***Testdrove a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 313 CDI***

[cawimmer430]

Last Friday I drove a Sprinter 313 CDI rental to Munich with my dad to drop off some furniture for my apartment. We rented it from the local Mazda dealer (don't ask why they rent MB Sprinters...) and I drove it. The "313 CDI" means this Sprinter can carry over 3 tons of payload and the engine has 130-horsepower and is a CDI diesel.

There's not much to say about it. The seating position is high, the seats are barely adjustable and the driving comfort is terrible. The most fun thing about this car was that it was pretty quick. Yep, quick! The 313 CDI engine responded nicely and the gear ratios were. Acceleration was brisk and fluid. On the downside, this thing was very, very loud (a base A, B or C-Class diesel is so much quieter), especially at high speeds on the Autobahn. I brought it up to nearly 160 km/h and the high-speed handling was generally ok. The steering was pretty lifeless though and you basically needed a lot of "Autobahn experience" to control a Sprinter at high speeds with the vague steering.

The 6-speed manual was typical MB: vague and lifeless but the shifts patterns thankfully weren't that bad. The brakes were strong and efficient. It was a hot day and this thing didn't have a functioning A/C unit (air was blown out but not cooled which led me to believe that the A/C wasn't ordered).

I didn't get any chances to photograph it properly so I was only able to take these quick crappy shots of it before returning it to the Mazda dealer.

[the Teuton]

I don't think we get the stick here.  That's pretty cool.

[Submariner]

Hmmph, most reviews of the Dodge variant are quite good.

And 130 HP....oooo feel that raw power.

[Colin]

I had a Vito 111 CDi Minibus from Mr Hertz CH last Dec........... and that was a rough and raucous, but quite torquey diesel.

Given the way that most Sprinters are driven in UK (almost inside your rear bumper), I'd guess that they have that bit more oomph, too.

[Laconian]

3 TON capacity with only 130hp? In Uhhmerica we demand at least 350HP for our one-ton vehicles! It's because our high speed onramps are deadly, deadly I tell you!

[Autobahn]

3 TON capacity with only 130hp? In Uhhmerica we demand at least 350HP for our one-ton vehicles! It's because our high speed onramps are deadly, deadly I tell you!

There's also a 311 CDI variant (with 110 hp) and people do just fine with them.

And Christian 160 km/ ~100 mph, that's faster than most of the forum members have ever gone with their cars, legally That's communist Europe, the elites (to which Wimmer certainly belongs ) can go faster with their delivery vans than the Americans with their Corvettes. Long lives communism

And Chris are you going to work in Munich?

[CaMIRO]

I'm surprised it wasn't more comfortable. Mercedes does pretty good seats, as commercial vehicles go - or, I guess, they used to.

[cawimmer430]

I don't think we get the stick here.  That's pretty cool.

America gets the shaft. 

[cawimmer430]

And 130 HP....oooo feel that raw power.

My legs were shaking from all that power. I was so confidant I wanted to race a Ferrari. 

[cawimmer430]

I had a Vito 111 CDi Minibus from Mr Hertz CH last Dec........... and that was a rough and raucous, but quite torquey diesel.

Given the way that most Sprinters are driven in UK (almost inside your rear bumper), I'd guess that they have that bit more oomph, too.

The Vito... 

Scary. 

[cawimmer430]

3 TON capacity with only 130hp? In Uhhmerica we demand at least 350HP for our one-ton vehicles! It's because our high speed onramps are deadly, deadly I tell you!

The 313 CDI has a lot of torque and that helps a lot. Plus the top speed is in the 170 km/h region which is already very high for such a car. 

[cawimmer430]

And Chris are you going to work in Munich?

Going back to school. U5 Akademie - gonna learn how to be a professional graphic artist, photographer, digital media etc. 

[cawimmer430]

I'm surprised it wasn't more comfortable. Mercedes does pretty good seats, as commercial vehicles go - or, I guess, they used to.

The back support couldn't be adjusted because behind the seat was a solid metal wall. I could slide the seat forward and backwards but for my long legs I needed to slide the seat all the way to the back at the expensive of keeping the back support straight. Over long distances this is a little uncomfortable. The seats themselves were decent. 

On Sprinter buses (see photo below), the seats can be adjusted in a more variable fashion.

[Soup DeVille]

3 TON capacity with only 130hp? In Uhhmerica we demand at least 350HP for our one-ton vehicles! It's because our high speed onramps are deadly, deadly I tell you!

Its more in line with what you'd expect from a commercial vehicle in the US with that payload though. I used to drive a truck rated for 50 tons payload that "only" had 400 HP.

[TBR]

3 TON capacity with only 130hp? In Uhhmerica we demand at least 350HP for our one-ton vehicles! It's because our high speed onramps are deadly, deadly I tell you!

To be fair, what we call one-ton trucks have payloads in the same range as this van.