MAN TGS 41.480 8x8 Review

Ordinarily our truck reviews involve bitumen, at least a few hundred kilometres, and loaded fuel use figures. This one doesn’t, but then again the MAN TGS 41.480 8x8 is anything but ordinary.

Eight-wheel drive trucks are a rare breed, with only a handful of mainstream manufacturers offering genuine 8x8 options. Mercedes-Benz plays in the space with the Arocs and Zetros, Scania has its XT variants, Volvo has the FMX and Iveco offers the Trakker and the Astra. And don't forget the Czech built Tatra.

But, MAN is arguably the brand best known for 8x8 models, particularly here in Australia.

So, when we were offered the chance to drive the TGS 41.480 8x8, the answer was a resounding yes. It’s a model drill rig operators, exploration crews and serious adventurers opt for, so you typically don’t see these trucks around town.

We spent the day at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) in Anglesea, accompanied by Gary Dolby, technical support for MAN, who guided us through some fairly challenging off-road sections in the TGS.

The TGS 41.480 8x8 is built around MAN's heavy-duty TGS chassis, with a selectable eight-wheel drive system that is controlled via buttons and dials in the cabin.

This particular rig, with a 42-tonne GVM, was running as a bare chassis for the off-road demonstration, but MAN offers these in a range of configurations ready for just about any body you’d care to bolt on.

Common setups, Gary explained, include drill rig trucks, crane-equipped service vehicles, water carts, fuel tankers, and Hiab-equipped flatbeds. These models also have up to a 90-tonne GCM, despite the majority operating as rigid setups.

This variant also features a twin-steer front end, making it manoeuvrable in tight off-road environments where a truck of this size would otherwise struggle, as well as allowing for higher front axle weights.

Suspension consists of parabolic leaf springs front and rear, with load-sharing across the twin-steer front axles setup to handle both on- and off-road driving. Fairly meaty tyres skew the way of a more off-road focus, but the truck is set up to do it all.

Our test unit was fitted with MAN’s NN ‘practical’ day cab, which is exactly what it sounds like – a no-nonsense cab with hard-wearing materials, air-suspended seats and switchgear that feels suitably analogue.

The 41.480 is powered by MAN’s 12.4-litre six-cylinder D2676 LF07 engine, which produces 353kW (480hp) and 2300Nm of torque. This engine is a well-proven unit for the brand and while this particular variant is Euro 5, it's offered elsewhere in Euro 6 guise.

Power is sent through MAN’s TipMatic 12.28 OD 12-speed automated manual, which is basically the MAN-badged version of ZF’s TraXon – the same ‘box you’ll find in a lot of European and Japanese trucks.

The TipMatic offers a fair few handy off-road features, which include idle-speed driving, load and slope detection, a dedicated off-road shifting strategy, a rock-free function for unsticking the truck, and a manoeuvring program for precise low-speed positioning.

MAN’s G252 transfer case sends drive to all four axles, and all differentials can be locked, while crosslocks engage on demand too. It sounds trickier than it is, because selecting the off-road mode does most of the heavy lifting for operators.

It also scores MAN’s EVBec engine brake system, which delivers up to 305kW (409hp) of retardation to ensure steady descents off-road – even when running around up near GVM.

It’s a bit of a climb up into the cabin of the TGS 8x8, compared with the low-slung highway variants, and it’s a relatively bare bones affair once behind the wheel. But, the basic cabin treatment suits this truck, given it’s likely to spend most of its life off-road.

The driver’s seat is an air-suspended unit with three-stage shock damping adjustment on the side, while the co-driver also gets an air-suspended seat as standard.

Ahead of the driver sits a 5-inch digital instrument display, between the analogue tacho and speedometer dials. There’s also a second screen, controlled by MAN’s SmartSelect rotary dial as well as convenient controls on the steering wheel.

The steering column has tilt and telescopic adjustment and once set up the ergonomics are fantastic with every critical control within arm’s reach, including things like climate control, diff locks and the off-road rotary dial.

