Road Test
IT’S ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED ARRIVALS ON THE AUSTRALIAN TRUCK MARKET IN YEARS, AND WHEN OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAMPLE THE NEW MACK ANTHEM AS WELL AS THE UPGRADED SUPERLINER AND TRIDENT ON LOCAL ROADS WE WERE WELL PREPARED TO GIVE UP OUR WEEKEND TO PILOT THE VARIOUS TRUCKS DOWN THE HUME HIGHWAY FROM SYDNEY TO ALBURY.
T
he Anthem is Mack’s ticket back into the main game, true, up to date, line haul prime movers with full stand up cabs, flat floors, along with the latest Volvo Group electronic architecture to maximise the efficiency of the truck. Sure Mack has had product selling into the market but with the arrival of more modern ‘conventionals’ such as Kenworth’s T610, which has been here close on five years, and Freightliner’s recently launched Cascadia, the Bulldog’s aged product line up didn’t really measure up alongside the opposition. In its home market in America, Mack has steadily lost share in the line haul market, thanks to that lack of a modern cab. This has seen Paccar, Daimler, and
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even International, win sales away from Mack in America, with the brand moving further into the vocational, refuse and construction markets at the expense of its line haul sales. The Anthem was developed to halt that slide and reverse the trend. But it is much more than just a line haul prime mover here in Australia, where the cab has been adapted across virtually the entire Mack offering in Australia with the ability to tick either a sleeper or day cab and with the choice of 6x4 or 8x4 rigid chassis and of course the 6x4 prime mover. The new cab features 1.8 metres of headroom in the cockpit and 2.1 metres of headroom in the sleeper compartment if fitted giving Mack its first full stand up cab with a flat floor. The first thing that you notice standing
in front of the new Anthem in particular, is the very contemporary take on the Mack grille and the truck’s muscular looking frontal profile. On the road it became apparent quite quickly that the new Mack’s looks are a bit polarising, you either like it or you don’t, but we have to say, we like it and see it as a strong evolutionary step forward. For a start, the new profile is much more aerodynamic than the old ‘square’ style Mack grille and overall shape. The better aero performance is further aided by the reduction in gaps and better overall panel fit according to the Mack people. Climb up into the Anthem or Superliner cabs and you are immediately aware of the flat walk through floor layout and the new wrap around dash. Position yourself
