A million kilometres, accumulated in short-radius distribution work on Austria's Alpine roads – no problem at all for the Mercedes-Benz Atego 917, as our example from the company BS Transport in the Austrian village of Tristach shows. Still with its original engine and never having needed repairs other than as required during regular servicing and maintenance, this truck offers a fine example of the model's economy and longevity.
Its journeys have taken BS Transport's Atego over mountain passes at an altitude of 1800 metres above sea level and along narrow and very steep country roads into the valleys. The company uses the Atego 917 on two daily shifts, five days a week, to deliver goods and parcels for the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). Two shifts means 16 hours of driving on high mountain and pass roads and rough gravel tracks to reach sometimes remote communities, covering distances of up to 600 kilometres a day.
The OM 904 LA has proved its mettle in the mountains
The never less than perfectly functioning OM 904 LA engine, with charge air cooling, 4.2-litre displacement and an output of 125 kW (170 hp), has proved its worth over the years. "To this day, it has never suffered an engine failure or needed any major repairs at all", company proprietor Hannes Bundschuh tells us, while his wife Christa, who as managing director looks after the company's finances, confirms this. She is extremely satisfied with the low lifecycle costs of the Atego. "Regular engine oil and air filter changes every 60,000 kilometres – and I'm a real stickler about seeing that these are done - are our very simple secret" confirms company boss Bundschuh.
Over the course of his not inconsiderable experience with many different makes of vehicle, Hannes Bundschuh, who himself trained as a motor vehicle technician at the authorised Mercedes-Benz workshop of Dipl.-Ing. Hans Teissl & Sohn in Lienz, has developed a firm preference for the Atego. He and his brother have been running their freight forwarding company for 25 years now. In his expert opinion: "I can't imagine using any other truck than the Atego for this sort of work. For a comparatively small forwarding agent like us, with just 11 vehicles in total, a vehicle breakdown involving major engine damage could decide over the company's continuing existence." This no-nonsense attitude derives from the fact that the previous vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz LN 817, similarly covered well over a million kilometres, while an Atego 815 from 2004, which is also in daily operation, is already approaching the one million kilometre milestone as well.
Economically speaking, especially in terms of transit traffic through Austria, the East Tyrol region is not exactly blessed with locational advantages. The Felbertauern route, which takes less than one percent of the total goods traffic in the Alpine region, plays only a marginal role and can in no way be compared with major routes such as the Brenner (22 % of total goods traffic), Fréjus (15 %) and Gotthard (14 %). This makes the collaboration with the Austrian Federal Railways all the more important for Hannes Bundschuh. Any general goods arriving at Lienz railway station will be taken over for delivery throughout the surrounding area by BS Transport. Two other major customers who contract out their long-distance transport requirements to BS Transport are Liebherr, which produces its range of cooling appliances in Lienz, and the Karlsruhe-based electrical appliance manufacturer E.G.O., which has a subsidiary at Sillian, a village located in the upper reaches of the River Drau, close to the border with Italy.
Credits: Daimler AG
Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) and parent company Daimler AG will showcase vehicle technology of today, tomorrow and the future at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas from Jan. 10-13. Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, will deliver a keynote address to discuss the true meaning of the connected vehicle - both what it is and what it isn't - at 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 10, at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater.
Reporters are also invited to visit the MBUSA booth (#530 in the North Hall), where the company will demonstrate innovations including:
- mbrace2 - Mercedes-Benz's pioneering communications platform, offering the most comprehensive cloud-based system to date, accelerating the process of empowering drivers to customize their vehicle ownership experience to fit ever-changing needs. The mbrace2 system enables an incredible range of features and services related to safety, information, entertainment, personal assistance and vehicle care. These include cloud-based apps, traffic and navigation assistance, speech recognition, Internet browsing and searching, concierge services, automatic crash notifications, and more. The new platform is being shown as it will appear inside the re-designed MY2013 Mercedes-Benz SL, the first of many vehicles which comes standard this year.
- The mbrace2 smartphone app - Allows drivers to communicate and send information to their vehicle before getting inside. Drivers can use the app to find their vehicle, lock or unlock it, set valet parking protection, receive geo-fence alerts and Send2Benz, allowing drivers to socially connect with their friends and navigate to them.
