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VANS
Page 72
Page 73
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IMPRESSIONS
SPRINTER 312D 4x4
GVVV: 3,100kg.
Engine: 2.9-litre turbo-diesel, 122hp (90kW). Payload: 1,375kg. Load volume: 10.4m3. Price: £19,800 (ex-VAT) for standard 312D, plus around £7,500 for 4x4 option (see text).
Mercedes-Benz introduced the Sprinter range in 1996 to some acclaim. It plans to offer a four-wheel-drive version to the UK market from next March. Unlike other 4x4 van derivatives, such as the Transit County, which are retro-fit conversions, the four-wheel drive Sprinter is line-built. This means any Sprinter model can have four-wheel-drive, but MercedesBenz sees it as more suited to 102hp, 122hp and 140hp models. The new models will be competitively priced, costing £7,500 on top of current model cost.
• TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION The pre-production model evaluated by CM was a converted 15-tonne 312D, powered by the five-cylinder, 2.9-litre 122hp 0M602 engine. It differed from the version that will be on offer in the UK in that it had no transfer box. Instead, the straight five
speed gearbox offered throughout the two-wheel-drive Sprinter range is used.
The 4x4 Sprinter is almost indistinguishable from its twowheel drive cousin from the outside—the 4x4 is 80nun taller.
This similarity has allowed Mercedes-Benz to market the 4x4 Sprinter as an on-road vehicle with off-road capability. Its onroad manners are good; CM'S vehicle was fitted with intermediate tyres that cut down on road noise, and barring some wind noise from the nearside window, it was as capable on-road as its two-wheel-drive counterparts.
The 0M602 engine has been praised since its introduction and rightly so. There is a distinctive, and not unpleasant direct injection growl when it is working hard, and from a productivity point of view, it is an excellent onroad unit. It's at its happiest at motorway speeds, but will still potter around on urban duties with little complaining. Compared to other twowheel drive models, the
standard, rear-wheel drive Sprinter has a high loading height of 650mm. Add the extra height caused by the four-wheel drive, and this gets boosted to 730nun. This is not really practical, and while a step for the rear door has been added, we can see it as more of a hindrance than a help the moment the vehicle goes off-road. however, the load-space in this medium-wheelbase, high-roof version ran to a commendable 10.4m3. The payload for this version of the Sprinter in two-wheel drive guise is 1,470kg. The reduction mused by the extra driveline componentry reduces this to 1,375kg, but, if four-wheel drive is important to the operation the loss of 95kg in payload will probably go unnoticed.
• DRIVING IMPRESSIONS The only other real area of concern is in the positioning of both the four-wheel drive and rear axle diff-lock controls. These are both operated through dashboard-mounted switches positioned side by side. The Sprinter can switch between two and four-wheel drive at speeds of up to 60mph. This works well, but there is potential for engaging the rear cliff-lock by mistake; at motorway speeds this could prove to be an initially musical, and inevitably expensive mistake. Better switch locations would solve the problem.
Multi-purpose vehicles can, at times, offer mediocre performance across many conditions. The 4x4 Sprinter does not look like an off-roader. Add a longish wheelbase of 3.55m to approach and departure angles of 310 and 20°, and you have a vehicle which would be far happier on-road.
This not the case with the 4x4 Sprinter: it proved to be an excel
lent off-road performer. The Kettering-based Tuf-Trax course is far more severe than any terrain which a 4x4 panel van might expect to operate in, but the Merc romped around it.
Having a reasonably high mounted air intake allows it to ford water to a depth of around two feet, while, despite being hindered by a rear overhang of around two feet, it could climb hills that troubled an aggressively-tyred Land Rover Defender. With a vehicle like this as a yardstick, this has to be a commendable performance.
Although the G28-5 gearbox offered low enough gearing for hill climbing, it proved slightly overgeared for controlled descents; Mercedes-Benz UK is correct in specifying a transfer box and an extra set of lower ratios for UK-destined production models; a lowest ratio of 5.05 is not enough to hold a laden 3.5tonner back, and the temptation to use braking while descending slippery hills has to be fought. ABS and ABD are automatically disabled in 4x4 mode.
The total market for this type of vehicle in the UK is not going to be huge, and, as a result, there are not that many players in the field. The Sprinter is up against the Iveco Ford 4x4 Daily, the Ford Transit County, and the Volkswagen Transporter. The Sprinter cannot be compared with the Daily 4x4—the Iveco weighs in at 4.6 tonnes, has a quasi-military specification, and is closer to a Unimog in its go-anywhere ability. Payload is not its forte; durability is.
The Transit County is pmba• bly better for a comparison. However, this also falls down. County offers an off-road vehicle with on-road capability; a vehicle raised by 210mm, and equipped with aggressive tyres, or, an on-road vehicle with some off-road capability, which is raised by just 40mm. The 4x4 Sprinter sits firmly between these two models.
The four-wheel drive MercedesBenz Sprinter is a rare beast in terms of commercial vehi
des; it is an acceptable compromise. On the one hand, it offers commendable on-road performance, with good payload and load-carrying ability. The 0M602 engine has already shown itself to be quite frugal as far as fuel consumption is concerned, and, from the driver's seat, it offers one of the better LCV working environments.
Its off-road performance is similarly excellent; arguably too good—the likelihood of a four-wheel drive panel van having to cope with the conditions under which we tested the Sprinter is remote. That it did cope with barely a stutter suggests that Mercedes-Benz might well have another winner on its hands.
-1 by Oliver Dixon MODEL: Mercedes-Benz 31: Sprinter 4x4. Design GM: 3,50 Wheelbase: 3.55m Importer: Mercede UK, Tongwell, Mika MK15 8BA.
ENGINE: Mercedes-Benz ON five-cylinder directcharge-cooled furl:), Capacity: 2,874cc Maximum power: (90kW) at 3,80rprr Maximum torque: (206Ibft) at 2,0002,30Orpm GEARBOX: Mercedes G28-5 Ii all-synchromesh mc gearbox, driving al wheels.
Drive axle ratio: Fr rear 4.38:1, with cliff lock fitted to rec Approach angle: 3 Departure angle: 1 Fording depth: Approximately 75C WEIGHTS: Kerbweight: (with driver): 2,125kg. Payload: 375kg. Load Volume: 10.4