Giti Tyres Big Test - No Smoke, No Mirrors
Yep, Aramex contractor Gardner Transport's Mercedes-Benz Actros 1846 LS 4x2 is – literally AND figuratively – an example of no smoke, no mirrors.
A super-clean Euro 6 engine (ie no smoke, no soot – pretty much no nothing)…..
And Merc's futuristic MirrorCam system – with the usual rear-vision mirrors replaced by mini-cameras mounted in aerodynamic, vision-friendly winglets, their pictures put up on monitors mounted on each A-pillar.
On top of that, this new MirrorCam Merc has so many tricks up its sleeve that happy driver Matthew Lovich reckons that, while it's maybe "not magic – it's extremely good engineering"…..
It is also, he confirms, "as close to magic as you can get."
The spec sheet lifts the curtain on the magic that lies within. Damon Smith – Mercedes-Benz brand manager for North Island M-B and Freightliner dealer Trucks & Trailers – says that Matthew's boss Robb Gardner "ticked most boxes for this truck."
First and foremost, it's one of the first MirrorCam-equipped Mercs on the road in New Zealand.
Pirelli Trevor Test
It works for me as the truck is in Whangarei and I've spent Level 4 and Level 3 in our Bay of Islands home.
Here's son Hayden's report on his experience with this new, high-tech Mercedes-Benz – starting at the Aramex yard in Penrose.
It's 5.45am and still dark – so a good time to test these mirrors…. Sorry, I mean cameras and screens.
When we're loading there's not much lighting in the yard and it's very dark walking around the truck. But inside the cab, the monitor screens show more light than any mirror could.
I get myself set and, like any new driver with the MirrorCam system, you need to set a flashing blue horizontal line on the right-hand screen, to where the rear of the trailer is on the screen.
