robroy:
the maoster:
robroy:
Not sure if you mean the XXL cab, but if so give me that over the Actros any day.The XXL is what we’re getting starting off next week. Not be sad to see the back of the Actros tbh, in fact if they offered me my old shape 61 plate Actros back I’d bite their hands off.
Excellent cab for living in Maost, I’ve had about 4 of them in past jobs, loads of room,…(ideal for ‘‘parties’’ in Durham.
)
[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]
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No Mercs are the spawn of the devil I’d rather go out in the tug than a merc lol
I’ve only had the misfortune of spending one miserable day out in a new shape Actros and if i never have to drive one again that would be great, ye gods what the hell have they done to the previous decent motors sporting the three pointed star, plastic boneshaking gutless horror, i can’t come up with one redeeming feature of the bloody thing…worst of all those cheap crap bloody plastic slippery as buggery cab steps, there was more grip on a bloody 70’s Scammell step ring (grippy steel ring bolted to the wheel nuts which served as the one and only cab step) 
Overall MAN’s get an undeserved bad rep, but i have quite a soft spot for them and would gladly have another despite the gearbox from hell…at least with the MAN you have some decent manual control of the box once you’ve got used to its various idiosyncrasies.
Depends on the Merc cab. If its the streamspace then the Man anytime, streamspace is a glorified day cab. If its the bigspace or gigaspace then its 50-50 and down to personal choice. Either are better living accomodation than the Scabbier topline I’ve been driving for the last 18 months-well it was that or a Daf!
I drove new old ride across yard yesterday and how different it is to the Merc when solo , it wasn’t like riding a bucking bronco mule and sterling was positive
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The newer Merc tractors from around 2014 era are absolutely horrible to drive imo. I used to drive the older Mercs from the late 90s and 2000s and although they were never known for their pulling power, they did the job and were in the main pretty comfy to drive. The recent ones are the polar opposite. I have no idea how Merc managed to get the ride so utterly wrong. You would think with a Merc badge that it would have some air of quality to it but nope. The smallest pebble or ondulation in the road has the cab crashing around, nearly throwing you out of your seat, and that’s just on motorways. On rural roads with bad surfaces the constant crashing about gets tiresome real fast. Tractors on springs all round from the 90s ride smoother! Oh and they still fit those crappy tyres from new which have a tread block pattern fit for a North Pole expedition but go round a bend a bit too fast in the wet and you’ll be facing the direction you’ve just come from 
.
The MAN TGXs I found to be a decent steer but first thing to do when you get in is turn off the auto exhaust brake and lane departure buzzer switches. The steering wheel is still the size of a dustbin lid compared to other tractors but you get used to it. I can guarantee you that the clips which hold the ashtray panel in will break within 5 minutes of you taking delivery from the dealer, however. The ride in them is sublime and no other tractor comes close over rough surfaces, but the downside is if you do a lot of driving on twisty rural roads you’ll find it’s too soft and not damped enough if you like to press on - also with the XXL cab it will be amplified due to the extra height and becomes quite wallowy. But for motorway hacking they are perfect - it’s like driving your Laz-Y-Boy down the road. I find if you switch into M and drop down to 11th before a hill if you’ve some weight on they pull up hills just fine. With the 440 TGX and a full sugar tank I could just about keep it above 40 on the last climb of Loughborough bank southbound, so they’re no slouch.
If you’re doing nights out in the MAN the fridge location is infuriating. It couldn’t be more in the way if it tried and makes it unnecessarily hard work getting on and off the bunk, but all the MANs have been like this since the TG series arrived. I can however attest to the excellent performance of the night heater if you like it toasty 
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I’ve driven 13,16…come to think of it nearly all generations of actros’s and mans on and off since 2010 so feel qualified to answer this.
MAN for a comfy ride and pulling power (relatively speaking) but merc for better cab design and a marginally better auto box.
I’ve recently gone from a 12 plate actros to a 18 plate MAN XLX. I miss the space of the merc only because of the fold up passenger seat, flat floor and the fridge that stows completely under the bunk. The new MAN I’ve got has got 500bhp and a proper manual comfort shift 16 speed manual so is a way nicer thing to drive. Flies up hills and sets off on demand not when the stupid auto realises I pressed the go peddle ages ago [emoji35][emoji23]
From my experience I’d take the MAN any day from the driving point of view. The last one I had was brilliant and if I could have stopped bits falling of it, it would have been better.
