Hi everyone.After coming home Friday morning,being towed by a recovery truck,unit and trailer,I was given a Hire unit for my run to Nuneaton last night.I was blessed with the good fortune of a drive in a 04 plated Mercedes Axor 6x2,with around 1900k on the clock,and I just wanted to come on here to say what a pleasure it was to drive.I was very impressed.I think it has taken driving a truck to a new level.It has bags of low down grunt,and very torquey.It will outpull my S-plate ERF EC11,with the Axor carrying a full load,with a 45 foot trailer to the ERF carrying an empty 40 footer any day of the week!
Comfort,in a truck is of paramount importance to anyone,and at 6ft 2ins,I liked the roomy cab,comfortable seat,good all round vision(mirrors etc).I like the fact that the centre console is low,so that you can put your left foot up and stretch it out,when on cruise mode.Anyone who has driven an ERF will know that they have absolutely no leg room,and the centre console is high and rubs against your left leg.The ERF is without doubt the most uncomfortable truck I have driven,hence why I am looking to lose it by changing jobs.
The Merc Axor was also incredibly smooth,the gear change is very precise and easily located,and all in all,I found it a proper driving experience.Now,all I have to do is find a company that uses them as a fleet truck(No chance) .Well,thats my 2 cents,but I am probably being a tad unfair in comparing a 04 Merc with an S reg ERF,but I have also driven Ford Ivecos,Volvos,Scanias and a Renault Premium,and none were as good as the Merc,although I have to admit liking the Premium.Ughh,I hear you say.I want to know how the new Man TG-a compares?Also what are your experiences of the horrible gaffers cheapskate ERF EC11?I will be interested to hear the responses,Thanks.
Glen, I used to run an Actros and loved it as a comfortable and relaxed form of travel. Many people who do not like Mercs experienced the thing before the Actros (the SK). Early Actroses were bloody awful as well…but now, they’re the best.
Cannot understand anyone liking Premium. Have just spent 4 weeks with one and consider it a great waste of nutual resources; damned uncomfortable and really a day cab. We all know the problems of the Scanias, but that could be cured by fitting a better standard of seat. Volvos generally suffer from bad support.
something I discovered with the new Merc engines is just how much bottom end torque they produce. Its as though the RPM needle gets all defiant and refuses to go down any further. On a motorway hill you can let them pull down almost to 1000rpm and the things just seem to stop losing revs, very impressive.
we run axors,actros and ec11,s in our fleet.
the actros,s are old and crap.
the ec11s are older with more miles under the belt and are far better.
the axors are ok, ours have the telligent box as opposed to the normal manual model ( but if you speak to people they say the axor cannot be specced with a telligent box,WRONG.)
the axor pulls well better than the actros because its a straight six as opposed to a vee.
the bad points are they slide every where in the wet(3 axle tractor)
and they should have a flat floor or a bigger space between the dash and the engine hump, so you can walk through.
as regards to being able to stick your leg up on the dash, i would not know, i would not even try. my image is better than that
It will outpull my S-plate ERF EC11,with the Axor carrying a full load,with a 45 foot trailer to the ERF carrying an empty 40 footer any day of the week!
Im guessing this is a slight exaggeration, cus if it aint, you have a very sick M11 in that ERF old bean! I have an M11 rated at 380, and it will outpull most things on the road except the really big stuff, and have embarrased a fair few on the 14! when the mood takes . My Atki might be a bag of [ZB] but that ■■■■■■■ mill is the dogs swingers!
Mal:
…I have an M11 rated at 380, and it will outpull most things on the road except the really big stuff, and have embarrased a fair few on the 14! when the mood takes .
But surely that’s not difficult Mal, as the 14 is as flat as a sheet of A4. Obviously, someone’s been tampering with the limiter
Back to the original topic… I also quite like the Axor as a fleet mobile, although I wondered where the splitter was when I set off The 2543 does pull well, agreed.
