MAN TGL

The TGL is the light end of the truck range MAN’s 21 October 2020 release covers for goods distribution, a rigid rather than a tractor unit: MAN’s chassis matrix for the range has a chassis column and a tipper column and no other. That release, a distribution-segment article rather than a launch announcement, puts the TGL at a gross vehicle weight of 7.5 t to 12 t.

On man.eu the TGL has no page of its own: the specifications page, the data sheet and the overview are all joint documents shared with a heavier range in the same family, and the engine table carries a “For vehicle series” column because the two ranges do not share every row. Standalone TGL specifications are national — MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd’s own index lists four of them, one per plate and body type, and they are where most of what follows comes from.

MAN presented this generation of the TGL — together with the TGM, TGS and TGX — in Bilbao on 10 February 2020; the same release covers all four series at once as “TGL, TGM, TGS and TGX model series from 7.5 to 41 tonnes” and records that the outgoing range was still sold alongside the new one “during the transition phase until the end of 2020”. The TGL is built alongside the TGM at MAN’s plant in Steyr, Austria, where the same release records a new paint shop brought into operation. MAN’s overview page states the TGL’s own intended use in one line: it is “designed for lighter transport tasks in urban and regional distribution transport”.

Cab

The three GB rigid sheets offer four cabs on the same chassis: CC compact day, TN normal-height sleeper, TM medium-height sleeper and DN crew, the last with a rear bench for four and four doors; the 7.5 t tipper sheet shows the CC alone. MAN’s October 2020 press release recommends the CC “for daytime-only use and vehicles with large loading lengths”, and the TN and TM “where a bunk or bed is required”. MAN’s global specifications page footnotes the cab floor itself: engine tunnel height is 260 mm for a TGL with the D0836 engine and 140 mm for a TGL with the D0834.

MAN’s joint TGL & TGM cab specification sheet lists the equipment standard on all four cabs: a driver’s seat with air suspension, a co-driver’s seat with a storage box, a hydraulic tilt to 62 degrees, seat belts and head restraints for every seating position, cruise control, a multifunction steering wheel, and a MAN media system with Bluetooth and a digital tachograph with remote download. Cab suspension itself is not uniform: the CC, TN and TM cabs list mechanically sprung cab suspension in their own equipment, but the DN crew cab’s own list instead reads “comfort air suspension cab mounting”. The two sleeper cabs, TN and TM, add a single bunk on a 90 mm foam mattress and two exterior lockers accessible from inside; the TM alone adds three overhead storage compartments, and the DN crew cab adds a middle seat with a three-point seatbelt on top of the bench for four.

The same sheet’s separate, undifferentiated equipment tables add more. Under “standard equipment” for the cabs generally: exterior colour Pure white RAL 9016 with the lower cab parts, bumper, wings and step area in factory grey, rear-view, wide-angle, kerb and front-view mirrors, an under-bumper air dam and a vehicle toolkit; inside, a Moon Grey interior, rubber floor covering, soft trim roof liner and interior, washable door panels, a driving-hours indicator in the instrumentation, electric windows, a central interior light, reading lights in the bunk area where applicable, non-slip entry steps and entry lighting, header-rail and door storage pockets and storage pockets on the rear cab wall, under-bunk storage on the sleeper cabs, a heating system with variable fan-speed control, adjustable high-back driver and co-driver seats with cloth trim, and a laminated tinted windscreen. The sheet’s optional table, with availability marked by cab (CC/TN/TM/DN), lists among others the MAN Optiview mirrorless system, remote central locking, twin air horns on the cab roof, an external sun visor, MAN Advanced media and navigation systems, a 12.3-inch professional instrumentation display, MAN Smart Select infotainment and an MAN Advanced sound system with subwoofer (TN and TM only), a pull-out tray table, auxiliary 12V/24V sockets (standard on TN, TM and DN, optional only on CC), a glass sunroof and a 110 mm comfort bed mattress (TN and TM only), a second bunk (TM only), combined fog and spot lamps, a headlamp washer system, a fire extinguisher, a centre storage box (standard on TN and TM, optional on CC and DN), a pull-out fridge (TN and TM only), a night heater (standard on TN and TM, optional on CC and DN), air conditioning with automatic temperature control, climate control, an air-suspended co-driver seat, comfort seat covers (standard on TN and TM, optional on CC and DN) or part-leather seat covers (optional, TN and TM only), a folding co-driver’s seat, a second, middle co-driver’s seat (optional on CC, standard on DN, not offered on TN or TM), windows in the rear cab wall (standard on construction models), a roller blind for the driver’s door (standard on TN and TM, optional on CC and DN), a roller blind for the passenger door (optional on all four cabs), an electric roller blind for the windscreen (TN and TM only), and a heated laminated tinted windscreen.

