Mercedes-benz workhorse van gets refined
DUESSELDORF — The original Sprinter was the first vehicle my then-teenage daughters would let me drop them off in at the school’s parking lot. Bentley? Nope, drop us off across the street. It was the same reaction with many other cars they now dream of driving. I later learned it was the appeal of having a row of seats for each rider — their very own private school bus.
The latest Sprinter has been extensively overhauled. Consequently, it now feels far less industrial. The workhorseonly days of the MercedesBenz Sprinter van/peoplemover, which debuted in North America in 2003, are drawing to a close. With a refreshed face, ornate headlights and a new tail, it has a much smarter appearance, although nobody is going to mistake it for anything other than a Sprinter. Likewise, the interior has been cleaned up, which adds a more sophisticated feel altogether. It also gets a healthy infusion of amenities, including a navigation system, 5.8-inch TFT screen and a backup camera.
The big news for the fourthgeneration Sprinter is the addition of a new four-cylinder diesel engine that’s teamed with M-B’s seven-speed manumatic transmission. The new 2.1L turbodiesel puts forth 161 horsepower and a stout 265 pound-feet of torque.
The design employs a small turbo to look after the bottom end of the rev range, and a larger turbo to service the midand high ends. It worked very nicely on the drive route. Yes, you know there’s a diesel under the hood, but it is remarkably smooth and refined.
The up-level 3.0L V-6 turbodiesel is still available but, in an odd move, it soldiers on with the previous five-speed automatic rather than adopting the new seven-speed box.
The level of safety has been increased to include such things as blind-spot detection (it actually needs two sensors per side because of the Sprinter’s length) and a lane departure warning system.
Another significant safety addition is Collision Prevent Assist, a system that monitors the road ahead. Should the Sprinter be closing in on the vehicle ahead too quickly, it flashes a warning and sounds an alert. When the driver does hit the brake it automatically increases the brake pressure in an attempt to prevent a potential rear-end collision. The practical demonstration was unnerving, but it did prove it works.
The most impressive helper was Crosswind Assist. Using the electronic stability control system, it applies the appropriate brake(s) when the Sprinter encounters a side wind. Its action is designed to prevent the big van from drifting out of its lane. In a practical demonstration, which involved blowing a gale across a road with some enormous fans, the system reduced the Sprinters reaction to the crosswind by almost half. It will be a late introduction in North America because it has to be recalibrated for the different payloads and tires.
Without question, the model that stole the show was a chopped and cut rig based on the previous Sprinter. What made it stand out was the 500 hp, 6.1L V-8 AMG engine stuffed under its hood. The sound it made was simply glorious. A brief spin in the shotgun seat proved the performance to be no less spectacular. Not only did it kick the tail out with ease, and it was wearing oversized P255/40R19 tires to boot, the six-piston front calipers brought things to an equally impressive halt. It is in the real world, pie-in-thesky dreaming by a few of the Sprinter’s engineers, but, boy, would it ever serve as a halo for the entire Sprinter range.