Riding high

The MAN TGE combi 4×4 has a lot to thank its intelligent all-wheel concept for in its new job at Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG in the ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany.

90 years ago, when the first tourists travelled up to the peak of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze, with the rack railway, they probably brought their own snacks with them in their rucksacks. The increasing number of tourists in the area has meant that both the number of mountain railways and ski lifts has increased (27 today) and that the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn company now serves the area with eight of its own food outlets. These help ensure that visitors to the mountain do not go hungry. Around 133,000 pretzels, 19 tonnes of Kaiserschmarrn (a shredded pancake popular in the area) and 50 tonnes of chips are sold annually there. To ensure that all its cabins and restaurants can be restocked as quickly as possible, the company recently started using an MAN TGE 4×4.

“The decisive factor in the decision to purchase the MAN TGE 4×4 was the huge amount of power the all-wheel drive provides in steep terrain. It is really impressive how the intelligent all-wheel drive system works and how the van ascends the mountain on unpaved paths like a mountain goat,” says Jens Schulze (who is responsible for technical storage and logistics at Bayerische Zugspitzbahn) about the new addition to the site in Grainau.

In fact, the hard-to-travel paths which cross the sometimes extremely rugged and steep terrain of the Bavarian Wetterstein mountain range present no problems for the MAN TGE. Thanks to its robust and low-maintenance all-wheel drive system, it confidently traverses the forest and hiking trails. The special thing about MAN’s intelligent all-wheel drive is that when the vehicle loses traction, the control system reacts fully automatically, activating the rear-wheel drive in the blink of an eye – 0.084 seconds. The driving torque can thus be distributed between the front axle and the rear axle in an infinitely variable process, namely from 100 to 0 percent and vice-versa. This is ensured by the rapid responses of the clutch, which automatically distributes the driving torque between the front and rear axles. The clutch itself is an electronically controlled multiple-disc clutch. Its discs run in an oil bath and can be arranged in an axial layout if required. In this way, the system is guaranteed to provide the best possible traction, even when the vehicle is travelling over wet or snow-covered ground.

But what happens if it’s people that need transporting instead of pretzels and Kaiserschmarrn? Then the MAN TGE is there to help. After all, the versatile combi is designed to transport people and goods. Its seats can be arranged and moved quickly without any tools thanks to a rail system in the floor – an additional plus point that has helped the MAN van in its deployment in the Garmisch Classic area, as you always want to be well equipped in the mountains.