Mercedes Gigaspace
Discussion
MRSNEAK said:
Starting to see a few of these on the road now, from the mercedes website they dont appear to offer anything above 500bhp. Which in a time when scania are offering 730bhp seems odd.
Am I missing something?
No unless you have a job for that sort of Am I missing something?
Power or a small dick...
On UK General Haulage the rule of thumb is 10 BHP per Tonne. So 440 BHP for 44,000kg GTW.
However at most motorway speeds you are revving at 1200-1300 rpm ? where you actually have 350 BHP at best but you do have 2400nm which is the important number. A good example here is that the DAF FTG XF105:460 has 464PS and the Mercedes Actros 2542 has 420PS. However both have torque figures within a gnats of each other.
I would look at the torque as it is this that actually propels you, a lot of drivers would go for the bigger BHP truck !
The 6-700 BHP trucks are generally made for 60t GTW in Sweden or for Heavy Haulage or the owners son [lol]
Look at our European cousins who actually have mountain passes to navigate and they are mainly around 400BHP 4x2 tractors at 40t
However at most motorway speeds you are revving at 1200-1300 rpm ? where you actually have 350 BHP at best but you do have 2400nm which is the important number. A good example here is that the DAF FTG XF105:460 has 464PS and the Mercedes Actros 2542 has 420PS. However both have torque figures within a gnats of each other.
I would look at the torque as it is this that actually propels you, a lot of drivers would go for the bigger BHP truck !
The 6-700 BHP trucks are generally made for 60t GTW in Sweden or for Heavy Haulage or the owners son [lol]
Look at our European cousins who actually have mountain passes to navigate and they are mainly around 400BHP 4x2 tractors at 40t
Maybe Merc can't be bothered spending what I can only assume is a fortune chasing the tiny 600bhp+ market. Leave that to Volvo and Scania.
The only real benefit a 40t will get from high BHP is time savings on really long runs through hilly country. Higher speeds (even full speed) on all the hills will get your driver further in his hours.
The only real benefit a 40t will get from high BHP is time savings on really long runs through hilly country. Higher speeds (even full speed) on all the hills will get your driver further in his hours.
The biggest engine in the Actros is the 15.6l 625bhp.
As someone else said the Volvo/Scania HP race is due to the high weight limits in Scandinavia, nowhere else in Europe is the sort of high horse power needed so other manufactures have no need to develop high horse power engines. The current 500bhp trucks are more then capable for 99% of uses.
Then of course there is price, the FH16 750 and R730 both have list prices around £140k, nearly £60k more than a typical tractor unit. Sales are tiny so no need to develop the big engines.
As someone else said the Volvo/Scania HP race is due to the high weight limits in Scandinavia, nowhere else in Europe is the sort of high horse power needed so other manufactures have no need to develop high horse power engines. The current 500bhp trucks are more then capable for 99% of uses.
Then of course there is price, the FH16 750 and R730 both have list prices around £140k, nearly £60k more than a typical tractor unit. Sales are tiny so no need to develop the big engines.
Speak of the devil!... 
Caught this for a shot last week!
K.E.R run two of these mighty Scania R620 Longline units out of Southampton. Think they're two of only 3 or 4 in the whole of the British isles at the moment! (Bill Livingstone in Scotland and an Irish haulier, Maguires possibly IIRC, have the other two) Quite some motors they are too!
Caught this for a shot last week!
K.E.R run two of these mighty Scania R620 Longline units out of Southampton. Think they're two of only 3 or 4 in the whole of the British isles at the moment! (Bill Livingstone in Scotland and an Irish haulier, Maguires possibly IIRC, have the other two) Quite some motors they are too!
I was looking at a Gigaspace the other day, the boss was talking about getting a demonstrater in, the two new shape FH's have been, quite frankley s
t.
We have had a Scania in, Four wheeler V8, after looking over it it was quickly rejected, I have suggested a MAN as the TGX has upped the game abit, ( from the TGA ) anyway, that was met with scorn, hopefully he will give the Merc a go.
t.We have had a Scania in, Four wheeler V8, after looking over it it was quickly rejected, I have suggested a MAN as the TGX has upped the game abit, ( from the TGA ) anyway, that was met with scorn, hopefully he will give the Merc a go.
Plastic chicken said:
This might come across as a naive question: these units are obviously capable of lugging heavy loads, so why do they only have a single rear axle?
40 tonne max weight with a 4 leg unit in the UK. Goes up to 44 tonne with 6 legs. STGO (Special Types General Order) regs allow for higher weights on 6 legs or more. If it's STGO there'll be a black board with white letters on the front with STGO CAT 1, 2 or 3 on it. STGO1 is up to 50 tonnes, STGO2 up to 80 tonnes or 12.5 tonne per axle and STGO3 for up to 150 tonnes. 
StuntmanMike said:
I was looking at a Gigaspace the other day, the boss was talking about getting a demonstrater in, the two new shape FH's have been, quite frankley st.
We have had a Scania in, Four wheeler V8, after looking over it it was quickly rejected, I have suggested a MAN as the TGX has upped the game abit, ( from the TGA ) anyway, that was met with scorn, hopefully he will give the Merc a go.
hello mike t.We have had a Scania in, Four wheeler V8, after looking over it it was quickly rejected, I have suggested a MAN as the TGX has upped the game abit, ( from the TGA ) anyway, that was met with scorn, hopefully he will give the Merc a go.
surprised the volvos were rubbish. the firm i do the containers for inbetween tours seems dead keen on them and has got some. havn't had a go yet due to current circumstances. with you on the scania, they can look nice but thats about it on the modern ones for me, i've never really been a fan.funny re the m.a.n. as the container firm are replacing these with the volvos. their m.a.n's were ok early on, but once they had decent mileage on they have been nothing but grief for them with big and regular engine faults. the cab is nice on the m.a.n has that well finished off feel about it, but the auto box in them is crap!!!
i really like the look of the newest merc, and have heard good things although never been or seen inside one. let us know what they're like if you get one
Edited by chilistrucker on Sunday 29th June 10:25
Hi mate, how's your nut?. Yes both 63 plate FH's haven't been good, the doors don't seal, the door windows don't seal, they never arrived as specced, that took months to sort out, they are Euro 5 units as he was advised the 6 would be troublesome.
Personally I think he will end up buying another Volvo, I took one to Lille when mine was being serviced, in some ways it was very nice, I didn't however miss it when I had my old one back, there was absolutely no wow factor in it,
Personally I think he will end up buying another Volvo, I took one to Lille when mine was being serviced, in some ways it was very nice, I didn't however miss it when I had my old one back, there was absolutely no wow factor in it,
P.S he sent one to pick meat up, this would have lead to a contract and a nice regular run to Kent to get us to Dover, the bloody thing broke down, the thermostat went, truck failed to proceed and spent several hours in a main dealer, end of meat run.
The other failed to start in the yard one Monday and hartshornes couldn't fix it, didn't have a clue, it was off the road for over a week.
It is worth mentioning that both units were featured in a truck show they were that early in production so the teething problems could have been ironed out.
The other failed to start in the yard one Monday and hartshornes couldn't fix it, didn't have a clue, it was off the road for over a week.
It is worth mentioning that both units were featured in a truck show they were that early in production so the teething problems could have been ironed out.
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