Rob K:
The MAN TGXs I found to be a decent steer but first thing to do when you get in is turn off the auto exhaust brake and lane departure buzzer switches. The steering wheel is still the size of a dustbin lid compared to other tractors but you get used to it. I can guarantee you that the clips which hold the ashtray panel in will break within 5 minutes of you taking delivery from the dealer, however. The ride in them is sublime and no other tractor comes close over rough surfaces, but the downside is if you do a lot of driving on twisty rural roads you’ll find it’s too soft and not damped enough if you like to press on - also with the XXL cab it will be amplified due to the extra height and becomes quite wallowy. But for motorway hacking they are perfect - it’s like driving your Laz-Y-Boy down the road. I find if you switch into M and drop down to 11th before a hill if you’ve some weight on they pull up hills just fine. With the 440 TGX and a full sugar tank I could just about keep it above 40 on the last climb of Loughborough bank southbound, so they’re no slouch.If you’re doing nights out in the MAN the fridge location is infuriating. It couldn’t be more in the way if it tried and makes it unnecessarily hard work getting on and off the bunk, but all the MANs have been like this since the TG series arrived. I can however attest to the excellent performance of the night heater if you like it toasty
In the new 2018 ones the fridge has been changed to the drawer type thankfully (actually we are all calling them fridges in the MAN’s but they are not they are just coolers) they’ve also moved the gear selector switch to the front panel below the heater controls ‘a la DAF’ yet for some reason they left the park brake where it is so you still have that raised hump thing (albeit slightly smaller) next to the drivers seat.
I also think the steering wheel looks a bit smaller in the 2018 but that may just be a perspective thing caused by the camera.
truck.man.eu/uk/en/man-worl … j2018%2520
tgx-interior.man/?utm_source … ign=mj2018
I must say I hope our place gets the new ones in, I’ll take the XXL PerformanceLine Edition 640 with the full leather please Boss
The MAN I will be getting is a 2014 vintage euro 6 no frills
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blue estate:
The MAN I will be getting is a 2014 vintage euro 6 no frillsSent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I predict that you may hate it at first but then once you get used to its quirks and rattles you’ll start to actually like it.
switchlogic:
A bit yes. The Actros is a way better truck than any MAN. But then its all opinion isn’t it? I just did the MAN seriously bland, especially the interior
I grown to quite like the new Actros in the last year, but then the ones I’ve been driving have been well specced giga or big space with flat floors and on full air so the worst of the harsh ride might have been masked, except for the bump on the east bound M20.
However I just can’t get on with the MAN, I try to like them but they just annoy me, yes they have plenty of space but it just doesn’t seem as well planned as the Actros.
But I’ve worked with drivers who’d happily take one over many other trucks, so maybe as Reef says you’ll learn to love it, or at least not be annoyed by it.
muckles:
switchlogic:
A bit yes. The Actros is a way better truck than any MAN. But then its all opinion isn’t it? I just did the MAN seriously bland, especially the interiorI grown to quite like the new Actros in the last year, but then the ones I’ve been driving have been well specced giga or big space with flat floors and on full air so the worst of the harsh ride might have been masked, except for the bump on the east bound M20.
However I just can’t get on with the MAN, I try to like them but they just annoy me, yes they have plenty of space but it just doesn’t seem as well planned as the Actros.
But I’ve worked with drivers who’d happily take one over many other trucks, so maybe as Reef says you’ll learn to love it, or at least not be annoyed by it.
Don’t get me wrong , if I could have the light steering , storage , drivers seat and ride quality of the MAN in the Merc than I would stay with Merc
Only other trucks we run are
IVECO’S [emoji85]
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blue estate:
muckles:
switchlogic:
A bit yes. The Actros is a way better truck than any MAN. But then its all opinion isn’t it? I just did the MAN seriously bland, especially the interiorI grown to quite like the new Actros in the last year, but then the ones I’ve been driving have been well specced giga or big space with flat floors and on full air so the worst of the harsh ride might have been masked, except for the bump on the east bound M20.
However I just can’t get on with the MAN, I try to like them but they just annoy me, yes they have plenty of space but it just doesn’t seem as well planned as the Actros.
But I’ve worked with drivers who’d happily take one over many other trucks, so maybe as Reef says you’ll learn to love it, or at least not be annoyed by it.Don’t get me wrong , if I could have the light steering , storage , drivers seat and ride quality of the MAN in the Merc than I would stay with Merc
Only other trucks we run are
IVECO’S [emoji85]
I drove a 2009 Iveco Strallis last year, first Iveco I’ve driven since driving a Eurotech in 2003 and didn’t think it was too bad to drive, but the outside locker doors did fly open and I had to hold them down with a cable tie.
as I said I was working with drivers who really liked the MAN, so each to their own, but given a choice I’d stay with a Merc, as long as it was a decent spec cab and not one of the fleet spec narrow ones you get from hire companies.
On the subject of MANS and pulling power the 540 has to be one of the best variants MAN has ever offered yet you hardly ever see them on the road, Uphill theres hardly anything passes it unless they are close to 600 horses,it really is a wolf in sheeps clothing, the Look on some Scania drivers faces somedays is priceless
Well they’ve started to de sticker the Mercs today so it’s only a matter of days until the MAN’s appear. Apparently they’re 500’s but knowing our cheapskate bean counters they’ll be bobby basic and part of a failed order by a proper transport company.
muckles:
blue estate:
muckles:
switchlogic:
A bit yes. The Actros is a way better truck than any MAN. But then its all opinion isn’t it? I just did the MAN seriously bland, especially the interiorI grown to quite like the new Actros in the last year, but then the ones I’ve been driving have been well specced giga or big space with flat floors and on full air so the worst of the harsh ride might have been masked, except for the bump on the east bound M20.
