Mercedes-Benz vehicle revamp moves into construction sector 28 November 2012

Mercedes-Benz continues to revamp its range of trucks, with the latest variant being a new entry into the construction sector, dubbed Arocs.

The vehicle range will include dump trucks, all-wheel drive dump trucks, concrete mixers, tractor units and drop-side chassis vehicles, available as two-, three- and four-axle units.

Mercedes-Benz says three will be 16 engine output variants, from 238bhp to 625bhp, and adds that all the have been designed to meet the future Euro 6 emissions standard.

The BlueTec 6 power plants are all in-line six-cylinder engines with exhaust-gas turbochargers and intercoolers to provide high power at little more than the engine's idling speed.

Maximum tractive power ranges from 1,000 to 3,000Nm and will be achieved by the four engine sizes: 7.7, 10.7, 12.8 and 15.6 litres – the latter being new and coming in the form of the new OM473 engine.

Power will be transmitted by the Mercedes PowerShift3 automated transmission, fitted as a standard, with drive programs matched to the applications.

Meanwhile, drive configurations will range from the 4x2 two-axle version, with rear-wheel drive, to 8x8/4, a four-axle vehicle with all-wheel drive and two steering front axles.

Four-axle versions of these trucks, with one front and three rear axles, air-springs and a load-optimised concrete-mixer chassis with single-tyred drive tandem are examples of the variety available straight off the production line.

Also new for the Arocs are the product groups Loader and Grounder.

The former are essentially 'payload-optimised' 4x2 tractor units, said to be among the lightest vehicles in the construction sector, as well as 8x4/4 concrete mixers with a 32-tonne maximum permissible weight.

The Grounder, meanwhile, is designed for operating under more extreme conditions.

Author
John Challen

Related Companies
Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd

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