Mack Trucks uses virtual reality to demonstrate power and performance of mDRIVE HD

Anyone interested in what it’s like to sit in the cab and ride in a Mack truck while on the job can now experience it through virtual reality offered by Mack Trucks. Mack is the first Class 8 OEM to offer such a virtual reality test drive of a commercial vehicle to a wide audience.

Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly physical way by placing the viewer’s perspective within the image or video itself.

Mack used virtual reality technology to better demonstrate features and benefits of the Mack Pinnacle, Mack Granite and Titan by Mack models equipped with the Mack mDRIVE HD 13-speed automated manual transmission. Using virtual reality headgear, Google Cardboard or a smartphone, viewers can look around 360 degrees to see the cab interior in its entirety, as well as see what it feels like to be in the cab of a Mack model while it’s operating in quarries and on the highway.

“Through virtual reality, customers and the general public now have the opportunity to truly understand what it’s like to be in the cab of a Mack truck as it gets the job done,” said John Walsh, Mack vice president of global brand and marketing. “Our trucks, when paired with the mDRIVE HD 13-speed, are unmatched in terms of power and performance, and now we are offering everyone a unique experience to better demonstrate this.”

The mDRIVE HD 13-speed helps boost customer productivity thanks to improved performance and reduced weight. Mack is the first truck manufacturer in North America to offer low reduction creeper gear ratios in a proprietary automated manual transmission. Since Mack announced the availability of the mDRIVE HD 13-speed in March, customer response has been overwhelmingly positive, encouraging Mack to make the 13-speed AMT standard on the Granite model starting with production of the 2017 MP8 engine.

Available in direct or overdrive configurations, the mDRIVE HD 13-speed offers a low reduction creeper gear ratio designed for easier startability on steep grades or when the truck is carrying a heavy load. This improved startability also allows customers to select a faster rear axle ratio. The faster ratio decreases engine rpm at highway speeds, saving fuel as the truck travels between job sites.

The Mack virtual reality experience showcases the power of the mDRIVE HD 13-speed as it effortlessly frees the Mack Granite model from mud on a job site, easily drives up and down a steep grade without having to continuously apply brakes, reducing brake wear-and-tear, and also smoothly manages a fully loaded Mack Pinnacle model up and down a 15 percent and a 20 percent grade.

To experience Mack virtual reality, visit http://www.macktrucks.com/VR to order Google Cardboard and link to the Mack virtual reality app. The virtual reality videos also will be posted to the Mack website, but will not be as immersive as when Google Cardboard and the app are used.