- Mercedes-Benz Latest Suite of Advanced Driver Assistance System - The most comprehensive active safety system which keeps drivers safe by preventing accidents before they happen.
- The DriveStyle iPhone App - Coming later this year, Mercedes-Benz will offer the DriveStyle iPhone App, which allows drivers to interact with the vehicle rather than the phone, minimizing driver distraction. This technology will be demonstrated in the brand-new Mercedes-Benz C 350 Coupe.
- F 125! Research Vehicle - As a highlight marking 125 years of the automobile, Mercedes-Benz is presenting a visionary outlook on future technical developments in the luxury segment. The F125! research vehicle anticipates future trends and paves the way for innovative large and luxurious automobiles. The vehicle provides emission-free driving with a range of 621 miles.
- DICE, "Dynamic & Intuitive Control Experience" simulator - Take a seat into the future and wave your hands to take control of the vehicle of the future.
Credits: Mercedes-Benz USA
Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
Winter training courses and events from Mercedes-Benz Driving Events: Good reasons to learn to drift
Black ice, emergency braking or sudden evasive manoeuvres on slippery surfaces – in critical situations in the winter it's crucial to keep a cool head and be fully in command of the vehicle. The winter training of Mercedes-Benz Driving Events prepares drivers specifically for the cold time of the year and practices intuitive, skilful reaction at the wheel. With the confidence that comes from being in the hands of experienced instructors, the participants explore their personal limits in the breathtaking winter scenery of Austria or Sweden with the vehicles from the Mercedes-Benz model range.
Here a survey of the various handling safety training and driving events of Mercedes-Benz Driving Events in winter 2012:
- Winter Training: In this two-day course in the Fahrtechnik Zentrum in Saalfelden, Austria, the participants learn in exciting exercises on the ice track (slaloming, braking during cornering, or sudden lane changes) to gain full control of their vehicles in typical hazardous wintertime situations. The drifting exercises convey even more driving pleasure and dynamism.
- Winter Training Perfection: Building on the Winter Training, in the two-day Winter Training Perfection course the participants approach the physical limits of driving. They go through the different drills at much higher speeds. Performing sudden lane changes or emergency braking during cornering again is designed to prepare the drivers for everyday hazards, such as when they encounter obstacles in the roadway or suddenly come upon the end of a tailback. Finally, driving enjoyment is the emphasis on the new 2.5 km handling course on ice: with spiked tyres the participants learn how to keep the car permanently drifting. Venue: the Fahrtechnik Zentrum in Saalfelden, Austria.
- Winter Drift Event: This one-day training course takes place on the ice track of the Fahrtechnik Zentrum in Saalfelden, Austria. With spiked tyres the participants learn how to keep the car permanently drifting.
- On- and Off-road Winter Training: 70% gradient, traversing ice and snow – in the quarry near Kitzbühel the participants in this two-day course learn to properly control a vehicle. The on-road exercises take place in the Fahrtechnik Zentrum in Saalfelden, Austria.
- Professional Driver Winter Training: On the ice track in Saalfelden professional drivers find ideal conditions for practicing the way they handle winter hazards. Emergency braking on road surfaces with patches of differing slipperiness, evasive manoeuvres to avoid hitting suddenly appearing obstacles, and regaining control of skidding vehicles on snow and ice are some of the training exercises, in which the participants simulate as realistically as possible the stress situations occurring in their everyday work. In addition, they can expect to be coached by police psychologists and special trainers with interesting occupation-specific theoretical contents and exercises.
- Winter Driving Event Perfection: During the five-day training event in Sorsele, Sweden, the participants spend more than 26 hours on the training grounds, partly even in individually occupied vehicles and with individual coaching by instructors. The various snow and ice tracks have many new challenges and surprises in store for them. The participants can look forward especially to practice driving in the darkness and the rally test. The driving data is recorded to help improve the participants' driving skills. The lap timer, for instance, automatically determines the lap times, and instructors and participants jointly analyse the progress by means of in-board cameras.
Further information is available at www.mercedes-benz.de/driving-events and at www.facebook.com/MercedeBenzDrivingEvents .
Source: Daimler AG
Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
