Mercedes-Benz Arocs – The new force in construction
Mercedes-Benz Trucks is continuing to revamp its range of trucks at top speed. The new specialist for construction work is following on the heels of the new Actros for long-distance transport and the Antos for heavy-duty short-radius distribution: from 2013 on all the trucks and tractor units used for on and off-road applications in the construction sector will be known under the name Arocs.
The new dump trucks, all-wheel drive dump trucks, concrete mixers, tractor units and drop-side chassis vehicles are available as two, three and four-axle vehicles with 16 output variants from 175 kW (238 hp) to 460 kW (625 hp). From the outset, all the engines have been designed to meet the future Euro VI emissions standard and are available for order as a Euro VI version. The BlueTec 6 engines are designed as in-line six-cylinder engines with exhaust-gas turbocharger and intercooler to provide great tractive power at little more than the engine's idling speed. Maximum tractive power ranges from 1000 to 3000 Newton metres and will be achieved by the four engine sizes: 7.7, 10.7, 12.8 and 15.6 l; the latter variant is completely new and comes in the form of the new OM 473 engine.
The Arocs will also be setting an example with its drive system: the engine's power will be transmitted by the Mercedes PowerShift 3 automated transmission, fitted as a standard. Drive programs are available which have been specifically developed for the vehicle's varied range of applications. The drive configurations offered for the Arocs 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 with one front and three rear axles, a wide range of air-sprung vehicles, or a load-optimised concrete-mixer chassis with single-tyred drive tandem are examples of the wide variety of new Arocs versions now available straight off the production line.
The Arocs has seven cabs available in 14 different versions. As supplements to the compact 2.3 m cabs in L, M or S versions, the new Arocs can also be fitted with spacious 2.5 m variants with a level cab floor. The unmistakeable design of the new Mercedes-Benz Arocs is as unusual as the complete truck. The specially designed styling of the construction truck family stands out because of its radiator grille with so-called bucket-teeth- look.
New for the Arocs are the product groups Loader and Grounder. The Arocs Loader consistently makes the most of every possibility of reducing its own kerb weight. The result provides payload optimised 4x2 tractor units which are among the lightest vehicles in the construction sector as well as 8x4/4 concrete mixers with 32 t maximum permissible weight. As these have a particularly low kerb weight of a maximum of 9250 kg, they are able to supply 8 m3 of ready-mixed concrete on every trip. The Arocs Grounder is designed for operating under extremely difficult conditions. It is extremely stable and resilient and also has a great number of technical details to make sure that it is uncompromising and robust for the toughest jobs on the construction site.
The Arocs will celebrate its customer premiere at the Bauma trade fair in April 2013.
