Deals On Wheels #454

New DEALS
bean-counters by introducing the new Actros
with an offer of five years/500,000km of
free ‘Best Basic’ servicing. It’s banking on that
keeping them on their toes.
But according to insiders, Mercedes-Benz
doesn’t want the appeal of the new Actros to
be determined by an abacus alone.
The Stuttgart engineers have done a lot of
work to make the interior of the Actros a nicer
place to work.
SCREEN GENIE
The biggest change in here is a new driver
information display system featuring
two large flat panel screens replacing the
traditional instrument cluster – one above the
steering wheel and one to the left.
The high-resolution iPad-like screens come
standard and Mercedes-Benz says drivers
have responded well to the feature during the
validation program it has been running in the
lead up to the local Actros launch. Even with
the advanced average age of the truck-driving
workforce, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
After all, smartphone use is near universal
and newer industry entrants will accept them
as a matter of course.
The left display is a touchscreen unit.
Perhaps sensing that some truck drivers
might not want to tap and swipe all day long,
the Mercedes-Benz engineers also included
a row of traditional touch buttons below the
screen, including high-use controls such a
volume, temperature control and climate
controls. Not a bad idea when you hop in a
truck in a hurry and just want turn down the
volume or turn down the heat without having
to swipe through a bunch of menus.
This centre screen has been designed to
also run third-party apps that customers
may wish to use, such as non-manufacturer
telemetry systems, which would be certified
through the MB Trucks App Portal. Local
validation for this function is currently under
way.
The display above the steering wheel is not
a touch screen. It’s a more traditional screen
with drive-related data including speed,
engine rpm and cruise control settings. Both
screens can be controlled through the simple
steering wheel buttons. These have a small
sensitive pad that can be controlled with your
thumbs, just like the latest Mercedes-Benz
passenger cars.
The predictive powertrain control data can
be viewed on the centre control screen, which
also indicates when the automated manual
transmission flicks into neutral as it coasts in
order to save fuel.
The idea behind PPC is that the truck’s
(Above and opposite)
‘MirrorCam’ is a
marvel. It opens the
driver’s window to
unencumbered forward
and side view, while
placing the screen on the
A-pillar means the eye
loses less time glancing
at the rear view
161