Actrosman:
Mine drops down to near on 45mph climbing up M4 from Chepstow to M5 split, with only 6t in the back! As for the PPC, I don’t mind that…set mine at 88km/+2 & -2 and works a treat on m/ways and returns some pretty gd fuel figures…if it’s correct of course!0
Must admit, even my old 530 Megaspace was gutless uphill but ain’t all Mercs like that? Comparing power, the old 420 Scania would ■■■■ all over most things of similar output up many hills, even running heavy and just by dropping half a gear
What does the 2nd row do in the menu where you set the overrun speed? I know the 1st row is the overspeed allowance but what does the 2nd row do?
Sets a minimum speed, so on cruise it (with my settings) will over run to a max of 90 before the retarder kicks in and drop to around 86, when it stops applying power at the crest of a hill and ecoroll kicks in. Get on a m/way, set it and (in normal driving conditions) touch nothing
scottie0011:
I’ve switched off the ppc on mine, seems to be pulling a lot better than it did, but maybe that’s just me wishful thinking lol
How does one do that and is it permanent, ie. doesn’t come back next time you fire it up ?
Go into the menu Carl and have a mess about with it and you can switch it off. I personally run mine in manual all the time with the overrun set to +2mph. It must like it as invariably according to our weekly scores which are displayed in the T.O I’m in the top 3 out of 70+ drivers. You’ve got to be disciplined with the up changes though to avoid exceeding 1700rpm.
scottie0011:
I’ve switched off the ppc on mine, seems to be pulling a lot better than it did, but maybe that’s just me wishful thinking lol
How does one do that and is it permanent, ie. doesn’t come back next time you fire it up ?
Go into the menu Carl and have a mess about with it and you can switch it off. I personally run mine in manual all the time with the overrun set to +2mph. It must like it as invariably according to our weekly scores which are displayed in the T.O I’m in the top 3 out of 70+ drivers. You’ve got to be disciplined with the up changes though to avoid exceeding 1700rpm.
Maoster, presumably you’re driving it in manual mode (at least loaded) continually, that’s how i do things with the current MAN, makes progress not quite so utterly frustrating as it otherwise would be with arsetronic.
As for revs, its the other way round with arse t, the way to stop it revving its nuts off for no reason whatsoever, especially at junctions when it selects the wrong gear, again , is to drive it manually, and that pays with better consumption overall too.
Does the newer Merc’s gearbox respond ok to manual input and does the better scores reflect in better mpg as well as better progress please?
Tbh Juddian I don’t think that driving in manual makes a great deal of difference to mpg figures. It’s difficult to quantify really as the scores that are displayed relate to individual drivers and not vehicles, so for example I could be doing 6 drops around London where a night man will be doing say 1 drop at Elstree and back empty, so my fuel figures are never going to match his. However the analysis software takes that into account and marks on driving style (idling, harsh braking & cornering, green band driving etc), so I do find that driving permanently in manual (both empty and loaded) gives me an advantage over the guys who drive in auto, an advantage that the scores reflect in black and white.
I must say though that in all honesty I don’t drive purposely to get high scores, I drive as I naturally would and it seems that the Mercedes system likes the way I do it. Perhaps having run my own vehicles for years gives me a certain sympathy as it was me paying for fuel/ repairs etc. I also set my cruise at 86kph which I honestly believe makes you mentally drive differently and in a more relaxed manner.
We don’t have a score board as such and if we have telematics type scores (i’m not aware of them except for the onboard info in the latest vehicles) they are not put up for our perusal, but we do have a system on the yard fuel pump which displays your trip fuel consumption (since it was last filled), trying to better your last figure for a given run is part of the job to me.
Our fuel isn’t helped by having to run the PTO at fast idle for an average of an hour or slightly more at each drop.
Sounds like you and i drive similarly, our tank work is one hit runs though the routes involved can make a huge difference to consumption as you well know not helped by us being at near enough max weight on the outbound journey.
My 64 plate 510bhp is crap, no guts in it at all. Nice motor to be parked up in, but that’s about it.
Example…Coming across the A66 eastbound, on the climb up to Stainmore café, there is a layby, I cant get faster than 50 mph empty past that.
Our 730 Scania can go up there on the limiter at 44ton.
How much of this power loss on Euro 6 vehicles is due to the effects of Exhaust Gas Recirculation. Scania suffered this at Euro 5 until they swallowed their pride and went SCR. It makes the engine breathe dirty air, it’s complicated, expensive to maintain and it’s less fuel efficient. Perhaps the antidote to the fuel consumption issue is to strangle the engine further. Now only Scania and Iveco offer Euro 6 without EGR I believe, and I wouldn’t entertain EGR unless I had a gun to my head.