Engines

Two engines from MAN’s D08 family are offered. The D0834 is a four-cylinder of 4.6 litres in three steps — 118 kW (160 PS), 140 kW (190 PS) and 162 kW (220 PS) — all three tagged TGL on MAN’s data sheet. The GB bodybuilder sheets add what the global table omits — a rated speed of 2,300 rpm shared by all three, and torque with the band it is held over: 600 Nm from 1,000 to 1,850 rpm at 160 PS, 750 Nm from 1,200 to 1,750 rpm at 190 PS, 850 Nm from 1,300 to 1,800 rpm at 220 PS. The lowest rating holds its torque over the widest band, 850 rpm wide against 550 and 500 rpm.

The D0836 is the six-cylinder, 6.9 litres, and the TGL gets one step of it: 184 kW (250 PS), 1,050 Nm from 1,200 to 1,600 rpm, rated at 2,200 rpm. That is the top of the model. The 213 kW (290 PS) and 235 kW (320 PS) steps of the same D0836 are tagged for the heavier range in the same family alone, and MAN’s table tags neither of them for the TGL.

On the 10 t and 12 t sheets the D0836 costs 186 kg over a D0834 build, gearbox included. MAN’s GB sheets do not list the D0836 at 7.5 tonnes — both 7.5 t sheets carry D0834 ratings only, and no MAN document opened here breaks the engine offer down by plate for other markets.

The four GB sheets head their engine tables “Euro 6” and MAN’s global table heads its column the same way, in both cases with no letter; the GB sheets also list OBD‑E among their features. The one lettered step anywhere in this material is in the October 2020 press release, which describes the engines of the vehicles it presents together as “Euro 6d” — a sentence written for more than one range at once. All four sheets list selective catalytic reduction with a 35‑litre AdBlue tank, route the exhaust through a ground-discharge silencer that incorporates a diesel particulate filter, and print a road speed limiter set at 89 km/h. The vehicle is declared suitable for EN15940 paraffinic fuel on the GB sheets.

Transmission

On the GB sheets the transmission follows the engine. The D0834 gets a six-speed MAN TipMatic, the D0836 a twelve-speed, and the sheets head both “Tipmatic® Automated”. The press release names the same two, “6- or 12-speed variants of the MAN TipMatic”, as “an automated gearbox”, without tying either to an engine. The sheets print both sets of ratios: the six-speed runs from 6.58 in first to 0.78 in sixth, the twelve-speed from 10.37 to 0.81, so the twelve-speed has a lower first gear as well as more steps.

A manual gearbox is still available, the other way round on the tipper: on all three rigid sheets it is an option saving 16 kg, on the 7.5 t tipper it is standard and the TipMatic is the option, at 16 kg more. Whichever gearbox is specified, all four sheets print the same clutch: a single-plate unit 395 mm in diameter with an asbestos-free lining.

Axles, suspension and brakes

The TGL is a 4x2 and nothing else: on MAN’s chassis matrix the 4x2 row alone reads the TGL’s name for both chassis and tipper, in the range shared with its heavier sibling; every other row on the matrix is either that sibling alone or blank for both. MAN’s November 2020 fire-service release describes the TGL the same way in passing, as “exclusively available in 4x2 versions”.

MAN publishes three final drives across the four GB sheets, and only one of them, 3.36:1, is quoted behind both engines: the 10 t and 12 t sheets run 3.70:1 at 190 and 220 PS and 3.36:1 at 250 PS, the 7.5 t rigid runs 3.36:1 at all three of its four-cylinder ratings, and the 7.5 t tipper runs 4.11:1 at 160 and 190 PS. Every sheet quotes a starting grade of “33%+” for every rating on it.