The only things that cheesed me off about it were :
As someone else said, it’s VERY unstable in the wet with the mid-lift axle down, especially when empty. Using the exhaust brake with high revs down a hill in the wet WILL cause you grief
As it’s the Atego cab, for a lanky 6’3 bod like myself, I find the bunk in it several inches too short to stretch out on fully, and…
That hammock style net hanging down… What the hell is that all about Apologies to Hill Hire, but I ripped it out of mine coz I got so peed off with it sitting on my face (yeah yeah, cue easy jokes ) everytime I sat up.
Glenn:
I was blessed with the good fortune of a drive in a 04 plated Mercedes Axor 6x2,with around 1900k on the clock,and I just wanted to come on here to say what a pleasure it was to drive.I was very impressed.I think it has taken driving a truck to a new level.It has bags of low down grunt,and very torquey.It will outpull my S-plate ERF EC11,with the Axor carrying a full load,with a 45 foot trailer to the ERF carrying an empty 40 footer any day of the week!
Comfort,in a truck is of paramount importance to anyone,and at 6ft 2ins,I liked the roomy cab,comfortable seat,good all round vision(mirrors etc).I like the fact that the centre console is low,so that you can put your left foot up and stretch it out,when on cruise mode.Anyone who has driven an ERF will know that they have absolutely no leg room,and the centre console is high and rubs against your left leg.The ERF is without doubt the most uncomfortable truck I have driven,hence why I am looking to lose it by changing jobs.
The Merc Axor was also incredibly smooth,the gear change is very precise and easily located,and all in all,I found it a proper driving experience.Now,all I have to do is find a company that uses them as a fleet truck(No chance) .Well,thats my 2 cents,but I am probably being a tad unfair in comparing a 04 Merc with an S reg ERF,but I have also driven Ford Ivecos,Volvos,Scanias and a Renault Premium,and none were as good as the Merc,although I have to admit liking the Premium.Ughh,I hear you say.I want to know how the new Man TG-a compares?Also what are your experiences of the horrible gaffers cheapskate ERF EC11?I will be interested to hear the responses,
The men in white coats are on their way.
You like Premiums and Axors DOH !!!
Premiums are rubbish, nothing good about them.
Axors, I don’t understand how Mercedes can produce quite a good Actros, where only failings were Auto box, Auto heated mirrors and strangled duck horn. Then they go and produce a cheap and nasty Axor, narrow cab job.
But surely that’s not difficult Mal, as the 14 is as flat as a sheet of A4. Obviously, someone’s been tampering with the limiter
No Rob, she does 56, but its the pulling power I was surprised with, even up by gate 23 on the 1 there, Ive had big motors, and of course theyre better, but for a 380, I was amazed at this m11! Now, all I want is a decent cab round me and weve cracked it!
But surely that’s not difficult Mal, as the 14 is as flat as a sheet of A4. Obviously, someone’s been tampering with the limiter
No Rob, she does 56, but its the pulling power I was surprised with, even up by gate 23 on the 1 there, Ive had big motors, and of course theyre better, but for a 380, I was amazed at this m11! Now, all I want is a decent cab round me and weve cracked it!
Mal.
Actually Mal, not that I think back, the EC11 380 I had a few times on agency with MacFarlanes was a damned good puller. I just hated it as it regularly jammed my pinkies in between the dashboard and 3rd gear gate which I never learned by my mistakes and ended up with a sore left hand for weeks
whats this slagging the premium about
its not a bad little motor i have driven lots worse
right about the 6x2 though with the mid lift down whilst empty, BUT why run with it down whilst empty? unless it is i hire motor and it is locked, it just took me ages to figure out hoe to put it up (ended up looking in the manual )
chris
. My Atki might be a bag of [ZB] but that ■■■■■■■ mill is the dogs swingers!
The 2543 does pull well, agreed.
Apologies to Hill Hire, but I ripped it out of mine 
) everytime I sat up.
