MAN TGX 18.560 BLS Second spring

It's an imposing sight. At over 1,500 rpm in tenth gear, the TGX 18.560 drags its 40-ton weight up the five percent incline at almost 70 km/h. As it accelerates out of the incline to 1,700 rpm, it quickly shifts through eleventh and twelfth gears and reaches its cruising speed before the measuring point signals the end of the hill measurement. Few 40-ton vehicles can so dynamically master this ten-kilometer incline of the A 1 autobahn near Trier in western Germany.

D38 too big for the TGS driver's cab

The father of this dynamism is a new six-cylinder engine called the D38. With a displacement of 15.2 liters and a long-stroke design (170 millimeters), it has been available since the end of last year in the TGX in three power classes of 520, 560 and 640 hp, with the most powerful variant reserved for heavy-duty tractors. The space beneath the more compact TGS driver's cab is obviously not sufficient for the big engine. Here, the maximum possible power is 480 hp from the 12.4-liter D26 engine.