Deals on Wheels #464

Eight-wheeler Anthem
uses the long-serving and
immensely capable Volvo
twin-steer layout
Bendix Blindspotter sensor.
It’s just one part of an
extensive Bendix Wingman
Fusion safety package fitted
standard to Anthem, Trident
and Super-Liner
in the mDrive transmission. Shifts are
unquestionably smoother and faster than
the occasionally lethargic and lumpy swaps
that have long separated Mack’s shifting
performance from its Volvo counterpart,
even though mDrive and Volvo’s I-shift are
based on the same hardware.
To put it plainly, Volvo’s I-shift has long
been deservedly considered one of the best
automated transmissions in the business
but only now, thanks to the adaptation of
the Swedish brand’s electrical platform,
can Mack’s mDrive claim similar levels of
operational finesse and response.
Yet, as quickly apparent as the improved
transmission performance was, it was
similarly apparent that Anthem’s steering
quality is less than ideal, particularly for
highway work. In short, steering is too light
and too reactive. Twitchy, best describes it.
Sure, it makes for easy wheel work at low
speeds when idling in and out of tight spots
and after an hour so behind the wheel, even
becomes measurably more manageable
at highway speeds. Nonetheless, there’s no
doubt in this mind that Mack needs to have a
look at stiffening Anthem’s steering a tweak
or two.
It’s also worth pointing out that the Anthem
demo trucks were pre-production units and
therefore, not entirely representative of the
standards to be expected of trucks coming
off the end of the Wacol (Qld) production line.
Consequently, it’s reasonable to suggest the
minor squeaks that occasionally surfaced,
particularly on the M1 Motorway’s crappy
concrete surface, would be far less likely
under the more stringent standards of full
production.
A later look at the truck also indicated that
the single latch under the grille, attached
to cables which release locking clamps at
the back corners of the hood, needs to be in
proper adjustment to ensure both clamps
open fully when it’s time to lift the lid.
Meantime, the 200km from Coolongolook
to the refuelling stop at the southbound
Caltex at Wyong passed all too quick.
Still, it was long enough to confirm at least
some of Anthem’s abilities, not least a high
level of forward vision over the drooping
snout, excellent ride quality, the predictably
willing performance of an MP8 engine with
535hp and 1,920ft-lb of torque, and critically,
the quick familiarity and easy logic of the
new truck’s advanced systems such as
adaptive cruise control.
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