{"id":30474,"date":"2022-08-31T06:04:50","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T10:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=30474"},"modified":"2022-08-31T06:04:50","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T10:04:50","slug":"mercedes-benz-sprinter-2500-high-roof-170-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=30474","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Road Test: Living the (cargo) #vanlife | Autoblog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Normally I write car reviews<\/a> with the general thought that someone reading the thing might actually use it to determine whether buying one is a good idea. But a Mercedes-Benz<\/a> Sprinter Cargo<\/a> Van with the 170-inch wheelbase and high roof? Who can this really be for? The owner of a rooter company? FedEx<\/a>? The Royal Mail<\/a>?<\/p>\n

So this is going to be different: a chance to experience and share what it\u2019s like to drive one of these gigantic, high roof vans that have become increasingly common in this age of e-commerce. It also provided a taste of what #vanlife would be like for all those folks who buy a Sprinter like this, jack up the ride height, slap on some all-terrain tires and glamp out the interior to venture into the great outdoors \u2026 and really piss off everyone at campsites who don\u2019t have one. I\u2019m not entirely certain as to why, but I\u2019ve gotten that impression.<\/p>\n

In short, the Sprinter sure is different. The driver\u2019s door unlocks with a metallic clack<\/em> and pops open to reveal a driver seat perched at roughly torso height upon a body-colored metal box. In this case, Royal Mail red. You put one foot onto the cutout plastic step area and hoist yourself up into the cab, plopping yourself down onto the cushy, leatherette-clad driver seat. And yes, it\u2019s officially \u201cleatherette\u201d rather than Mercedes<\/a>\u2019 usual MB-Tex. That would be a convincing leather substitute. This<\/em> stuff is pure, sticky vinyl, which sure paired nicely with 90-degree days and several acres of windshield. Butts will be scorched, but at least it\u2019s only a $62 option. No, I didn\u2019t leave off a zero. It\u2019s really just $62.<\/p>\n

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To crank up the air conditioning to alleviate butt scorching, nudge up the fan speed toggle to max. The Sprinter has manual climate control even though that toggle and the other buttons are normally utilized in the automatic climate control arrays of other Mercedes. This is just one of many examples where familiar Mercedes components are employed in a very unfamiliar way. The touchscreen features the same menu structure and graphics as an MBUX-equipped Mercedes car<\/a> or SUV, but the display is tiny and doesn\u2019t have a redundant center console touchpad. It would need a center console for that. The cool rotary air vents are shared with the GLB and other A-Class-derived Mercedes, but all the hard, scratchy plastic surrounding them most certainly is not. Similarly, the steering wheel design, controls and accompanying column stalks may be shared with a GLB, but it\u2019s not wrapped in leather and adorned in metallic plastic trim. Its left-side menu buttons and touchpad operate an old-school, black-and-white trip computer screen between plain-Jane analog gauges. There\u2019s no all-digital display here with multiple design layouts and dance club lighting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are multiple seating options available, including a suspension seat, a swiveling seat and \u201ccomfort seat\u201d that adds additional manual adjustments. This Sprinter, however, came with the optional Comfort Plus power driver seat that\u2019s motored into position using Mercedes\u2019 usual door-mounted seat controls. It also includes manual thigh extension. With any of these choices, the seating position is akin to sitting on a kitchen chair with pedals at your feet. Taller drivers may find the seat doesn\u2019t scoot back far enough and it\u2019s not clear whether this van\u2019s optional partition is to blame. It definitely renders the rearview mirror vestigial, though. I just pointed it up at the roof to remind myself not to look at it, but former Autoblog <\/em>contributor Dan Edmunds discovered that if you leave it in place<\/a>, it conspires with the partition window and dark cargo area to become a forward-view mirror. It gets quirkier.<\/p>\n

Above that mirror are plastic shelves perfect for storing clipboards and such for FedEx drivers, and probably a boatload of Whole Foods trail mix for the glampers. Additional storage is found on top of the dash where the USB ports exclusively reside in a plastic bin behind the infotainment system. There are also cupholders up on top of the dash\u2019s outer portions, including behind the instrument panel, which is exactly where I want to stash my hot coffee. There are four additional upholders in the traditional van location below the climate controls. In total, there are six cupholders for two seats.<\/p>\n

Above the driver is enough headroom for Abe Lincoln to sit comfortably without removing his hat or, alternatively, all 6-foot-3 of yours truly to stand upright between the seats with my head just grazing the headliner. In the even-taller cargo area of this high-roof Sprinter, I can walk about without thinking twice about ducking. That would be why these make such good campers \u2013 fancy off-roading versions or otherwise.<\/p>\n

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The climb into the cargo area is also much lower (27 inches) than an old-school cargo van like GM<\/a>\u2019s Chevy Express<\/a> and GMC Savana<\/a>, let alone a pickup. Lifting a heavy metal side table into and out of the Sprinter\u2019s side door was exponentially easier than hoisting it into a pickup bed would\u2019ve been. Honestly, I don\u2019t think I would\u2019ve been able to do it at all. And that\u2019s only one reason a cargo van like this is wildly more helpful at hauling stuff than a pickup. While I transported more than 20 boxes and Rubbermade bins from my house to a storage facility in three trips in full-size pickups, I managed to lug the whole load in the Sprinter with minimal stacking or Tetrising. There was room to spare, too. Even though this is a pretty extreme van in terms of size (there\u2019s an even longer version available that uses the same wheelbase), this experience definitely showed the benefit of having such a low, cavernous and easily maneuvered space for hauling heavy and\/or plentiful objects. It was obviously sufficient for hauling light, comparatively unplentiful luggage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And speaking of maneuverability, one attempt at parking is all it takes to make you go \u201cwow.\u201d The turning circle of this particular Sprinter version is 47 feet, which may be 7 feet wider than a Mercedes GLS, but this Sprinter is also 5-foot-8-inches longer than a GLS. The wheels turn so much that it almost feels like when a line is attached to a boat\u2019s bow to pull it laterally towards a dock; an impression certainly enhanced by the fact you\u2019re basically sitting atop the front axle.<\/p>\n

Once underway, that tall, forward seating position and Crystal Palace windshield provides astonishing visibility. Only buses and other commercial vehicles<\/a> are bound to beat this. Maybe the Popemobile, but Francis obviously isn\u2019t driving. Pull from the turbodiesel engine is strong and well-suited to a vehicle like this (the only gas option is a 188-horsepower inline-four, which must challenge only the Columbia Glacier for rapidity), and when unladen, its 325 pound-feet of torque are enough that it definitely doesn\u2019t feel slow. That said, this van\u2019s optional 3.0-liter turbodiesel inline-6 is being discontinued for 2023. A twin-turbo diesel inline-four is going to replace it and, despite having fewer cylinders, will produce more power and torque. There will still be a single-turbo diesel inline-four offered, but it\u2019s also new. The gas four-cylinder continues on to race Galapagos tortoises. A nine-speed automatic will also debut to replace this van\u2019s seven-speed, which was perfectly innocuous, but more gears is rarely a bad thing when hauling heavy loads.<\/p>\n