Juddian:
Mike 68, whilst i agree with you generally, we had one day cab 1727 V6 tractor unit at Kwikies, on steel springs all round with a standard 8 speed (roadranger style) gearbox.It was a cracking lorry, pulled well, rode brilliantly best riding tractor on the fleet with really comfy soft seats, steering brakes were all spot on, if we’d been allowed a choice of vehicle i’d have plumped for that without a doubt every day.
As it was i used to get the sole Roadtrain often cos only a handful of us could cope with an eaton twin split, the very opposite of comfy you could travel the entire length of the M6 with your arse barely touching the seat, most of the journey you’d be airborn in mid bounce hanging on to the wheel to stop you being jettisoned out the window
At the back end of the eighties/early nineties they came close they used to fit a 16spd ZF to the old shape 1635 and that was a decent truck and the second generation EPS they used the one where you could preselect gears paired up with the V6 motor was also decent.
Then they went and built the Baxxsore truly awful by any measure, I find mercs well built and the design of the cab interior as good as any comfy seats nice bunks decent heating plenty of storage, on the other hand they seem to be unable to get basic stuff like ride quality, transmission, and steering right.
I also doubt that they listen to the end user.