At its World Sales Conference in Las Vegas this week, Allentown, PA-based manufacturer Mack Trucks unveiled new highway and construction trucks along with a new engine for the 2006 model year.
The “flagship” vehicle for Mack’s new highway lineup is called the Pinnacle, joined by new versions of the company’s Granite and Granite Axle Back construction trucks. The first model of the “MackPower” or MP engine family is the MP7 and one of its major strengths is its integrated powertrain design, according to Paul Vikner, Mack’s president & CEO.
“This is truly the start of a new era for Mack,” he noted. “The new products that we’re debuting directly respond to our customers’ requirements, and represent the combining of our heritage of reliability and durability with the latest in breakthrough technology.”
The new Pinnacle highway truck is being offered in a 116-in. bumper-to-back-of-cab (BBC) day cab configuration, as well as 48-in and 56-in flat-top, 60-in and 70-in mid-rise, and 70-in high-rise sleepers – all built on Mack’s Advantage highway chassis, said Tom Kelly, vp-marketing. Both the new Granite and Granite Axle Back models feature a 116-in. BBC dimension and are built on Mack’s Cornerstone vocational chassis, he added.
A key feature of the new models is an entirely new driver environment, with more leg and belly room, better gauge lighting, control layout, etc.
The MP7 is an 11-liter engine available in the three Mack engine families – Econodyne, Maxidyne and MaxiCruise – in six horsepower ratings between 325 and 405 hp and ranging from 1260 to 1560 ft.-lb of torque. The MP7’s base architecture represents the heart of Mack’s solution to the 2007 EPA emissions regulations, stressed Steve Homcha, Mack’s executive VP of Class 8 programs. In 2006, the MP7 will be offered in the company’s new Pinnacle and Granite models in an EPA’04-compliant configuration.
But the base design has the key elements to bring it into compliance with the ’07 standards, he said. “The MP engine family is the future of Mack powertrain technology,” Homcha noted.
