Mack Anthem: First drive and a look inside the cab

Sept. 18, 2017
When you get inside and saddle up in Mack Trucks' new Anthem highway tractor, the word that may come to mind is "friendly." And then you'll notice how smooth it pulls.

When you get inside and saddle up in Mack Trucks' new Anthem highway tractor, the word that may come to mind is "friendly." And then you'll notice how smooth it pulls.

The Anthem's redesigned driver environment, which crosses over into the Pinnacle axle-forward and Granite models as well, puts controls within easy reach and provides more information at a glance to the operator. It does its intended job adeptly and it's an obvious refresh, actually making the Pinnacle and Granite feel like all-new trucks.

Mack's mDRIVE HD automated manual transmission — which the company said has made big strides in the market since its introduction in 2015 to achieve an 88% penetration rate — offers simple, push-button operation. Available in 12-, 13-, and 14-speed versions with one or two low-ratio creeper gears, the mDRIVE gives the Anthem and other Mack models carlike drivability.

Similarly capable are Mack's MP8 13L and MP7 11L diesel engines, which were included in Anthem models available for media test drives at Mack's Customer Center in Allentown, PA last week. With trailers loaded near weight limits in tow, it was easy almost to forget those trailers were there in drives around the test track (which we didn't do, of course). Speed around the test track is limited to 40 mph.

Here are some photos and some more detail on the tractor's design from that first drive in Allentown. 

About the Author

Aaron Marsh

Before computerization had fully taken hold and automotive work took someone who speaks engine, Aaron grew up in Upstate New York taking cars apart and fixing and rewiring them, keeping more than a few great jalopies (classics) on the road that probably didn't deserve to be. He spent a decade inside the Beltway covering Congress and the intricacies of the health care system before a stint in local New England news, picking up awards for both pen and camera.

He's written about you-name-it, from transportation and law and the courts to events of all kinds and telecommunications, and landed in trucking when he joined Fleet Owner in July 2015. Long an editorial leader, he's a keeper of knowledge at Fleet Owner ready to dive in on the technical and the topical inside and all around trucking—and still turns a wrench or two. Or three. 

And he's never without a camera, or so rumor has it.

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