OREANDA-NEWS. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter has lent its name to an entire vehicle segment and is a synonym for large vans with around 3.5 tons of GVW all around the globe. The Sprinter has always driven innovations in its segment — a tradition that is being continued by the new model. The new Sprinter continues to set standards, boasting five new safety systems, engines that meet the future Euro VI emissions standard, and a striking appearance. Most importantly, however, the van’s excellent low fuel consumption (down to 6.3 liters per 100 km) makes it by far the most efficient vehicle in its segment.

The Sprinter has always been a pioneer with regard to driver assistance systems. Five new assistance systems — including several van firsts — will help reduce the number of accidents even further in the new Sprinter.

The following systems are celebrating their world debut in the Sprinter: Crosswind Assist, which is fitted as standard, and COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST and Blind Spot Assist, which are both optional. Other new features are Highbeam Assist and Lane Keeping Assist. The developers at Mercedes-Benz are convinced that these electronic assistants will play a key role in helping to reduce accidents in the van sector.

As one of the functions of the Electronic Stability Program, Crosswind Assist will be part of the vehicle’s range of standard equipment. Customers will be able to order the other assistance systems as individual options or as components of logically assembled packages. This allows every customer to tailor the Sprinter to its specific area of application.

In addition, Mercedes-Benz has improved the Sprinter’s handling even further. The lowering of the chassis has improved the van’s drag and fuel consumption and makes it easier to load and unload cargo.

The new Sprinter is the world’s first van to meet the future Euro VI emissions standard in all of its engine variants. Euro VI drastically reduces the emission limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), total hydrocarbons (THC), and particulate mass. The Sprinter achieves the strict limits with the help of its BlueTEC engine and SCR technology that injects AdBlue into the exhaust gas. The technology has already proven its worth in more than 100,000 commercial vehicles from Mercedes-Benz.

The performance of the diesel engines has remained unchanged, encompassing four- and six-cylinder units with outputs ranging from 70 kW (95 hp) to 140 kW (190 hp).

The developers have used the additional exhaust treatment stage to optimize the injection and combustion processes as well as the boost pressure. The results are lower fuel consumption and less combustion noise. The engineers also adjusted the drive system and the ancillary components to enhance fuel efficiency. This applies to the transmission and the rear axle as well as an intelligent generator management system.

As an alternative to the diesel engines, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is also available with a Euro VI compliant supercharged four-cylinder gasoline engine featuring direct injection. The engine generates 115 kW (156 hp) from a total displacement of 1.8 liters. The engine is also available in a natural gas variant with the same performance.

Power is transmitted either by the ECO-Gear six-speed manual transmission or the 7G-TRONIC PLUS seven-speed automatic transmission with lock-up clutch, which is the only system of its kind to be found in a van.