2021 Mack Roadshow

Mack Trucks has been out and about recently showing dealers and customers their new range of trucks and we’ve been trying to catch up with the Roadshow for a couple of months.

It seems that every time we organised to join the Roadshow for a day or two, the borders closed or we were locked down or somehow caught out by the fallout from the pandemic.

However, we finally caught up with the travelling truckfest in Mildura and got our first taste of the new Mack Anthem, which has been whetting our appetites since we first saw it at the 2019 Brisbane Truck Show.

The new Anthem’s main job is to take the place of the now superseded Mack Granite although it is a bit more versatile than the old Granite.
The Anthem is offered in 6x4 and 8x4 formats, with Mack's MP8 engine and mDrive transmission, along with a host of other Volvo Group components.

The 13-litre Euro 5 MP8 engine offers horsepower ratings ranging from 435 to 535hp and 1655 to 1920lb-ft (2244 to 2603Nm) of torque.

The versatility of the Anthem is evidenced by the fact that it’s aimed at a range of vocations including construction, refuse, truck and dog, local haulage and even some interstate B-double work.

The Anthem is available in day cab and sleeper cab formats with the sleeper offering full standing headroom and a very comfortable bunk.
With the Anthem comes a host of changes to the whole Mack range including the interiors, which are now common across the Anthem, Trident and Super-Liner ranges.

The 36-inch sleeper is part of that commonality. The sleeper, which I trialed in both the Anthem and Super-Liner guises, offers just over 1.8 metres of standing height at the wheel and a generous 2.12 metres at the back of the cab.

The newly designed flat-bottom steering wheel helps drivers get in and out of the seat whether it’s toward the door or to the centre of the cab. The wheel itself now has controls for audio, phone and cruise control on the spokes.

All other controls are within easy reach of the driver including the controls for the mDrive transmission, which are on the dash and allow the driver easy access without taking their eyes off the road.

The driver gets an ISRI seat that Mack says is specific to the brand and is also common across the range. It’s a comfortable perch that has a fold-down armrest on the side. The seats come in two upholstery levels and Mack assures us that they’re durable enough to survive the day-to-day use and abuse of drivers in all vocations.

I first took to the road in a Super-Liner with a B-double set on the back with a GCM of 61 tonnes. It was powered by the MP10 engine with 685hp and 2300ft-lb (3118Nm) of torque. This all drives through the Mack mDRIVE HD 13-speed transmission with additional deep-reduction gear and multispeed reverse.

The Super-Liner was fitted with a 3.78 final drive ratio. Mack has been experimenting with axle ratios and the 3.78 was probably one of the lower ratios on offer on the Roadshow but it made for pretty good performance in the Super-Liner.

Suspension was handled by the parabolic spring setup on the front and Mack Air Ride on the rear. With the long 5100mm wheelbase and the Air Ride suspension, the ride in the Super-Liner was great.

Coming out of Mildura on the Sturt Highway across the Mallee to Balranald, it was simply a matter of setting the adaptive cruise and sitting back and enjoying the ride.

We were sitting just near maximum GCM and the Super-Liner was showing 56 litres/100km or 1.8 km/litre.

It was a lovely cruise and I felt that I could easily pull a long shift in the Super-Liner. Mack has stayed with the two-piece windscreen as they’re cheaper to replace if you get a rock through either side, but the vision from the cab is still very good overlooking the long bonnet and the gold dog at the end.

It’s an easy truck to like and the full-height sleeper and the revamped interior only add to its appeal.

We stopped at Balranald for a coffee and a change of truck and I was eager to get into the Anthem and see what all the fuss was about.

The first I drove was a day cab with a pretty light container on the back and weighing in at around 36 tonnes. It's probably what a truck of this spec would be carrying around the wharves of major cities, and the truck was powered by the MP8 at 535hp. After the big Super-Liner, it felt a bit like a hotrod with the light weight.

The axle ratio was 3.40 and that, combined with the fairly light weight, gave us a fuel burn of 44 litres/100km on the screen or 2.27 km/litre.
The ride on the Anthem was not as plush as the Super-Liner, no doubt due to the shorter wheelbase at 4485mm.

