Old crowd has a fleet of 18t Antos - autos. The cabs were pleasant enough, they actually had a decent sized footwell so the old left foot problem went away.
But the auto boxes, 8 speed, were woeful if left to their own devices - I always selected manual and used the stalk as a paddle shift otherwise the engine would drop out of the power band before changing down. So to keep it in the high end of the green manual was the way to go.
I’ve got one of our last manual-boxed Ategos (15 tonner) and that’s a lovely truck to drive. My criticism is that Merc did away with the walk across floor that my old 07 plate Atego had. I find storage space is more useful in the Merc than a Daf, it would be better but I have a bloody great safe fixed in the centre tray.
I’ve got one of our last manual-boxed Ategos (17 plate 15 tonner) and that’s a lovely truck to drive. My criticism is that Merc did away with the walk across floor that my old 07 plate Atego had. I find storage space is more useful in the Merc than a Daf, it would be better but I have a bloody great safe fixed in the centre tray.