A retirement-aged passerby named Paul pointed to the fleet of towering vans lineup up outside a hotel lobby and asked: "Are those new?"
His eyes widened as he pondered how these awkward-looking utility vehicles could fit into his cross-continent travel plans. For Paul, the fact that these new Mercedes Sprinters are 4x4 was just the icing on the cake – an adventure vehicle that gets decent fuel economy, can carry his bikes, camping gear and kayaks inside – and take him deeply off-road.
In photos: Taking a Mercedes van off road
Paul typifies the accidental customer Mercedes-Benz discovered with the 4x4 feature on its tougher-than-nails Sprinter. The company created a four-wheel-drive version to capture a bigger share of fleet sales – oil field operators, mining operations and any other company that wants an off-road-ready, fully enclosed alternative to pickup trucks. What it found is that there's a domestic market, too.
The Sprinter is in its fifth year post-Chrysler branding. Although made in Germany, it was sold under the Chrysler badge until an agreement between the two companies expired in January, 2010. Now, it's going nose-to-nose with cheaper gasoline-engine cargo vans produced by Ford, Chrysler/Fiat and GM.
It's not the length that stops you on first sighting these vehicles – it's the height. The roof of the "low" version leaves a person of average height plenty of room to stand up straight, and the interior of the higher roof model feels like being in a rig pig's version of the Sistine Chapel. There's no losing this baby, either – it stands fully twice the height of the cars surrounding it, looking all the world like a yacht that stumbled into a parking lot. No parking garages for this one.
With broadsides like that, crosswinds can be a concern. Mercedes-Benz compensated with a feature called Crosswind Assist, which applies brakes on appropriate wheels to compensate for gusts of wind, thus, one hopes, keeping you in the proper lane.
Incredibly, with its relatively low centre of gravity, the Sprinter drives like a smaller and more agile vehicle. It's no slouch off-road either, as we discovered clawing our way up a rutted and slimy logging road near a backcountry B.C. heli-skiing operation. It doesn't rattle and shake, either. It feels like a solid build. "Off-road" is not a marketing slogan; it's for real.
The Sprinter has a few edges in the game. The first is its pair of torquey, but relatively thrifty diesel engines: a puny 2.1-litre four-cylinder (161 hp/266 lb-ft of torque) and 3.0-litre V-6 (188 hp/325 lb-ft of torque). Only the latter engine is available in the 4x4 – probably a good thing, considering the maximum gross weight rating in the "smaller" 2500 model is 6,146 kg.
Both the 2500 and 3500 come in 365 cm (144-inch) and 432 cm (170-inch) wheelbases – which means, like any long-box pickup, you don't turn on a dime.
Although the sticker prices are substantially higher than the competition, Mercedes argues that the Sprinter wins on total cost-of-ownership comparisons. That's because it has dramatically better fuel economy and historically higher resale value. Mercedes has cut the cost of maintenance, too, by pushing service intervals out to 30,000 kilometres.
One rightly gets picky at that price – it's surprising that an expensive cargo van with no back windows doesn't have a backup camera as a standard equipment, for example, or even auto-off headlights.
As the only 4x4 on the market in its segment, Sprinter has a leg up in fleet sales for companies looking for a commercial van.
To its surprise, it also has tripped onto a domestic niche, as well. If you crave massive volumes of space and need an antidote to Smartcar claustrophobia, the Sprinter offers the cure.
You'll like this car if ... You want a huge cargo space, are prepared to pimp this into a modern camper-van or you believe in having kids by the dozen.
TECH SPECS
- Price: $49,900 cargo, $57,300
- 12-passenger
- Engine: 2.1-litre four-cylinder and 3.0-litre V-6
- Transmission/drive: Five-speed automatic/four-wheel drive
- Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 12.5 litres/100 km two-wheel drive, 14.5 litres/100 km on four-wheel (estimated)
- Alternatives: Ram ProMaster, Ford Transit, GMC Savana/Chevrolet Express
RATINGS
- Looks: All the new generation of tall cargo vans look a bit gangly, but Mercedes has done a nice job with the grill detail on the front.
- Interior: The panel van has a durable, easy-to-clean vinyl floor. The no-carpet flooring can also be found in the passenger version, which also comes with durable fabric seats providing typical German firmness and support.
- Performance: The V-6 is small for a van this size, but the diesel gives it plenty of pulling power with moderate fuel consumption. You will never mistake this for a sports car, but the low centre of gravity makes the vehicle feel more agile than something so massive should.
- Technology: The twin turbo diesel is a marvel of efficiency and low emissions. But tools considered basic in many higher end cars, such as backup cameras, are truly needed and should be standard.
- Cargo: The interior space is massive – cavernous. You can literally carry as much stuff as you can imagine.
The Verdict
8.0
The solidly built vehicle gets better fuel economy than competitors and looks like it will last. If you need a lot of space and hauling capacity in an enclosed van, this one is hard to beat.
Going off the paved road isn't just for trucks. Taking a Mercedes-Benz Canada van off road in Mica Creek, B.C.
Posted by Globe Drive on Monday, April 13, 2015
The writer was a guest of the auto maker. Content was not subject to approval.
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