Mercedes Benz Viano test drive since 2003 Minivan

Tumbleweed

The new Mercedes-Benz Viano costs 46,000 euros as a good apartment. Yes, and he himself is not an apartment: and the bedroom in it can be arranged, and a study, and a dining room.

The dream of many motorists have a car that you can stand in and standing out of it, usually leads them to the interior of dealers selling SUVs or minibuses. However, there is another suitable class of cars called multiveins. These include the new 5-seater Mercedes-Benz Viano, which came to a replacement, so to speak, Vito models. The reason for the reservation is as follows. Yes, the car acquired a different appearance, but the name of its cargo version remained the same, and only the passenger version was new to the new name Viano.

We emphasize: this Mercedes-Benz V-Class is not the result of deep restyling, but a completely new development. There was no trace of the old model. Firstly, there is a completely different body design, and secondly, oddly enough, it was decided to equip the car with a classic rear-wheel drive.

With the exception of the radiator lattice, Viano has almost one person with a smaller tribesman Vaneo. And if the front part of the car likes to almost everyone preserved the corporate style, then the back causes a dual feeling, especially if you look at the car in profile: the rounding of the side glass under the almost horizontal roof does not look very good. However, this is a matter of taste.

Perhaps the appearance has the right not to arrange someone, but you must admit that the salon of such a car is simply required to be not only pleasant for the eyes, but also functional.

You enter the car, almost without bowing your head, and there the driver and the front passenger immediately fall into the arms of comfortable seats with armrests and many adjustments. The rear passengers regarding the setting of the seat were less fortunate: they have a huge sofa from the wall to the wall (a feature of the configuration of our car). In general, the installation of four quick -detachable separate seats is possible. But how much space for the legs is one and a half meters!

Slightly moving the rear seats forward, we will increase the place for the cargo in the trunk. It is also done so that you can lay out the seats and arrange a convenient sleeping place. A special shelf contributes to this, which in his free time is pressed to the back of the rear seat. Throwing back the shelf, we get a partition dividing the trunk into two parts horizontally.

If you dismantle the back row of seats, Viano will turn into a truck, and if you move to the maximum back, then to the office: with a light movement of the hand, the driver’s and front passenger chairs unfold against the move, and a table gets out of the sliding door, which is installed between in a matter of seconds. interlocutors. Convenient and pleasant, you feel care for people.

I liked the running characteristics of the car at once. From the first meters of the way, you note that Viano suspension is much more comfortable than the predecessor does not have these exhausting hard strokes. The point, apparently, is now the rear in the best weightlift on the axes.

The latter circumstance did not affect either the controllability or the dynamics of the car. The demolition of the rear axle stops the course stability system, and so that the rear wheels do not turn on slippery road surface, the system of traction is monitored. By the way, she can put a pig: if in winter the car is shown into summer tires, it may not start at all, even with a gas pedal drowned into the floor. In the course of the test, we encountered such a problem a couple of times, and if it were not for the opportunity to turn off such a caring assistant, we would probably still stand still. And so, nevertheless, it was possible to rescue the car from the captivity of the reason.

On our Viano there was a 2.2-liter second-generation turbodiesel with direct injection. The dynamics of a car with such a motor can conquer anyone. Viano, the equipment of which is 2115 kilograms, flew around the city, like a fluff. Acceleration to a hundred at Multivan takes only thirteen seconds, and this is with an acceptable fuel consumption: in the city about 11 liters per 100 kilometers.

The only thing that I did not like was too much vibration loading when operating the engine at idle. Because of this, the rear-view mirror systematically mandrizes, and you have to constantly bastard in order to take away what is happening behind the car. However, you can use external mirrors, the visibility of which is much better. In general, with a review and a sense of dimensions, everything is in order here. A person is capable of managing an almost five -meter machine without any problems (note that Viano can be both compact of our version or elongated and super -long).

The main advantage of the new Mercedes is versatility. It can always become precisely what you need at a particular moment, a hotel, a conference room or just a good, dynamic car. And this is very important if your life is mostly on wheels.

Technical characteristics Mercedes-Benz Viano CDI 2.2

Carrying body, all -metal
Number of places, people. 5
Equipped mass, kg 2115
Dimensions, mm:
- length 4748
- Width 1906
- Height 1875
Base, mm 3200
Maximum speed, km/h 174
Acceleration time to 100 km/h, from 13.4
Fuel tank capacity, l 75
Control consumption of fuel, l/100 km:
- City cycle 11.2
- Zagorodny 7.1
- Mixed 8.6
Engine:
- Type in order, 4-cylinder
- working volume, cm3 2148
- Power, L.S. at MIN-1 150/3800
- Torque, N.M at MIN-1 330/18002400
Mechanical transmission, 6th.
Tire size 205/65R16
Wheel suspension (front/rear) independent
Brakes:
- front disk, ventilated
- rear disc
Steering gear-rake, with gur
Price, euro 46000

Text: Oleg Kalaushin
 

Source: Magazine 5 wheel [04/2004]