Suspension follows the axle rather than the plate. The steer axle runs single parabolic springs with shock absorbers and a stabiliser on all four sheets. At the rear, the three rigid sheets specify electronically controlled air suspension, also with shock absorbers and a stabiliser, and offer a steel-sprung rear axle as an option that saves 88 kg; the 7.5 t tipper sheet specifies single parabolic springs at the rear as standard and lists no air-suspension option. Steering is hydraulically assisted on all four sheets.

The service brakes are EBS-controlled discs on all four sheets, and the one auxiliary brake listed is an exhaust brake, among the features of every rating; no retarder appears on any of the four sheets.

Dimensions and weights

No single dimension is published for the TGL. Across the four GB sheets MAN lists nine wheelbases — 3,050, 3,600, 3,900, 4,200, 4,500, 4,850, 5,200, 5,550 and 6,700 mm — with wall-to-wall turning circles tracking them from 12.6 to 23.2 m. Not one sheet carries all nine: the 3,050 mm is the tipper’s alone, the 7.5 t rigid stops at 5,550 mm, and the 6,700 mm appears only on the 10 t and 12 t sheets behind the 250 PS engine.

The weight ladder is set by the plate rather than by the name. Every figure here is MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd’s GB plating from the May 2022 sheets, which print identical Design and UK Legal columns. The 7.5 t sheets — TGL 8.160, 8.190 and 8.220 — give 7,500 kg gross vehicle against 18,750 kg gross train, with maximum axle loads of 3,400 kg front and 5,200 kg rear and a 3,800 kg front upgrade listed as an option, at a cost of 16 kg. The 10 t sheet — TGL 10.190, 10.220 and 10.250 — gives 10,000 against 21,000 kg, axles 4,000 and 6,800 kg. The 12 t sheet — TGL 12.190, 12.220 and 12.250 — gives 12,000 against 24,000 kg, axles 4,700 and 8,700 kg; with the truck itself at its full 12,000 kg, that 24,000 kg gross train weight leaves at most 12,000 kg for a drawbar trailer and its load; no MAN document states that figure. MAN footnotes the gross train weight on every sheet as a “Maximum value subject to specification”. The press release gives the range as a whole a GVW of 7.5 t to 12 t.

The 7,500 kg plate is the upper limit of driving licence category C1 under Article 4(4)(d) of Directive 2006/126/EC.

The tyre size climbs with the plate and never differs between the axles: 215/75R17.5 on both 7.5 t sheets, 235/75R17.5 at 10 t, 265/70R17.5 at 12 t. The same footnote block warns that “Tyre changes can affect legal weights”.

MAN’s four sheets also give an unladen weight, quoted to a ±2.5% manufacturer’s tolerance for a vehicle in standard specification with full tanks of fuel and AdBlue and including the driver. It runs from 3,871 to 3,983 kg across the 7.5 t rigid’s seven wheelbases, 3,650 to 3,697 kg across the tipper’s two, 4,092 to 4,605 kg across the 10 t rigid’s eight, and 4,118 to 4,631 kg across the 12 t rigid’s eight — each span rising and falling with the wheelbase, not a single figure for the plate.

The frame is bolted and riveted construction in S420MC steel on all four sheets; its section and width both step up with the plate, 270×70×4.5 mm and 859 mm wide on the two 7.5 t sheets against 270×70×6 mm and 862 mm wide on the 10 t and 12 t sheets.

The GB sheets also publish body-fitting dimensions beyond the wheelbase. Front overhang is a constant 1,275 mm on all four sheets; rear overhang rises with the wheelbase, from 1,925 mm at the shortest to 3,625 mm at the longest on the 10 t and 12 t sheets (3,075 mm at the 7.5 t rigid’s longest). Cab width over the wings is a constant 2,300 mm on all four sheets; width across the rear tyres is 2,188 mm on the 7.5 t rigid and 2,301 mm on the 12 t rigid, tracking the tyre size. Cab height is given laden and unladen alike — 2,560 to 2,565 mm laden, 2,630 to 2,635 mm unladen across the sheets — and frame height at the centre rear wheels 780 mm laden, 800 mm unladen. Each sheet also gives a recommended body-length span per wheelbase and per cab (CC, or TN/TM sleeper separately): on the 12 t rigid’s base CC cab it runs from 4,355 mm minimum at the shortest wheelbase to 9,760 mm maximum at the longest, and the sleeper-cab tables give shorter spans for the same wheelbases — the TN sleeper’s minimum starts at 3,520 mm — since the sleeper cab itself takes up part of the overall length.

