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Usually I write car reviews with the final thought that somebody studying the factor would possibly really use it to find out whether or not shopping for one is a good suggestion. However a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Cargo Van with the 170-inch wheelbase and excessive roof? Who can this actually be for? The proprietor of a rooter firm? FedEx? The Royal Mail?
So that is going to be totally different: an opportunity to expertise and share what it’s prefer to drive certainly one of these gigantic, excessive roof vans which have grow to be more and more widespread on this age of e-commerce. It additionally offered a style of what #vanlife can be like for all these of us who purchase a Sprinter like this, jack up the experience top, slap on some all-terrain tires and glamp out the inside to enterprise into the good open air … and actually piss off everybody at campsites who don’t have one. I’m not completely sure as to why, however I’ve gotten that impression.
Briefly, the Sprinter certain is totally different. The driving force’s door unlocks with a metallic clack and pops open to disclose a driver seat perched at roughly torso top upon a body-colored metallic field. On this case, Royal Mail crimson. You set one foot onto the cutout plastic step space and hoist your self up into the cab, plopping your self down onto the soft, leatherette-clad driver seat. And sure, it’s formally “leatherette” fairly than Mercedes’ common MB-Tex. That will be a convincing leather-based substitute. This stuff is pure, sticky vinyl, which certain paired properly with 90-degree days and a number of other acres of windshield. Butts shall be scorched, however at the very least it’s solely a $62 possibility. No, I didn’t depart off a zero. It’s actually simply $62.
To crank up the air con to alleviate butt scorching, nudge up the fan pace toggle to max. The Sprinter has guide local weather management though that toggle and the opposite buttons are usually utilized within the automated local weather management arrays of different Mercedes. This is only one of many examples the place acquainted Mercedes elements are employed in a really unfamiliar method. The touchscreen options the identical menu construction and graphics as an MBUX-equipped Mercedes car or SUV, however the show is tiny and doesn’t have a redundant middle console touchpad. It will want a middle console for that. The cool rotary air vents are shared with the GLB and different A-Class-derived Mercedes, however all of the arduous, scratchy plastic surrounding them most definitely will not be. Equally, the steering wheel design, controls and accompanying column stalks could also be shared with a GLB, nevertheless it’s not wrapped in leather-based and adorned in metallic plastic trim. Its left-side menu buttons and touchpad function an old-school, black-and-white journey pc display between plain-Jane analog gauges. There’s no all-digital show right here with a number of design layouts and dance membership lighting.
There are a number of seating choices obtainable, together with a suspension seat, a swiveling seat and “consolation seat” that provides extra guide changes. This Sprinter, nonetheless, got here with the non-compulsory Consolation Plus energy driver seat that’s motored into place utilizing Mercedes’ common door-mounted seat controls. It additionally contains guide thigh extension. With any of those selections, the seating place is akin to sitting on a kitchen chair with pedals at your toes. Taller drivers could discover the seat doesn’t scoot again far sufficient and it’s not clear whether or not this van’s non-compulsory partition is guilty. It undoubtedly renders the rearview mirror vestigial, although. I simply pointed it up on the roof to remind myself not to take a look at it, however former Autoblog contributor Dan Edmunds discovered that if you leave it in place, it conspires with the partition window and darkish cargo space to grow to be a forward-view mirror. It will get quirkier.
Above that mirror are plastic cabinets excellent for storing clipboards and such for FedEx drivers, and possibly a boatload of Entire Meals path combine for the glampers. Extra storage is discovered on prime of the sprint the place the USB ports solely reside in a plastic bin behind the infotainment system. There are additionally cupholders up on prime of the sprint’s outer parts, together with behind the instrument panel, which is precisely the place I wish to stash my scorching espresso. There are 4 extra upholders within the conventional van location under the local weather controls. In whole, there are six cupholders for 2 seats.
Above the motive force is sufficient headroom for Abe Lincoln to sit down comfortably with out eradicating his hat or, alternatively, all 6-foot-3 of yours really to face upright between the seats with my head simply grazing the headliner. Within the even-taller cargo space of this high-roof Sprinter, I can stroll about with out considering twice about ducking. That will be why these make such good campers – fancy off-roading variations or in any other case.
The climb into the cargo space can also be a lot decrease (27 inches) than an old-school cargo van like GM’s Chevy Express and GMC Savana, not to mention a pickup. Lifting a heavy metallic aspect desk into and out of the Sprinter’s aspect door was exponentially simpler than hoisting it right into a pickup mattress would’ve been. Actually, I don’t assume I’d’ve been in a position to do it in any respect. And that’s just one motive a cargo van like that is wildly extra useful at hauling stuff than a pickup. Whereas I transported greater than 20 packing containers and Rubbermade bins from my home to a storage facility in three journeys in full-size pickups, I managed to lug the entire load within the Sprinter with minimal stacking or Tetrising. There was room to spare, too. Regardless that it is a fairly excessive van by way of measurement (there’s a fair longer model obtainable that makes use of the identical wheelbase), this expertise undoubtedly confirmed the advantage of having such a low, cavernous and simply maneuvered area for hauling heavy and/or plentiful objects. It was clearly ample for hauling light, comparatively unplentiful luggage.
