MERCEDES-BENZ VITO
The mid-sized Mercedes Vito commercial vehicle has a lot of qualities.
Mercedes-Benz has been building vans since the late 19th century, in fact, the firm claims it actually invented the van as we know it today, so it’s no wonder that it’s pretty good at building them. In 1996, the company brought out its new medium-sized van – the Vito.
There are 3 different body styles of Vito – panel van, crew van (for up to 6 people) and mini-bus (for up to 9 people), and in total there are over 200 possible versions of this particular vehicle – meaning there’s a lot of versatility for Synergy business lease customers with varying needs.
For power, the choice lies between 2 engines – a 1.6 or 2.1-litre diesels. Both are 4-cylinder units, but there’s some interesting differences between them. For a start, the 87 or 113bhp output 1.6-litre is only available as a front-wheel drive version, with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard. A 7-speed automatic is available as a cost option on the more powerful version, however. For the 2.1-litre engine – available with 134, 161, or 188bhp, the Vito is rear-wheel drive only. 6-speed manuals are supplied with the 131 and 161bhp versions, while the 188bhp is available only with the 7-speed automatic.
Then there’s the choice of length. The Vito comes in 3 different lengths – compact, long and extra-long – though the height is always the same at 1,910mm tall. The lengths are 4,895mm in the compact, 5,140mm in the long, and 5,370mm in the extra-long. The maximum load lengths for each are 2,586mm, 2,831mm and 3,061mm respectively.
In terms of other vital statistics, load volumes vary from 5.8m³ to 6.9m³, with payloads between 600kg and 1,200kg depending on the model chosen. Gross Vehicle Weights vary between 2.8 and 3.2-tonnes.
Safety equipment provided is also fairly generous, with tyre pressure monitoring, crosswind assistance, blind spot monitoring, collision prevention assistance, lane keeping assist and on top of that, the adaptive stability control systems found in almost all modern passenger vehicles is also present. Mercedes switchgear and comfortable seating also gives the cabin a better feel than in some rivals.