Tanks

The fuel tank is 150 litres on the three rigid sheets and 100 litres on the 7.5 t tipper sheet; AdBlue is 35 litres on all four. MAN’s overview page answers the question for the TGL by name — its FAQ heading reads “How big is the MAN TGL’s tank?” — and gives tank sizes “typically between 120 and 200 litres, depending on the specific model and equipment configuration”, a band the 100-litre tipper tank on MAN’s own GB sheet falls below.

Safety and driver-assistance systems

The 2022 GB sheets list the Lane Guard System, Emergency Brake Assist and the Electronic Stability Programme as standard on every rating, alongside the EBS-controlled disc brakes described above.

MAN’s cab specification sheet adds detail the bodybuilder sheets do not: seat belts and head restraints for every seating position, and a seatbelt warning for the first row of seats, are standard on all four cabs; a driver’s airbag, an electronic park brake and LED headlamps are each listed as optional equipment across the CC, TN, TM and DN cabs alike.

Equipment and options

Options on the GB sheets include the 3,800 kg plated front axle upgrade on the 7.5 t rigid, noted above; the swap between the standard and optional gearbox — the manual saves 16 kg where the TipMatic is standard, and the TipMatic costs 16 kg more where the manual is standard; a steel rear suspension in place of the standard air suspension on the three rigid sheets, saving 88 kg; a heavier pair of 150 Ah batteries in place of the standard two 12V 88Ah batteries, adding 32 kg; air conditioning, adding 30 kg; and alloy wheels in place of the standard steel rims, saving 54 kg on the 10 t and 12 t sheets and 48 kg on the 7.5 t sheets. An NH/4c power take-off is listed as an option adding 6 kg on the three rigid sheets. On those same three sheets a TN sleeper cab costs 270 kg over the standard CC cab, a TM sleeper 285 kg, and a DN crew cab 520 kg. OBD‑E is listed among the standard features of all four sheets, alongside the road speed limiter and the EN15940 fuel declaration noted above.

Electrically, all four sheets specify a 24V system on a CAN bus with a central on-board computer, a 110 AMP alternator and two 12V 88Ah batteries as standard. Standard equipment common to all four sheets also includes an electronic immobiliser, a fuel filter with a water separator, a mechanical battery master switch, an audible reverse warning with a night-silent function, manual door locks, manual mirrors, lateral protection and rear under-run protection. Pre-wired cargo-space lighting and body mounting brackets are standard on the three rigid sheets but are absent from the 7.5 t tipper sheet’s own general-equipment list.

The three rigid bodybuilder sheets list an adjustable roof spoiler among their standard equipment too — it does not appear on the 7.5 t tipper’s own list at all — but MAN’s cab specification sheet marks the roof spoiler optional, on all four cabs, in its own equipment table. The cab sheet also excludes one combination by name: a steel front bumper is offered on the TN, TM and DN cabs, but the sheet notes it is “Not TGL with CC cab”.