And talking of maneuverability, one try at parking is all it takes to make you go “wow.” The turning circle of this specific Sprinter model is 47 toes, which can be 7 toes wider than a Mercedes GLS, however this Sprinter can also be 5-foot-8-inches longer than a GLS. The wheels flip a lot that it nearly looks like when a line is connected to a ship’s bow to drag it laterally in the direction of a dock; an impression definitely enhanced by the very fact you’re mainly sitting atop the entrance axle.
As soon as underway, that tall, ahead seating place and Crystal Palace windshield gives astonishing visibility. Solely buses and different commercial vehicles are certain to beat this. Possibly the Popemobile, however Francis clearly isn’t driving. Pull from the turbodiesel engine is robust and well-suited to a car like this (the one gasoline possibility is a 188-horsepower inline-four, which should problem solely the Columbia Glacier for rapidity), and when unladen, its 325 pound-feet of torque are sufficient that it undoubtedly doesn’t really feel sluggish. That mentioned, this van’s non-compulsory 3.0-liter turbodiesel inline-6 is being discontinued for 2023. A twin-turbo diesel inline-four goes to switch it and, regardless of having fewer cylinders, will produce extra energy and torque. There’ll nonetheless be a single-turbo diesel inline-four supplied, nevertheless it’s additionally new. The gasoline four-cylinder continues on to race Galapagos tortoises. A nine-speed automated can even debut to switch this van’s seven-speed, which was completely innocuous, however extra gears is never a nasty factor when hauling heavy hundreds.
Driving a 23-foot-long car clearly requires some altering of your driving, with turns being the principle level of focus. It’s a must to swing huge as you would possibly in a pickup, however because you’re thus far ahead within the car, you bodily find yourself even additional out past your regular spot when turning. Think about being mounted to the hood of an F-350 whereas turning proper and also you’ll get an thought. The experience is respectable, however this was a 2500 mannequin. I’d think about a 3500 or 3500XD can be a tad Flintstone-ish must you occur to drive these dually variations unladen.
The opposite foremost factor to remember is top. And never simply “Don’t drive the 9-foot van right into a parking storage.” The perimeters are so tall that timber grow to be a difficulty when parallel parking on metropolis streets … and even simply driving alongside metropolis streets. That is in all probability an enormous motive the FedEx man parks on the finish of your driveway or curiously distant. And bear in mind, this was an unmodified high-roof Sprinter. The glamping overlander variations have jacked-up floor clearance and all-terrain tires, plus in all probability an auxiliary air conditioner, paddleboards and a Yakima cargo box on the roof. I’m not exaggerating, both. There are a number of in my neighborhood, all outfitted like this to a point.
None are painted Jupiter Crimson, nonetheless, which was a C-Class coloration not too way back. Though a lot of the Sprinters you see are painted black, white or grey (presumably probably the most Mercedes factor about them), there’s a surprisingly vibrant assortment of paints obtainable. Apart from this Royal Mail-appropriate livery, you will get the teal-like Aqua Inexperienced, robin’s egg Good Blue, sunny Calcite Yellow, two extra shades of crimson (Sundown and Velvet) and 4 shades of darker blue (Metal, Vanda, Cavansite and Black Blue).
In order that’s what the Sprinter is like in a tiny nutshell. To be completely trustworthy, it’s not like I’m bringing to the ballgame my common deep properly of comparative check drive expertise. I’ve by no means pushed a Ford Transit, it’s been 5 years since I drove a Ram Promaster on a closed course and 10 years since I commanded a Nissan NV. Certainly one of GM vans? I’m fairly certain I used to be in highschool the final time Chevy had an Express within the press fleet … and I’m 38.
As such, I’ll depart comparative evaluation together with price, measurement, payload, and so on, to somebody extra certified. As I see it, although, the one clear motive to get a Ford or Ram as a substitute of the Mercedes is upkeep and repair. If one thing breaks in your glamping overlander in the course of nowhere, it’s going to be so much simpler to discover a Ford dealer than a Mercedes or Freightliner (perhaps?) facility. However that’s all I actually received. The principle level is in the end: driving a gigantically excessive and lengthy Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 is an actual journey. I extremely suggest it. If you are able to do so with no need to get employed by FedEx first, all the higher.