Mercedes Vito in the driving report: facelift for the van

Earlier is back. The Vito is a M ercedes like back then when Daimler technicians feared that a five-speed transmission could be an unreasonable complication of operation and that there are still no convex-concave body shapes - or even designers who want to explain them.

Mercedes Vito does without any clutter

As a station wagon, the Mercedes Vito bridges the gap between the rustic van and the finer, seven-seater Mercedes Viano, but only comes with back seats for an extra charge. With eight seats, the five-meter-long medium version makes 36,169 euros. In addition, everything that is available in the form of airbags and air conditioning, then Untertürkheim asks for 38,505 euros - only around 1,000 euros less than for the noble Mercedes Viano Trend. It even costs a good 300 euros less, if you bring both to the same level of equipment.

But it is precisely the renouncement of any Klimbim that gives the Mercedes Vito the special charm, which with pragmatic materials and solid workmanship does not meet the more robust requirements of everyday family life. A little protection of freshly excavated apple trees is lost in the depths of the hold. After the transport, briefly lap over the plastic floor - everything is clean again.

The Mercedes Vito snakes its way through the city with ease

In addition to the enormous amount of space, the Mercedes Vito with its comfortable seats /benches and pleasant background noise qualifies for long journeys. A few hundredweight of luggage improve the unloaded, bumpy suspension comfort. Despite its size, the Mercedes Vito meanders through the city with ease, retains its high level of driving safety even in a hurry - and its understandable aversion to cornering dynamics.

The 2.1-liter diesel doesn't want anything else either When it is, no one thinks it is a gasoline engine even acoustically. 136 hp are enough for a good temperament, whereby the driver of the Mercedes Vito has to eagerly stir through the jittery six-speed gearbox. The use of the start-stop system is not very refreshing, as it slowly revs up the engine and leads to frequent stalling when restarting the traffic light. Maybe just a defensive attitude of the Mercedes Vito - such modern stufflike start-stop didn't exist at Mercedes before.