'spy photos' from a bloke sitting in a bush somewhere near the Merc truck plant I thought I'd share them with you on Biglorryblog...and also update you concerning their likely launch and 'go-bits' What you see here is the protoype full-width, high-datum, 'Big Cab' replacement to Actros. As for the box on the back of the rigid below--it's obviously a local bit of exhaust/emissions plumbing....and (hopefully) not something you'll see on the final production versions!
The smart money is still on a 2010 launch---however, the real question is whether the trucks will come with Daimler's new global HDEP (Heavy Duty Engine Platform) engines---built by from Detroit Diesel----from the get-go, or the existing Euro-5 V6/V8, and 12-litre in-line diesels. Of course the Germans might even run both simultaneously for a short while.
Biglorryblog's pundit mates (of whom I have many) tell me that we won't see too many Euro-6 trucks before 2011 or even 2012. However, Merc may surprise everyone by being an early adopter with its HDEP motors, especially if the German authorities offer incentives to buy a Euro-6 truck ahead of the 2013/2104 deadline.
Either way, as most (if not all) of Europe's truck makers are likely to use both SCR and EGR (possibly with an active particulate trap too) to meet Euro-6 they'll need to get lots of nice cold air flowing past the taller HDEP in-line engines (like the DD13 above) that will ultimately power Merc's Euro-6 heavies. All of which goes along way towards explaining the high-mounted, towering cab on the black prototype seen here. And the taller cab is likely to retain the flat-floor found in the current MegaSpace Atros cab too.
And once you've raised the floor to ensure plenty of engine cooling if you want to provide the maximum living space for a long-haul driver the only way is up---i.e. by raising the roof. And even with the heavy use of fake body panels on the full-width prototype black cab there's no disguising its extra tall roof moulding which looks to be pretty close to the Continental 4.0m limit---which funnily enough was the height of Merc's 'Space Max' extra tall concept tractor seen here above and at the Hanover Show back in 2006. So will the Actros replacement be ''Son of Space Max' I wonder? [/SIZE][SIZE=3]Now click through here for shots of the other protoytpes.
For all the glitz and glamour of flagship motors it's bread-and butter fleet machines that provide truck makers like Merc with their real volume. And the narrower (white) cab prototype tractor and on the black artic below looks to be the direct replacement for the current Axor tractors and multiwheelers.
It's significant that even this cab sits quite high--again no doubt with Euro-6 and cooling in mind---thus the current three-step entry layout of the Axor is unlikely to change when its successor eventually breaks cover. The replacement low datum/narrow cab comes in standard and high roof versions. The DD13 six-pot also seems the obvious choice for the boss's motor with its power range from 350-450hp while the bigger DD15 offers 455-560hp with torque outputs from 2,100Nm to a hefty 2,500Nm.
And last but not least, when the DD16 appears will it be the first 'big banger' in a Merc to break the mythical 700hp barrier? If the Good Lord spares Biglorryblog for the next 24 months I'll let you know! Of course, given the current depression it does beg the question: Who on earth would want a 'normal' 700hp artic?
Source: http://www.roadtransport.com 
7th July 2009, 14:21
Are they planning to pull locomotives using these monsters??
, we are looking at road trains here.
