Mercedes say between 3% and 5% saving not 13%.
Yep…
I re-read it.
35% fuel saving it is.
Ian58:
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.
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.
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”.
rob22888:
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.
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.
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.
Whatever about the mirrors. The merc engines couldn’t pull your ■■■■■■■■ 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