On The Road
On the open road and trunking routes, it carried 44 tonnes effortlessly. If anything on the route to Hamilton Services in Glasgow with the 456hp we were more likely to change down to provide revs for the butterfly engine brake rather than to help it over the peaks on the motorway. We were able to lug down from 56mph at 1,488rpm to just above 40mph at 1,000rpm without changing gear.
As motorways, dual carriageways, and bypasses gave way to Dakleith and the A68, the power from the V6 held true, keeping a fair rate of knots as we headed back south. Previous tests at 44 tonnes have seen plenty of roll from a hill but travelling up has been a different story – it’s a slog. We have even glanced down before now to see if the band brake has been left on, and the momentum disappears and the hill drags right out.
The true testament to the power of the 2546LS came on three sharp hill climbs after we had motored up Carter Bar. First, we drop to 30mph into West Woodburn before crawling out the other side contemplating a manoeuvre down the box into the bottom half. This is swiftly followed by the descent to a 90o right turn before dragging ourselves up through the one-pub village of Ridsdale, itself boasting a sharp incline with part of the road covered in tyre marks where previous trucks have ground to a halt. Finally we climbed Castleside, starting in 5L after negotiating traffic lights just before the bridge and the sharp rise into the village.
It was with some contentment that we turned left out of Castleside towards Consett as, even at 44 tonnes, with 456hp under the floor we didn’t drop into the bottom half of the box. That’s some achievement.
The Mercedes-Benz Telligent gearbox provides a simple and effective way of gear changing. Out go the worries about getting the range-change right or forgetting whether you are in High or Low on an H-pattern and accidentally jumping three gears when you only aimed for two.
Here it’s pre-selection; a nudge forward for two on the main gear stick, or two up on the paddle at the front does the job. All block changes can be done from the top control but for versatility you need the paddle. From a standing start in 2H it’s three gears up to 4L then another three to 5H, then it’s whatever takes your fancy to the direct drive top gear The most you can shift in a block is four gears and this is probably only appropriate on 2H to 4H from a standing start.
There are also a couple of tricks worth remembering. Coming into a roundabout, it is possible to let the truck roll in and then pull the lever back where it will select the right gear to carry on; alternatively you can use the engine brake and the same action will select the best gear for maximum braking.
Back on more traditional routes the cruise control, idle for most of day three, comes back into play. It’s on the right stalk and simple to use. Up to set the speed and increase; forward to switch off; down to slow down, or to reactivate the speed set in the memory; and back to use the two-tier exhaust brake.
If you enter a hill climb and need to change a half, the cruse control stays active but engine revs will jump because the CAN-bus electronic control is telling the engine it needs fuel for power. A better tactic might be to use the accelerator but, ultimately, there is no real difference.
Cab Comfort
It seems that top-of-the-range one-bedroom cabs with no running water and a trailer tyre as an outhouse probably cost more than the majority of three-bedroom houses in the pit villages around County Durham. But it has to be said that money spent on the Megaspace option is well worth it – just ask any ‘chauffeur’ who drives one.
The Megaspace is a one-bunk truck with additional lockers fitted to the back wall. Putting bags in the cab is a little tricky as the cab is pretty high – up five steps – but if you have moved the seat back and positioned the steering wheel forward then the footwell offers plenty of room for a kitbag on entry.
Once up and in, oversized bags can be placed in the containers under the three-section bunk behind the driver and passenger seats. Under the centre section of the bunk is an ambient storage container and a fridge in two separate sections. The driver can pull them out and they double up as a flat surface to do paperwork or eat dinner on.
For additional equipment, the driver has a pretty expansive choice. There are three containers on the back wall, a locker over the driver’s head as well as one above the driver’s door.
The pockets are a good size, and there are plenty of nooks and crannies around the dash in which to put pens, phones, tacho charts and chewing gun.
There is a decent bottle holder at the front of the fridge container, which the driver can reach by swinging his left arm down past the gearshift control. The passenger seat swivels 90o allowing the driver a change of view when parked up.
We won’t kid you by trying to suggest you can hike for several days from the driver’s seat to the bunk via the pullout fridge, but there is plenty of room for a six-footer to stand up and swing a well-fed cat around.
The driver’s seat has enough positions to fit just about every shape of driver, although we recommend reading the instructions for the chair first just in case it decides not to cooperate. A small button under the steering wheel releases it so that the driver can position it in harmony with his stomach.
Just be warned about activating the water for the windscreen washer. It’s the red collar on the left stalk which you push towards the steering column, and not the red button on the end – that’s the extremely loud air horn!
Hopefully the elderly lady in Dalkeith composed herself sufficiently quickly to get the registration number and contact Mercedes-Benz to claim compensation for the bag of crystal glasses she dropped as we attempted to clean the windscreen.