In outright safety tech terms, the TGS 41.480 sits a generation behind MAN’s highway prime movers, particularly the latest TGX models.

But, that’s beside the point, because this is a severe-duty off-road truck, and a suite of radar-based lane-keep systems isn’t what you need when you’re crawling over a rock shelf at 3km/h.

Standard safety tech includes ABS with off-road logic – which allows brief wheel lock on loose surfaces to shorten braking distances – plus brake assist, anti-slip control, electronic stability program and an emergency stop signal. There’s also a steering wheel airbag.

We used the off-road proving ground at AARC to test the TGS 8x8, and the particular track we used served up serious articulation, deep mud holes and steep climbs that tested the limit of what this machine is capable of, including lifting the front axle completely off the ground at various points.

That, as it turns out, is the 8x8’s biggest party trick. Crest a sharp rise and the front axle rises into the air, which is an incredibly eery feeling. The rear axles do the pushing at that point, while the second axle acts as the pivot point until the front end makes its way back to the ground.

No 4x4 can do this. No 6x6 can do this. It’s a sensation unique to an eight-wheel drive truck, and it catches you off guard when it first happens. You’re sitting in a cab pointed at the sky, forced to accelerate through it.

“It’s like a pendulum,” Dolby said from the passenger seat during our first big crest. “It’s just a pendulum going over, so you’ve got to be gentle with the accelerator to guide the front back down.”

There’s a bit of trust involved, because you’ve got to get the truck positioned before the front lifts. Once it’s airborne, there’s no adjusting your line, so you want to know that you’re touching down in the right place.

Novelty of the pendulum effect aside, the TGS 8x8 handled even the gnarlier off-road sections with ease. This truck has infinite grip, eclipsing everything we’ve tested before it – even the mighty Unimog.

Selecting off-road mode and then manually changing the gears – holding first gear for the really steep, technical sections – is the way to go. Then it’s just a matter of letting the 8x8 walk up and over whatever you point it at.

With a bare chassis and no payload, 480hp is excessive off-road, so throttle inputs were gentle around the course. A service body on the back would probably help off-road, adding some weight over the rear axles.

Descents are equally easy, albeit unnerving given how high you’re sitting. The engine brake is incredibly strong, so it’s a matter of choosing your descent gear and staying away from the service brake.

We’d love to have tested the TGS 8x8 out on the highway, because we have no doubt it’d eat up road kilometres. Would it be as comfortable as its road-oriented TGS siblings? Probably not. But, can they lift an axle off the ground? Nope.

If you need an 8x8, you need an 8x8, because it’s an incredibly niche choice. When the brief calls for an eight-wheel drive truck, the field shrinks to a small handful of European models, and the MAN TGS 41.480 8x8 hovers around the top of that shortlist.

It’s not the most refined truck in the class – that honour probably belongs to the Mercedes-Benz Arocs – but it’s well priced, well-specified and well-supported with Penske’s growing dealer network behind it.

For extremely remote applications like exploration, drilling and specialist tanker work, the TGS 41.480 8x8 is hard to look past. Good luck finding a track this truck can’t handle with ease… we couldn’t.

Engine: MAN D2676 LF07 12.4-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel
Power: 353kW (480hp)
Torque: 2300Nm
Engine brake: MAN EVBec, 305kW (409hp) retardation
Transmission: MAN TipMatic 12.28 OD 12-speed AMT
Transfer case: MAN G252 with on-road and off-road ranges
Front axles: MAN VP-09 / VPD-09 straight, driven (2 x 8000kg capacity)
Rear axles: MAN HPD1382 / HP1352 planetary (2 x 13,000kg capacity)
GVM: 42,000kg
Suspension: Parabolic leaf spring, load-sharing (front and rear)
Safety: ABS with off-road logic, full brake assistant, anti-slip control, ESP, emergency stop signal, steering wheel airbag, safety cell