Source notes

The weights above are MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd’s GB plating, read from the four Euro 6 TGL bodybuilder sheets issued in May 2022, each of which prints an identical Design and UK Legal column. They are registration figures for the British market, not a pan-European catalogue. The ladder runs 7,500 kg gross vehicle against 18,750 kg gross train on the two 7.5 t sheets (TGL 8.160, 8.190 and 8.220), with maximum axle loads of 3,400 kg front and 5,200 kg rear and a 3,800 kg front upgrade listed as optional; 10,000 against 21,000 kg on the 10 t sheet (TGL 10.190, 10.220 and 10.250), axles 4,000 and 6,800 kg; and 12,000 against 24,000 kg on the 12 t sheet (TGL 12.190, 12.220 and 12.250), axles 4,700 and 8,700 kg. Every sheet footnotes the gross train weight as a maximum value subject to specification, and warns that tyre changes can affect legal weights. The 21 October 2020 press release gives the range as a whole a GVW of 7.5 t to 12 t. On the 12 t plate, with the truck itself at its full 12,000 kg GVW, the 24,000 kg gross train weight leaves at most 12,000 kg for a drawbar trailer and its load; no MAN document states that figure. Power steps, from the “For vehicle series” column of MAN’s global TGM/TGL data sheet: D0834 at 118 kW (160 PS), 140 kW (190 PS) and 162 kW (220 PS), all three tagged TGL; D0836 at 184 kW (250 PS) tagged TGM/TGL, and at 213 kW (290 PS) and 235 kW (320 PS) tagged TGM only. Torque and rated speed come from the GB sheets: 600 Nm from 1,000 to 1,850 rpm at 160 PS, 750 Nm from 1,200 to 1,750 rpm at 190 PS and 850 Nm from 1,300 to 1,800 rpm at 220 PS, all three at 2,300 rpm rated; 1,050 Nm from 1,200 to 1,600 rpm at 250 PS, rated at 2,200 rpm. Those same sheets print “Capacity (cc) 4850” for the D0834 and 6871 for the D0836; the 6,871 cc agrees with the 6.9 litres on MAN’s global page, the 4,850 cc does not agree with its 4.6 litres. MAN’s GB sheets do not list the 250 PS D0836 at 7.5 tonnes — both 7.5 t sheets list D0834 ratings only, and no MAN document opened here breaks the engine offer down by plate for other markets: the global table tags the 250 PS step TGM/TGL with no plate qualifier, and its cab footnote reads “Engine tunnel height 260 mm for TGL with D0836, 140 mm for TGL with D0834” without reference to tonnage. The 12 t sheet costs the six-cylinder 186 kg over a D0834 build, gearbox included, against 16 kg saved by ordering the manual gearbox in place of the TipMatic. Nine wheelbases are published across the four sheets: 3,050, 3,600, 3,900, 4,200, 4,500, 4,850, 5,200, 5,550 and 6,700 mm. The 3,050 mm belongs to the 7.5 t tipper alone, the 7.5 t rigid stops at 5,550 mm, and the 6,700 mm appears on the 10 t and 12 t sheets with the 250 PS engine only. Wall-to-wall turning circles track the wheelbases from 12.6 to 23.2 m. Three final drives are published, and only 3.36:1 is quoted behind both engines: 3.70:1 at 190 and 220 PS and 3.36:1 at 250 PS on the 10 t and 12 t sheets; 3.36:1 at all three D0834 ratings on the 7.5 t rigid; and 4.11:1 at 160 and 190 PS on the 7.5 t tipper. Every sheet quotes a starting grade of 33 per cent or better for every rating it lists, a 35-litre AdBlue tank and a road speed limiter set at 89 km/h. Tyres are the same size on both axles and climb with the plate: 215/75R17.5 on the two 7.5 t sheets, 235/75R17.5 on the 10 t and 265/70R17.5 on the 12 t. The fuel tank is 150 litres on the three rigid sheets and 100 litres on the 7.5 t tipper. MAN’s TGM/TGL overview page answers the question for the TGL by name — its FAQ heading reads “How big is the MAN TGL’s tank?” — and gives tank sizes “typically between 120 and 200 litres, depending on the specific model and equipment configuration”: a band the 100-litre tipper tank on MAN’s own GB sheet falls below. The same overview page and the global specifications page both attribute a fourth gearbox to the TGM and the TGL jointly — “the converter automatic gearbox MAN PowerMatic” on the specifications page, “Both models are fitted with MAN PowerMatic gearboxes” on the overview. A converter automatic is not an automated manual, but no TGL-specific document opened here confirms one for this range and no GB sheet lists it. Selective catalytic reduction, an exhaust brake, OBD-E, the Lane Guard System, Emergency Brake Assist and the Electronic Stability Programme are all listed as standard equipment, and the vehicle is declared suitable for EN15940 paraffinic fuel; no retarder appears on any of the four GB sheets. The three rigid sheets offer four cabs on the same chassis: CC compact day, TN normal-height sleeper, TM medium-height sleeper and DN crew cab; the 7.5 t tipper sheet shows the CC cab alone.