Rewind 2018: Playing in the Mud

In-depth

27 June

Prologue: Back in 2018 Daimler took a bunch of trucking scribes to the Vehicle Assessment Facility at Anglesea to play with the (then) upcoming Freightliner Cascadia. I must say, the good folks at Daimler know how to entertain…

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… On the following day they showed us some new product from Mercedes Benz. These were their latest generation all-wheel drive models which will appeal to a wide range of customers requiring extreme off-road access. Think APT Outback Tours, mining companies or communications companies servicing power lines stretched through mountainous terrain in the middle of nowhere.

Arriving at a four-wheel-drive playground at Werribee, half an hour south west of Melbourne, we were greeted with four models – a papa bear, a mama bear and two baby bears.

The babies were two 4x4’s - the 1630 and 1835, there was the Momma bear, 3443 – a 6x6, and the Big Papa – the 8x8 4146. The first two numbers represent the GVM and the last two numbers (if you add a zero) are the horsepower. Hence, the 8x8 can handle a GVM of 41 tons and has 460 horses under the floor.

Now, as I mentioned we were at a 4WD playground which is – to state the blindingly obvious – designed for 4WD’s. And we were supposed to throw trucks with beams akin to The Queen Mary and Wheelbases of 5 metres or more along their narrow, rutted and muddy tracks. Oh well, no skin off my nose if I scratched or dented (or rolled) one of their vehicles which were so new that you could almost smell the fresh paintwork.

M-B had very sensibly provided us with an experienced driver for each vehicle in the guises of Glen, Jimmy, Paul and Rob. If you go out and buy an M-B (or Daimler) product, you can have one of these guys teach you all about your latest Pride and Joy. The idea was that our ‘coaches’ would take us around one of the tracks and then we could have a shot at it. Glen was my first instructor in the 1630, the ‘baby’ of the bunch. As we hit the first creek I thought, ‘This is good’. Then we hurled up the 45 degree incline and I mentally shouted, ‘Holy Shit!’ From then on it was just one ‘Whoo Hoo’ after another.

It had rained heavily a couple of days before and we had mud-on-mud, if that’s possible. It meant that with each run around the site the terrain was constantly changing. I moved from the 1630, through the 3443 and then into the Bad Boy 4146, the 8x8. Like the others (apart from the manual 1835) this is an auto/manual box – in this iteration a 16 speed Powershift which delivers 50%faster gear changes than previous gen AWD models. Like the 6x6 it operates in all-wheel drive mode at all times and features front and rear diff locks.

We come to a muddy, rutted slope of around 45 degrees with a sharp right hand turn at the apex and I ask my instructor, Paul, if it will get us up there. “No worries,” he replies. Knock it out of auto and select a gear, diff locks on and off we go.

Only I could get it stuck at the apex with front and rear axles off the ground and the other two digging into the bog. Bear in mind that these trucks are not running mud tyres and are very light on in the rear end. The problem was solved by rolling back a foot or three and having another go, this time getting up and over easily. Down a slope as muddy and steep, and the truck’s electronic systems ensure that not even the most foolhardy of drivers could get into trouble.

These gearboxes are quite simply, amazing! Whatever the situation, they pick just the right gear for the job at hand. The controller for the ‘box is a wand on the steering column and allows you to pick auto/manual with a push and gear selection with a flick up or down. Two minutes with it and its use becomes automatic – no pun intended.

6. A place for everything and everthing in the right place..JPG

Equally, the interior of the cab is typical Benz. Everything falls easily to hand with a number of the controls on the steering wheel. It is indeed, a nice (and quiet) place to be. It was an icy day but after a couple of minutes I was wishing I’d left the jacket off, thanks to very effective heating. I presume the air-con works just as well but they don’t pay me enough to test it on a day such as this.

Coming with 11 and 13 litre Euro 6 engines, depending on model, those who want to go to extremes can opt for more potent 13 litre motors. One other thing worth mentioning is the chassis. M-B have put considerable effort into creating high torsional flexibility, along with increased robustness utilising cold-formed ultra-high tensile steel. It works a treat.

Are these vehicles good? Absolutely! Did we have fun? You betcha! I want one, and if my carport was taller I’d buy the 8x8 and be King of the Off-road.