However I just can’t get on with the MAN, I try to like them but they just annoy me, yes they have plenty of space but it just doesn’t seem as well planned as the Actros.
But I’ve worked with drivers who’d happily take one over many other trucks, so maybe as Reef says you’ll learn to love it, or at least not be annoyed by it.Don’t get me wrong , if I could have the light steering , storage , drivers seat and ride quality of the MAN in the Merc than I would stay with Merc
Only other trucks we run are
IVECO’S [emoji85]I drove a 2009 Iveco Strallis last year, first Iveco I’ve driven since driving a Eurotech in 2003 and didn’t think it was too bad to drive, but the outside locker doors did fly open and I had to hold them down with a cable tie.
as I said I was working with drivers who really liked the MAN, so each to their own, but given a choice I’d stay with a Merc, as long as it was a decent spec cab and not one of the fleet spec narrow ones you get from hire companies.
Wide cab but no fridge or top bunk/storage hammok and no guts
Reef:
Is the 2015 on the new gearbox? If it is then it’s a bloody good truck, it’s plastic trim and fittings are cheap but functional it’s not as comfortable as a DAF but the 480 & 500 engines pull really well, if it is the older type gearbox then it can be a bit… special… at times, especially in those ‘can I go or can’t I’ roundabout moments, oh and if you come to a halt to let someone through but they’ve decided to stop and flash you through instead be prepared for the ‘wtf is he doing’ look as you sit there for a further 30 seconds with your right foot planted while the gearbox gets over its existential crisis and remembers what it’s actual purpose in life is, but all in all not really that much worse/different to the Merc auto.I drive mostly 2017 TGS’s (narrower cab*) and the odd 2011 if none of the newer ones are available, and I’d take them over a Merc or Scania any day.
- Which brings me to my whinge of the day, wtf were MAN thinking when they designed/introduced the TGS? The cab is about 8 maybe 10 inches narrower than the TGX yet it’s only the actual cab that’s narrower, the wheelbase, front wheel arches and the airkit are all as wide as the TGX, so the only ‘benefit’ of the TGS is less room for the driver? It still takes up the same width on the road so makes no sense to me at all that one. And talking of the flared airkit it makes looking out the window at the trailer when reversing ■■■■ near impossible if you have the slightest of left hand kinks in it.
For those not familiar with the TGS here’s a pic off google > images.clickdealer.co.uk/vehicl … 461296.jpg
I have a TGS 4x2 400 (Luckly the highest combined weight of unit and trailer is normally 20T). Its a 2014 and we also have a 2017 and Reef’s little review is spot on regards to the new and old gearbox. I have never had issues with the air kit hindering visibility though.
Also I would add another negative to MAN’s is the massive wing mirrors which you have to be careful of approaching roundabouts etc
mrginge:
Reef:
Is the 2015 on the new gearbox? If it is then it’s a bloody good truck, it’s plastic trim and fittings are cheap but functional it’s not as comfortable as a DAF but the 480 & 500 engines pull really well, if it is the older type gearbox then it can be a bit… special… at times, especially in those ‘can I go or can’t I’ roundabout moments, oh and if you come to a halt to let someone through but they’ve decided to stop and flash you through instead be prepared for the ‘wtf is he doing’ look as you sit there for a further 30 seconds with your right foot planted while the gearbox gets over its existential crisis and remembers what it’s actual purpose in life is, but all in all not really that much worse/different to the Merc auto.I drive mostly 2017 TGS’s (narrower cab*) and the odd 2011 if none of the newer ones are available, and I’d take them over a Merc or Scania any day.
- Which brings me to my whinge of the day, wtf were MAN thinking when they designed/introduced the TGS? The cab is about 8 maybe 10 inches narrower than the TGX yet it’s only the actual cab that’s narrower, the wheelbase, front wheel arches and the airkit are all as wide as the TGX, so the only ‘benefit’ of the TGS is less room for the driver? It still takes up the same width on the road so makes no sense to me at all that one. And talking of the flared airkit it makes looking out the window at the trailer when reversing ■■■■ near impossible if you have the slightest of left hand kinks in it.
For those not familiar with the TGS here’s a pic off google > images.clickdealer.co.uk/vehicl … 461296.jpg
I have a TGS 4x2 400 (Luckly the highest combined weight of unit and trailer is normally 20T). Its a 2014 and we also have a 2017 and Reef’s little review is spot on regards to the new and old gearbox. I have never had issues with the air kit hindering visibility though.
Also I would add another negative to MAN’s is the massive wing mirrors which you have to be careful of approaching roundabouts etc
I know the pit falls of the mirrors as I used to drive a 26t MAN on a 2016 plate
Mercs are horribly harsh on the old bones .M.a.n’s are wallowy with a huge steering wheel .I would not want either after driving a volvo or two.But i would take the m.a.n to any Merc actros .The mercs look better, but they are not as good as they look imo .
I have driven 15 plates 66 plates,And brand new mercs at xpo .Awful unless you like bouncing down the roads 
