The 2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Will get Automatic All-Wheel Drive and Extra Diesel Torque

It was speculated to be an off-road journey. But in a van. A dynamic take a look at of the brand new all-wheel-drive diesel-powered 2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Just a tall car crawling up a dust street and perhaps, simply perhaps, we’d get that one-tire-in-the-air photograph for this text.

Rain, destroyer of baseball video games and seashore days, ruined the day. Apparently, the off-road course Mercedes had secured for the group of invited journalists was foolish with sharp rocks. There was possible additionally concern in regards to the massive vans sliding sideways off the path as a result of extremely slick mud. A Mercedes leaning towards a tree, boulder, or discarded Suzuki Samurai isn’t search for the automaker. But for a (very) temporary second, I used to be in a position to put the 2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter diesel with all-wheel-drive to the take a look at.

Full Disclosure: Mercedes needed me to drive the 2023 Sprinter with all-wheel drive so badly, the corporate flew me to Germany and fed and housed me, all within the identify of driving this newly-updated van on the type of terrain the place you’d least count on to see it.

2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter AWD: What’s New

Right off the bat, Mercedes has gone with a less-is-more powertrain. New for 2023, the automaker changed the six-cylinder diesel engine with a brand new 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel powerplant. It’s obtainable in both customary or high-output variants, with 170 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque or 211 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, respectively.

On asphalt, the brand new engine is a large improve. Paired with Mercedes’ nine-speed G-Tronic computerized transmission, smoother acceleration and fewer in-cab vibration mix with elevated low-end torque for a greater driving and hauling expertise. On the street, the van displayed much less street noise than the final technology. Finally, the smaller engine means fewer journeys to the gas pump, which ought to make fleet managers and cash-strapped van-life vagabonds glad.

The Sprinter’s steering has additionally been up to date from old school hydraulic energy help to much-improved digital energy steering. Both on-road and off, the result’s lighter steering that delivers the feeling of driving a smaller car and doesn’t require further oomph whereas tackling tight maneuvers. It turned particularly useful when the navigation despatched us down the fallacious road, requiring a really tight three-point flip to flee.

Meanwhile, the 4×4 system has been discontinued for 2023 and changed with always-on all-wheel-drive. Gone is the driver-selectable four-wheel drive — and the blood-curdling thud that gave the impression of a bowling ball dropped right into a shallow properly with a lead ground everytime you’d interact the entrance axle. On quite a lot of events, the previous 4×4 system left me questioning if my subsequent motion could be to name a tow truck after destroying one thing within the Sprinter’s driveline.

Mercedes says the brand new fully-automatic AWD system takes the guesswork out of when and the place the motive force ought to interact or disengage the system. The up to date drivetrain can transfer as much as 50 p.c of the car’s energy to both axle. To cut back slippage at every particular person axle, Mercedes makes use of brake-controlled torque-vectoring — when one wheel slips, the brakes sluggish it down, sending torque to the opposite aspect of the axle for higher grip.

In apply, on a patch of slimy mud with the viscosity of pudding, my Sprinter outfitted with Continental VanContact winter tires held its personal in a straight line and had no situation advancing ahead or backward from a useless cease. However, these non-obligatory tires (all-seasons are customary) did little to battle lateral motion when driving the car perpendicularly alongside a small slope (once more, possible the explanation Mercedes canceled the total off-road expertise after it began raining).

While turning and sliding the wheels, the drivetrain would switch energy to whichever nook had probably the most traction. This was after the van’s tire tread was crammed with mud and small bits of gravel. For campers and fleet drivers that have to deal with dust roads throughout wet circumstances, the most recent model of the Sprinter felt properly outfitted to get them to their vacation spot. With correct off-road tires, reasonably rugged dust roads and trails needs to be no drawback — so long as the van’s 144- or 170-inch wheelbase doesn’t get it hung up on the good outdoor.

2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter AWD: Interior and Tech

The inside of the 2023 Sprinter is basically the identical because the earlier technology, however with a expertise improve. Mercedes’ infotainment system MBUX has made its manner into the sprint by way of a ten.25-inch touchscreen. The display appears comically small in such a big cabin, nevertheless it’s the identical system we’ve seen from the automaker because it was launched within the United States on the no-longer-available-in-the-US-because-we-can’t-have-nice-things A-Class.

MBUX features a better-than-average Mercedes voice assistant. Although the bar for voice assistants working in automobiles (and generally) remains to be fairly low, “Hey Mercedes” did an honest job of understanding my instructions. Outside of a fallacious flip that result in to a recently-closed street, the navigation saved the van heading in the right direction to my vacation spot, the off-roading that wasn’t.

In addition to the buyer pleasant inclusion of MBUX for fleet firms, Mercedes presents 12 months of complimentary Mercedes Me. The business-focused service presents up “efficient fleet management” and “data interfaces for vans,” and might be overseen by a fleet supervisor by way of a cellphone or desktop app.

A brand new choice that frankly ought to have been obtainable years in the past is the non-obligatory rear-view digicam that turns the rear-view mirror right into a tiny show of the world behind the van. This is a secondary function along with the federally mandated backup digicam required on all new automobiles. Now, when the rear doorways are opened, the back-up digicam activates so the motive force can see who’s again there loading, unloading, or simply getting in or out of the van.

2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter AWD: Pricing, Options, and Conclusions

The extra traction of the brand new AWD system doesn’t come low-cost, although. The base-model standard-output diesel 2023 Sprinter begins at $47,000 for the rear-drive 144-inch-wheelbase mannequin. Adding AWD requires you to choice the high-output diesel engine, including $12,550 in whole. The bigger 170-inch-wheelbase Sprinter begins at $54,290, and including AWD will set you again an extra $11,550 together with the upgraded engine. That brings the big-body Sprinter previous $65,000, and all of the above-mentioned costs are earlier than the $2,295 supply cost.

The slightly-less-expensive gas-engine 2023 Sprinter doesn’t provide the choice of all-wheel drive. So you’re both a diesel-based explorer otherwise you’re caught with a rear-drive Sprinter.

Sadly, the principle thrust of our media drive was reduce extremely quick by rain. While I used to be unable to partake within the pleasure of seeing how properly a Sprinter van’s AWD system can deal with the foothills round Stuttgart, Germany, I as an alternative needed to make do with a mud pit with a really quick downhill part. Still, even in that quick time frame “off-road” and driving round Stuttgart, the adjustments Mercedes has made to the diesel Sprinter van (obtainable now in US dealerships) needs to be welcomed by each fleets and people on the lookout for journey in a tall van.