Merc with no mirrors

[truckertang]

Well i was travelling down the M271 today when i overtook an ATL artic, i did a double take as when i looked i was sure he or somebody had completely beaten the O/S mirrors off..

Then i saw the little camera arm hanging down near where the top of the mirror arm would be.

Now that does look very very strange, does anybody happen know how much that camera arm is gonna be to replace when it gets removed?? and also i saw a large screen on the drivers door pillar which I'm assuming is the feed from the O/S and there is a similar screen on the N/S???

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Juddian]

This was asked in a recent thread, i believe £350 was the price of camera and arm, so not much different to an arm and mirrors assembly.

I know someone who tried one of these, underwhelmed covers it, not too bad on the road but he found distances difficult to determine and trying to reverse the tractor into a bay and under a trailer most disconcerting.

[truckertang]

Ah thats not too bad, also i just watched a vlog about it and i must say these new mercs have got alot of tech in them, i know a number of drivers that struggle to use a mobile phone let alone a load of screens with a little joystick to control it all...

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[gingo]

these new mercs have got alot of tech in them, , they should try getting the seating right in there axors, [ backsoars ].

[nomiS36]

I think this idea is another example of technology for technology’s sake.
Totally unnecessary

[WheelsofCardiff]

Having driven a bus with those monitors. Its not good. The glare from those cameras especially during the day is terrible. In bad weather its really difficult to see. With traditional mirroes you can heat them up.

[robroy]

I think this idea is another example of technology for technology’s sake.
Totally unnecessary

+1
Their trucks are uncomfortable bags of [zb], the ride is comparble to an 80s ERF (I know, I've driven them)

I've had Actroses since 2013 and have a list of stuff that could/should be improved.
Get the basics improved and put right before investing in all this type of gimmickry dog [zb].

[ETS]

Having driven a bus with those monitors. Its not good. The glare from those cameras especially during the day is terrible. In bad weather its really difficult to see. With traditional mirroes you can heat them up.

If only the people who propose/design/implement these "improvement" had seen the inside a truck cab, let alone spend a day in it...

[khdgsa]

It saves fuel not having the wing mirrors sticking out.

[GasGas]

There are various different systems on the market. Merc took the best one and improved it (or so they say).
Having actually driven two new Mercs with the cameras, I'm pretty confident that they are better than mirrors, plus the blind spots are much reduced. They pivot in turns so you can always see the trailer, and cope well with light and dark with good contrast control.
You can set them up to the length of the trailer, there are lines on the mirror to indicate exactly where the back of the trailer ends.
A period of adjustment is needed to get used to them, and I suspect that the longer you've been driving the longer that period will be. There is a moment of panic when you look at where the mirror would be, and it's not there.
The camera is in a sprung fairing, and less likely to get smashed than a normal mirror.
TBH, I was not so impressed with the rest of the truck...the Gigaspace doesn't have the 'wow' factor that a DAF XF or big Scania has, and I'm not convinced of the merits of replacing the secondary switchgear with a giant iPhone nailed to the dashboard, but then I am old and stupid.

[Rowley010]

Mercedes trucks would have been better off investing time and money into development of a better gear box. Scania and Volvo 2 pedal autos are so much smoother, more responsive at very slow manoeuvring speeds, and quicker to respond and put it in the correct gear if your coming to a roundabout for example and see you gap and go. In the actros I’ve had it take a good 5 seconds to decide on the right gear to pull away.

I actually don’t see see any advantage in this mirror less system. Can anyone enlighten me?

Seems like just an expensive thing to potentially go wrong and if it does go wrong that’s you parked up.

[yourhavingalarf]

I actually don’t see see any advantage in this mirror less system. Can anyone enlighten me?

A 13% fuel...

Saving has been claimed by Mercedes.

Getting rid of the ridiculous blind spots mirrors produce.

Easier manouevring in tight spots.

[robroy]

A 13% fuel...

Saving has been claimed by Mercedes.
.

Hmmmm 13% ...reckon that lies somewhere between exagggeraed and false.

[nightline]

Won't make any difference you will still have the think they know it all hanging half out there door when reversing, and they call that a skil

[nomiS36]

The 13% thing sounds like BS to me but I can see some merit in the blind spot argument. The mirrors on MAN’s are ridiculous, especially the N/S one which leads directly into the windscreen pillar with no gap. This creates a massive blind spot.

[Rowley010]

If 13% is ANYWHERE NEAR true then scania and Volvo will very shortly be taking off traditional mirrors from there’s. Unless Mercedes have managed to patent it first of course.

I can appreciate the other points for tight space manoeuvre and if it does give better near side vision compared to mirrors that’s of course a good thing.

But still the point being that if something goes wrong the truck is parked up until Mercedes come out and sort it. With normal mirrors if they got cracked as long as you can still see enough you can drive it to a place of repair. I image that if those cameras get struck it’s game over.

[Juddian]

Don't believe 13% for a moment though a saving of some sort would be possible especially if towing a perfect and close coupled tanker, maybe the decimal is in the wrong place.

