From Stuttgart to Milan with the Van della Stella who turns 30 and is easy to drive despite the seven meters in length
Take a motorist who has never driven a seven -meter long van in his life, make him travel more than 500 kilometers from Stuttgart to Milan between the city, highway, state and mountain steps through different countries and you will have the test of the maturity reached by a latest generation commercial vehicle. This is precisely what Mercedes-Benz did, to underline the thirty years from the birth of the sprinter, his van who arrived at the third generation today and sold since then in almost five million specimens.
A long story
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It was, in fact, the 1995 When the Stuttgart house presented the sprinter, called to collect the legacy of the generation of the T1 and TN vans, present in the price lists from 1977 to then, and of the previous “trucks”, produced since the mid -1950s. Of the predecessors, the Sprinter of ’95 only retained the basic technical setting, adapting it to the changed needs: thus was born a modern vehicle, with self -supporting bodywork, Rear traction, independent front suspensions, powerful engines and fundamental safety equipment, such as disc brakes on four wheels, ABS, three -point safety belts and, on request, the driver airbag. Available as a self -right, cassonato or folding, with double or single cabin, such as Van or shuttle up to nine seats, flat or raised roof, with steps from 3,000 or 4,025 mm And gross weights admitted between 2,590 and 3,500 kg, the sprinter offered a flexibility that satisfied any need for users of light commercial vehicles.
continuous evolution
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Continuous evolution. The following years see Mercedes-Benz proceed with important updates, such as the adoption of the series airbag and traction control in 2000 and the stability control in 2002 In the 2009 It is the turn of the introduction of the system BlueEFFICIENCYwhich provides for the adoption of a new six -speed manual gearbox and the Start & Stop system, for the benefit of consumption. Al 2018 The third generation of the sprinter dates back, which is characterized by the adoption of the multimedia system Mbux: connectivity, voice commands and digital services for the management of the fleet become part of the equipment, together with the variable all-wheel drive (torque-on-demand) which makes, for those who need it, the use of low grip funds is safer. Thus we arrive on the threshold of our day, with the debut, in the 2024of theEspinterthe electric version of the van, proposed with three different battery cuts, for an approved autonomy that can reach 446 kilometers. The entire range also provides for the adoption of advanced driving assistance automatic assistance systems, such as Active Brake Assist with the transversal traffic function.
the sprinter today
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The current range includes Three versions of length (5.93, 6.97 and 7.37 meters), two in height, a loading surface that can reach a length of 4.81 meters, three levels of equipment, a maximum load of 2,890 kg and a maximum towable load of 3,500 kg. The engine is a turbodiesel with a displacement of 1,950 cm3, declined in different variants of power: 114, 150, 170 and 190 hp. You can choose between six-speed or automatic 9-Gtronic manual transmission and adopt electron control all-wheel drive.
Happy birthday
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To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the birth of his Punta Van, Mercedes-Benz made a special Premium 30 years editionwhich will also be available in Italy in thirty specimens, based on the richest equipment (with Plus seats, smartphone integration, armrests, etc.), called Pro. To characterize it, a rather aggressive matte black painting, combined with black circles and the chromed mask.
traveling
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Our test took place on board a van sprinter (Tourer versions are also available for passenger transport, a self -right as a base for the most disparate fittings, with double cabin and cassonato), in the version 317 CDIequipped with 170 HP engine. A vehicle seven meters long and two wide, unexpectedly agile on the road for those who are not particularly familiar with this kind of vehicles. To hit is certainly the comfort marching, essential on a journey that lasted almost seven hours, but even more important for those who spend whole days on the wheel working. Sensitive to the lateral wind, as is inevitable for a vehicle with these characteristics, moreover with the completely empty load compartment in the circumstance, it still offers a feeling of safety in the setting of the curves, even when it comes to facing, as it happened, stretches of mountain road (the Swiss step of San Bernardino). The feeling of driving, thanks to the raised position, is no different from the one that offers a large SUV: a neophyte must just be careful to broaden the travel of the curves, to take into account the generous length of the vehicle. On the highway, in full compliance with the speed limits (oscillating between 100 and 130 km/h) it is silent and not very fatigue; there Good availability of couple Of the turbodiesel allows you to resume speed after a slowdown even without resorting to a lower gear, although the sixth has all the characteristics of a relationship designed to contain consumption at a constant pace. Speaking of which, from the on -board computer we have detected a value of just less than 12 km with one liter at an average speed of 77 km/h.
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