Mercedes Factory 4WD Sprinter Van Coming to US?

[Norwest]

Hi,

I have a 2003 VW Eurovan which I love but it is getting up in miles (95,000) and I have been thinking of what to replace it with. My van just has the pullout bed with no popup or other camping amenities which has been fine for us up until now. As my son is 7 now we can't all comfortably sleep in the pullout bed so I am thinking popup or roof tent might be in order for my next van. I wish VW would pull their head out of their ******** and start selling Eurovans in the US again but I am not holding my breath. I have seen many Mercedes Sprinter vans and conversions which look pretty sweet. I found a couple of articles stating that Mercedes will be marketing a lifted 4WD version of the Sprinter in the US in 2015. This seem like an awesome option. Although I have fared OK with my 2 WD Eurovan I have to run studded tire in the winter because without driving in just a few inches of snow is quite treacherous. I have driven some pretty rough roads with no problems until last year when I had to drive a road made of cantelope sized volcanic rocks which resulted in the cracking of my cast aluminum oil pan. When I replaced the oil pan I had the van lifted to reduce the chance of busting the oil pan again. Anyone know any additional details about the 4WD Sprinters? Also any suggestions on aftermarket popup or roof tents for these vehicles. Anyone have any comments how Sprinters compare with Eurovans (handling, size ect)?

Cheers,

Thomas

 

[mhiscox]

Sprinters handle quite well, and the size is small enough to be useful but large enough to be comfortable. By far the largest proportion of people who took long tours of my two Sprinters have been Eurovan owners, who are universally impressed by the space.

The 4WD Sprinter is eagerly awaited by many of us. It won't be a rock-crawler, but it should make the Sprinter a solid option for dirt and gravel roads in a wider variety of weather. It'll be interesting to see if the aftermarkert comes up with items like skid plates and winch bumpers, but even as it comes, it should be a very useful vehicle.

There are several other ExPo Sprinter 4x4 threads, and you might want to go through them for more information. The principal one is here:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/114106

However, you'd be better served by going to the Sprinter Source Forum:

http://sprinter-source.com/forum/

and searching there for the 4x4 threads. The people there are more involved with the Sprinters and more up-to-date on the 4x4 information.