[the maoster]

Save 13% fuel and then stick a car driving chimp who happens to have been gifted a class one and watch him take 25% off of the fuel economy.

[Juddian]

^^^ that's about the score of it
so long as he isn't idling for more than 4 seconds though, despite the turbo glowing red eh

[robthedog]

I think this idea is another example of technology for technology’s sake.
Totally unnecessary

Great idea half the muppets on the road don’t use mirrors so might as well get rid of em !!

[Ian58]

Mercedes say between 3% and 5% saving not 13%.

[yourhavingalarf]

Yep...

I re-read it.

35% fuel saving it is.

[Rjan]

Mercedes say between 3% and 5% saving not 13%.

That certainly seems more credible, that there would be up to a 3% saving on a wagon that spends all day flying up and down the motorway at top speed, without carrying a load or even a trailer, and where fuel costs are thus almost entirely air resistance.

I can believe that mirrors represent 3% of the frontal surface area and overall air drag of a wagon.

5% fuel saving in any real-world use seems ludicrous.

Whether drivers will accept inferior cameras rather than glass mirrors, and whether the likely cost and complexity of the setup is worth the saving, is another thing entirely. There is no depth perception through cameras-and-screens, whereas there is through mirrors.

Another thing is that most of us clip the mirrors occasionally in our lives, or have them clipped - that's the signal that you're (or they're) too close, and they enforce a permanent margin of error, but also allow us to refine our judgments in getting fairly close to things, without too much being at stake.

They also provide a focal point for judging how close an oncoming vehicle is - without them, you'd have to judge how close the entire side surface of the vehicle was, including any irregularities (such as the fact that the trailer may be slightly wider than the cab front) or the effects of road camber (the top and bottom of the vehicle may be at different distances, if the vehicles are not level on approach - the mirror, protruding much further than any normal camber could cause, allows us to forget about these problems).

God knows what would happen if the first sign of poor judgment and being too close to something was a full frontal impact, or a "Trains Planes and Automobiles"-style scar down the full length of the sides.

Personally, I think mirrors will be here to stay.

[mike68]

The blind spot on modern trucks is an issue particularly on urban work, roundabouts in particular as you approach you are often turning to the left and vehicles on the roundabout are in the blind spot for a second longer than usual as they are travelling from the right I have had this happen to me a couple of times recently and I welcome technology that would help me.

My issue with Mercedes Benz trucks which I have driven for more than thirty years is their complete inability to build a truck that is any good, they clearly have the engineering skills and the production facilities are second to none, the mirror cameras will work and they will be excellent like the lane assist like the brake assist and all the other firsts they have introduced over the years.

They then fit god awful transmisions endless pointless cup holders steering that pulls to the left wipers that stop working for no reason stupid flush switches crap ICE and ride quality that Seddon Atkinson would be proud of, please tell me the need for 7 cup holders what non driving buffoon dreams this crap up, just think how good trucks could be if the manufactures actually listened to the people who used them.

As for the cost of the camera arm I will let you all know within 48 hrs of the first vehicle being delivered to my depot.

[rob22888]

As for the cost of the camera arm I will let you all know within 48 hrs of the first vehicle being delivered to my depot.

Your supermarket driving mates will think Christmas has come early.

“Can’t drive that, haven’t been trained”.

[mike68]

As for the cost of the camera arm I will let you all know within 48 hrs of the first vehicle being delivered to my depot.

Your supermarket driving mates will think Christmas has come early.

“Can’t drive that, haven’t been trained”.

A couple of years ago every "driver" in the depot was shown how to wind trailer legs up and down, turns out some imbecile had managed to punch himself in the face whilst hitching up, the camera arm has no chance against our lot, not a hope in hell.

[Hurryup&wait]

If 13% is ANYWHERE NEAR true then scania and Volvo will very shortly be taking off traditional mirrors from there’s. Unless Mercedes have managed to patent it first of course.

I can appreciate the other points for tight space manoeuvre and if it does give better near side vision compared to mirrors that’s of course a good thing.

But still the point being that if something goes wrong the truck is parked up until Mercedes come out and sort it. With normal mirrors if they got cracked as long as you can still see enough you can drive it to a place of repair. I image that if those cameras get struck it’s game over.

These are fair questions Rowley and though I have never seen it I understand these camera struts are smaller, cheaper and less venerable than standard mirror arms and so are less likely to get smashed.

A cracked mirror is a bit of a PIA but a smashed glass is a show stopper really.

This is the 1st generation of this technology and the next version will be much improved I’m sure.

In a few years time you and others will be considered old timers cos you will be on here saying you can remember using real mirrors for manoeuvring.

I remember when I thought parking sensors on cars were an unnecessary expensive gimmick.
Now I’d be slow to buy a car without them as I am so used to them. In fact my current car has a reversing camera which is totally unnecessary but in time I’m sure I will not go without it either.

[Silver_Surfer]

Whatever about the mirrors. The merc engines couldn’t pull your foreskin back and the suspension on some of the fleet models is like driving a 20 year old farm tractor with rusty springs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk