Mercedes-Benz Antos will make its debut at the IAA Commercial Vehicle show in September
Mercedes-Benz Antos makes its public premiere at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover in September and will eventually take over from the current Axor range between 18 and 26 tonnes as a rigid and up to 40-tonnes as a tractor. All Antos models come with a 2.30m wide ClassicSpace can as standard, offered in either short (S) or medium (M) lengths. The medium-length M variant is also available as the super-flat CompactSpace cab, for trucks with cooling units fitted to the body. Meanwhile, Antos’s well-appointed cockpit provides the driver with an ergonomically-sound workplace with all instruments clearly arranged and easy to use. Moreover, the multifunction steering wheel and generous seat adjustment ensures you’ll get a great ‘fit’ in Antos, whether you’re long, short, skinny or ‘chunky’.
All of the safety assistance systems currently available on Actros are carried over onto Antos including standard electronically-controlled EBS disk brakes all-round, a highly-effective engine brake, ABS, ASR, and Stability Control Assist. Starting with the latest generation Active Brake Assist, Mercedes has also put together an impressive package of other safety options too, for the record, Merc’s new ABA 3 system now automatically initiates full brake application on detecting stationary obstacles. Antos is powered by a broad range of Euro-6 diesel engines comprising three in-line six-engines displacing 7.7, 10.7 and 12.8 litres respectively with ratings from 238hp for lighter applications as a rigid right through to 510hp for heavy-duty tractor/drawbar operations in demanding terrain. All the Euro-6 diesels feature common-rail injection and SCR/EGR as well as an oxy-cat and a particulate filter.
Standard transmission is the Mercedes PowerShift 3 with eight or twelve gears. Mercedes adds; “A special feature of the new Antos is the option to combine extremely compact engines such as the OM 936 with multi-gear transmissions. This results in favourable performance, even in the case of tractor/trailer and tractor/semitrailer combinations which are only occasionally fully-loaded and using corresponding payload-optimised drive units. Crawler mode is a special feature offering significant benefits for short-radius distribution transportation, which often features a high proportion of urban stretches and manoeuvring sequences in tight unloading areas: when in start-off or reverse gears, the driver can control the speed of the Antos using only the brake pedal.”
For specific ‘missions’ Mercedes-Benz is also introducing special ‘Loader’ and ‘Volumer’ models for Actros and Antos models with both variants designed for either maximum payload or cargo volumes. The Volumer provides maximum load capacities thanks to its load compartment interior height of three metres. The benefits afforded by the Antos Volumer include a load compartment sill which is 80 mm lower than previously available. The interior height of up to three metres also provides customers with extended load options, which in practice can mean being able to transport an additional palette of goods.
Furthermore, Mercedes claims that its Antos Loader is also “…the first semitrailer truck for 40-tonne vehicle combinations to come in below the 6-tonne un-laden weight limit. “ And it does so with an engine meeting the Euro-6 emissions level. Even with the larger OM 470 inline six-cylinder engine at Euro-6 producing up to 428hp the semitrailer tractor’s kerbweight is approx. 6,400kg. “At this weight, the new Antos occupies an excellent position in the competitive environment, and even compared with Euro -5 vehicles it can be considered one of the leading trucks.”
