Euro 5 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter – The current Information

Mercedes-Benz was the first van manufacturer to launch an engine range that meets the latest Euro 5 emissions limits. As well as being cleaner, the latest Mercedes-Benz Sprinter models are smoother, quieter and more powerful – and significantly cheaper to run – than those they replaced.

Indeed, the fact that Mercedes-Benz achieved environmental compatibility in its multi-award-winning Sprinter range without having to make performance sacrifices stands as a testimony, once again, to the ingenuity and expertise of its designers and development engineers.

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is widely recognised as the finest vehicle in its class. A magazine’s reigning Fleet Van of the Year 2010 – it was the fourth year running, and the sixth time in eight years, that the Sprinter had won the industry’s most coveted award – it is available as a panel van and as a chassis cab or crewcab platform for a myriad variety of configurations and sizes of body.

The Sprinter is also available from the factory as a seven- or nine-seat Traveliner minibus, and a dropside pick-up. These factory-built ‘off the shelf’ variants are competitively priced and offer the ease of ‘one-stop shop’ purchase arrangements, shorter lead times, and three-year, bumper-to-bumper Mercedes-Benz warranties.

The Sprinter range is truly enormous. Combine the different lengths, roof heights, weight ratings, body types, engines and transmission versions alone, and you arrive at a total of around 1,000 basic models. For example, the Sprinter is available in four load lengths from 5243 to 7343mm, panel vans coming with a choice of standard roof, high roof or super-high roof. And with gvw ratings from 3.0 to 5.0 tonnes, the Sprinter caters for all of the main weight segments in its class.

Sprinter Panel vans offer from 7.5m³ to a cavernous 17m³ of cargo capacity as well as best-in-class loading widths of 1300mm for the large sliding side door, and up to 1350mm between the wheel arches in single-tyred versions.

Today’s state-of-the-art Euro 5 Sprinter diesel engines offer approximately 10 per cent more power and torque than their equivalent predecessors, and better fuel economy too. The 313CDI model, for example, is 15 per cent more efficient than the 311CDI it replaced. That equates to an extra 4.5 miles per gallon, while CO2 emissions are down by 13 per cent. Mpg improvements on other models range from five to 12 per cent.

The four-cylinder OM 651 DE22LA engine has a 2.1-litre displacement and is available with 95hp, 129hp and 163hp power ratings. The long-stroke unit’s unprecedented smoothness, even when cold, owes much to its twin, counter-rotating Lanchester balancer shafts (named after the pioneering British engineer Frederick Lanchester), which are employed for the first time in a van.

Other innovative features include increased pressure common-rail injection, which is now up to a remarkable maximum of 1800 bar, and – in the two most powerful four-cylinder models – twin sequential turbochargers. A development of the previous Sprinter’s two-stage set-up, the turbines – one small and working at high pressure, the other big and low pressure – are connected in series. At low speeds only the small turbo is active, allowing a high charge pressure to be built up quickly to boost responsiveness. The bigger blower only becomes active at higher engine speeds, increasing motorway performance. Power output is also raised across the range by the addition of a bigger intercooler offering 20 per cent more cooling. And the redesigned oil pump, coolant pump and alternator are now demand- controlled and only operate when needed, thus further contributing to economy.

While the OM651 is entirely new, the six-cylinder, 3.0-litre OM642 DE30LA diesel has been retained but heavily revised and updated to meet the Euro 5 standard. A masterpiece of Mercedes-Benz engineering, the V6 matches its four-cylinder siblings in offering more power – up slightly, to 190hp – and at 440Nm, 10 per cent more torque, while sipping less diesel too. Sprinters can also be optionally specified to meet the even more stringent, but voluntary, Enhanced Environmentally-friendly Vehicle (EEV) standard.

Significantly, Mercedes-Benz achieved Euro 5 with its common-rail, turbo-charged diesel engines, using a sophisticated, water-cooled Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system with a close-mounted oxidising catalyst and diesel particulate filter combined in a single unit. This means there is no requirement for the urea-based solution called AdBlue, which is carried in a separate tank and used to clean nitrogen oxide gas emissions produced by vehicles employing the alternative Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) method.

Sprinters come as standard with a six-speed manual transmission called ECO Gear, which has been designed specifically for vans to improve flexibility and maximise fuel economy by reducing engine speeds. ECO Gear’s main feature is the very wide – 16 per cent broader than previous gearboxes – spread between the top and bottom ratios. It also boasts a high torque capacity, and is quiet and smooth-shifting.

Alternatively, a factory-fitted, five-speed fully automatic transmission with efficient lock-up torque convertor and electronic shift control for smooth operation, is available as an option.

Mercedes-Benz Sprinters with four-cylinder engines and manual gearboxes can also be specified with ECO-Start, an innovative system that can slash fuel bills and reduce harmful exhaust emissions. ECO-Start works simply by stopping the engine whenever the vehicle is stationary – for example, in heavy traffic – then automatically starting again when the driver depresses the clutch pedal. For multi-drop delivery operations or driving through busy town and city centres, the potential savings are significant.

The system is easy to operate. It is activated by a rocker switch on the dashboard, and when on will only operate when the engine is up to normal temperature, and if the driver selects neutral and lifts off the clutch pedal while stationary.

Tests on ECO-Start conducted by Mercedes-Benz have shown that the system can reduce fuel consumption by at least six per cent, while it also delivers spin-off benefits – most drivers, for example, find it much more relaxing to have the engine off, rather than idling when stuck in traffic or at the lights.

The Sprinter also offers an extensive standard specification in terms of driver comfort features. Every model comes with electrically operated ‘one touch’ windows, remote control central locking, a driver’s airbag and wide-angle mirrors.

It should come as no surprise that the Sprinter is also the leader of the van pack when it comes to safety. All models including chassis cab versions are equipped as standard with the ADAPTIVE ESP® stability program, which as well as offering all of the anti-skid reassurance of the previous ESP® system also determines a vehicle’s mass and centre of gravity. As a result, ADAPTIVE ESP® is able to intervene with even greater sensitivity and precision in critical situations.

Two optional systems can be integrated within ADAPTIVE ESP®:
· Start-off Assist is a hill-start system that prevents the vehicle from rolling downhill when the driver switches from the brake pedal to the accelerator during a hill start. Start-off Assist maintains the brake pressure for up to two seconds after the brake pedal has been released.
· Trailer Stability Assist – fitted if a customer asks for their vehicle to be fitted with a trailer coupling at the factory – recognises ‘sinusoidal oscillations’ around the vertical axis of the vehicle (colloquially known as ‘fishtailing’) and intervenes by applying the brakes to bring the van and its trailer safely back into line.

The Sprinter’s disc brakes are ventilated at the front and solid at the rear on models up to 3.5 tonnes gvw, while 5.0-tonne models feature ventilated disc brakes both front and rear. Dual-piston front brake callipers are used on all models. And instead of merely illuminating, Adaptive brake lights flash under heavy braking, providing an additional warning to traffic behind.

http://www.vanlocator.co.uk/van-sales/2011/04/15/mercedes-benz-sprinter-more-info-from-the-manufacturer/