I found I had to ‘drive’ the Anthem more than the bigger truck but it responded well to steering input and actually was a bit of fun to drive.

It did have a few more rattles than the Super-Liner though, and I later found out that the new one-latch bonnet system, which makes it really easy to tilt the bonnet and do your daily checks, also is prone to rattle.

There also seemed to be a rattle from the big western-style mirrors which could have been an easy fix, but would be annoying on a long trip.

On the drive, I passed my step-son going the other way in his Kenworth hauling grain. We had a quick yak on the radio with his main comment being: “They’re a funny-looking thing aren’t they…”

And yes, we did find the look of the new Anthem to be polarising. They have a more aerodynamic look with curved edges and a more sloping bonnet, but I found it to be more of a modern take on the traditional bonneted truck – others disagree.

Related reading:
Macks ready to hit the road
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PM tours Volvo Group Australia

We did another swap over at Hay and I got in the Anthem Sleeper Cab with a single trailer carrying a heap of stacked up water containers and a ute belonging to the DP of Johnson’s Trucks at Mildura. It was weighing in at around 41.5 tonnes.

Interestingly, this truck was fitted with 3.09 diffs and it really made a difference. We were cruising at 100km/h at just over 1400rpm as opposed to the truck with 3.40 diffs which was showing just under 1700rpm at the same speed.

Where this made a difference was in the fuel economy, which was shown as 38 litres/100km or 2.63 km/litre, which is significantly better than the other truck with its lighter load.

On our test run from Mildura to Wagga Wagga, we didn’t really get a chance to test the Anthem on any hills – that’ll have to wait for another day – but we did find it to be a capable and comfortable truck to drive.

The revamped Mack interior is big move forward. It’s comfortable, ergonomically sound, and it really looks like a lot of thought has gone into it.

The full-height sleeper is a beauty and will certainly appeal to the long-haul drivers. Although at 36 inches, it’s not as roomy as some, it is still comfortable and there’s plenty of room for all your gear for an extended stay, and the fridge is roomy and very efficient.

We were told there is also a 60-inch sleeper available and that will be a real home away from home; we’ll bring you more news on that as it comes to hand.

This new range update also brings a big boost to the safety of Mack trucks. The Anthem now comes standard with a full suite of Bendix Wingman Fusion safety features including active cruise control, autonomous braking, alerts including lane departure warning, following distance, impact and stationary object.

There is also the Bendix BlindSpotter, which is a blind-spot warning system that can detect vehicles on the left-hand side of the truck and alert the driver if he or she tries to turn left or initiate a lane change.

The new Macks also have an Electronic Stability System (ESP) and Mack’s Road Stability Advantage (RSA), which is a stability system that helps drivers mitigate rollovers and loss-of-control situations on both wet and dry roads.

So altogether, it’s a big step forward for Mack and one that the company hopes will keep the lovers of the bulldog coming forward for the next decade to two.

We had a great time catching up with our buddies on the Mack Roadshow, and although you won't see them at this year’s Brisbane Truck Show, we’d recommend getting along to your nearest dealer to check out the new Mack Anthem.

Specifications:
Mack Anthem 36-inch stand-up sleeper
Model: Anthem 64 13L Air
Cab: 36" Stand-up sleeper
Frame: Mack 8mm
Engine: Mack MP8 535hp Euro 5
Torque: 1920lb-ft
Engine brake: Mack Powerleash
Transmission: Mack mDRIVE HD 13-speed with deep reduction gear and multispeed reverse
Wheelbase: 4485mm
Front axle: Mack FXL 14.6 single-steer axle
Front tyres: 295/80R22.5 Bridgestone M840
Front suspension: Parabolic spring
Rear suspension: Mack Air Ride 21.0T
Rear Mack 2370B single reduction 23.0T
Axle ratio: 3.09
Rear drive tyres: 11R22.5 Bridgestone M766
Fuel tanks: LHS 960-litre, RHS 500-litre D-shaped polished aluminium
AdBlue: RHS 150-litre polished aluminium
Afterframe: 1490mm