What I don’t understand is…my 2.2 Mondeo Sport goes into regen but doesn’t run adblue…my 2543 goes into regen occasionally and uses adblue? Am I missing something? I know ■■■■ all about how they work!
damoq:
This GPS based cruise control system is being used on alot of new trucks. Merc call it Predictive Powertrain Control (PPC). But I’ve never heard drivers of DAFs or Volvos etc complaining that it drops their speed too much near the top of a hill yet. I think merc have just set their system up to aggressively.
Scania’s have this system and to be quite honest I hate it. The only way I have found of turning it off is to put the gearbox in ‘AP’ mode, but given this option is now disabled in our newer motors & we are locked in economy mode i’m lumbered with it I just instinctively now put my foot on the accelerator when it tries to kill your speed towards the crest of a hill, as when your limited to 52 it will think nothing of dropping you down to 45 mph which is just stupidly excessive.
Stinks of a system designed for the continents much quieter hilly roads where maybe dropping your speed to such an extent isn’t such a problem, no good on our roads though when you’ve got a convoy of other wagons behind you all trying to make smooth progress up the hill at the same time.
Actrosman:
What I don’t understand is…my 2.2 Mondeo Sport goes into regen but doesn’t run adblue…my 2543 goes into regen occasionally and uses adblue? Am I missing something? I know [zb] all about how they work!
The regeneration is for the particle filter which traps smoke.
The adblue is reducing nitrogen oxide emissions.
They are separate systems and vehicles may have either, neither or both.
For all the fancy Merc system the mpg is no better than anything else and they are the ■■■■■■■■ of the lot when it comes to a hill no matter what you do.
The merc axor with the 460 was a good puller and a popular truck even on bulk work early to mid 2000’s. As has been said, probably all the required software/emissions features are holding the smaller engine trucks backs now, still pretty much the same mpg now to then with the right driver.
Was going to start a new thread (and still can if I’m treading on anyone’s toes - sorry)
Heard today that our MANs (TGX XXL 440s) are going to be replaced by Actros Gigaspaces (forgot to ask which engine) just wondered what they’re like to live with (and in)
I’ve driven a few MANs over the years from very sad and basic, to my current one, my only experience of MB was an ex-Tesco Axor day cab 18 tonner that we had on hire for a bit at my old place.
As a truck to live in, I can’t really fault my TGX, although I can fault it from many other angles. It’s a swine to drive, hard to imagine it’s from the VAG group. And they should hang their heads in shame for that offering of a gearbox they ship them out with.
PaulNowak:
Was going to start a new thread (and still can if I’m treading on anyone’s toes - sorry)
Heard today that our MANs (TGX XXL 440s) are going to be replaced by Actros Gigaspaces (forgot to ask which engine) just wondered what they’re like to live with (and in)
I’ve driven a few MANs over the years from very sad and basic, to my current one, my only experience of MB was an ex-Tesco Axor day cab 18 tonner that we had on hire for a bit at my old place.
Like the other guy says, fine when parked up but the driving part of them is horrid. I hate Stralis’s for many reasons but I’d actually gladly take a Stralis if the only other option was one of these Merc 2545 megaspaces (I don’t mind the Axor at all and the 2543 engine pulls really well). They’ve got zero power, zero traction (you’ll have the trailer coming round to say hello if use any kind of acceleration coming off a junction onto a slip road when the road is damp) and they also beat the Stralis for having the world’s most crappy radio which regardless of what you do with the audio settings still sounds like a 70s wireless with the tone control knob turned down to zero. Forget getting any sort of signal unless you can actually see the transmitter out of the window. The mega and gigaspace ones throw you all over the cab on average rutted/patched up roads too because they’re so tall. Basically there’s no premium feel about the Merc trucks - remove the badge and the finishes both inside and out would make you think that it’s something out of the Iveco stable.
damoq:
They do die on hills. But one thing I’ve noticed with them is that the seem to pull better with a bit of weight on them. I’ve seen mine climb the Bogs Brae (the hill heading to Bellshill on the A725 from the Raith) better with a load of tiles on board than it can with a lighter load on. I’ve also noticed if the load isn’t spread evenly throughout the trailer, that also seems to play a big part in it being crap on hills too.
It’s all in the name of fuel economy apparently.
Merc always did prefer a bit of weight on them . The new mercs are a bit deceptive due to the tinny engine note . But a Daf will easily leave them on the hills
, is to drive it manually, and that pays with better consumption overall too.
I just instinctively now put my foot on the accelerator when it tries to kill your speed towards the crest of a hill, as when your limited to 52 it will think nothing of dropping you down to 45 mph which is just stupidly excessive.