The steep, unpaved driveway was so free and mud-slicked from latest rains that I might really feel the bottom sliding ever so barely beneath the tires, even after we’d stopped. 

I used to be instructed by my information within the passenger seat of an enormous 2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter AWD passenger van, on the mucky off-road park close to Stuttgart, to reverse and again up the small hill, and he didn’t appear in the slightest degree fearful concerning the concrete wall only a foot or two away. 

With out participating any particular modes or following any particular tactic for accelerating out, I evenly then reasonably pressed the accelerator. The Sprinter, driving on Continental VanContact Winter tires, didn’t waste any energy to the rear wheels. As an alternative, it gently labored the entrance wheels bearing practically all the large van’s weight, gaining traction aspect to aspect to push the van cleanly up the incline and out of the mud pit.

It was a nerve-wracking however fast demonstration, and although we did different driving within the mud, backing out of a mud pit was probably the most spectacular of the day. Engineers conceded that it will have ended fairly in another way within the outgoing van. 

Taking the starring function on this maneuver was a brand new four-wheel-drive system that makes use of a multi-clutch system to repeatedly differ the torque break up, sending as much as 100% to the entrance or 100% to the rear, or any mixture in between, with the assistance of brake torque vectoring. Primarily a transplant from the Mercedes-Benz GLE and GLS SUVs, it’s an enormous enchancment over the earlier system, which was a part-time system locked to a break up of 33% to the entrance and 67% to the rear.

Normal downhill help management could be turned on when desired to reasonable a really low, controllable price of descent, even when the going will get slippery. The pace is adjustable considerably greater or decrease by way of the cruise management toggle. 

Those that need all-wheel drive within the revamped 2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter lineup should go along with the diesel engine, and what’s underneath the hood is improved, too, taking part in an vital function on this new traction and refinement. The brand new era 2.0-liter inline-4 turbodiesel engine is obtainable in a alternative of two completely different energy outputs—170 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, or 211 hp and 332 lb-ft—however all-wheel drive is obtainable solely together with the higher-output engine. 

It’s hooked as much as a brand new 9-speed computerized transmission. First gear for the automated is definitely 25% decrease than the earlier setup afforded with a low vary, so that they’ve eradicated that layer of transfer-case complexity solely. 

This is similar OM654 engine that’s used throughout the Mercedes-Benz automobile and SUV lineup in Europe. Mercedes says it’s a “extra succesful engine” than its turbodiesel predecessor, an inline-6. The corporate additionally notes that the brand new engine and transmission deliver improved effectivity, decreased noise ranges, decrease emissions, and extra sprightly efficiency, together with faster launches. 

That’s precisely what I skilled in a brief on-road drive. Whereas I didn’t expertise the attainable elevated sound and roughness of a chilly begin, it’s quiet and clean. It additionally pairs properly with the transmission, which delivers beautifully damped upshifts and fast downshifts that really feel borrowed from a luxurious SUV. 

Electrical energy steering additionally replaces hydraulic-boost steering for 2023, and it has a lightweight, exact really feel that makes the van simpler to put on tight metropolis streets, round roundabouts, and such. 

That mentioned, this van is just not a fancy SUV that may do most of its miles on the every day commute, or on the best way to soccer apply. Mercedes-Benz has quite a bit driving on its Sprinter vans. They’re the selection for supply drivers, they act as brawny upfits for plumbers and electricians, and so they additionally serve ski resorts, rafting firms, and out of doors lovers. The Sprinter has been obtainable with four-wheel drive since 2015, and just about from the outset that made it one of many prime new car picks for the overlanding craze. 

Again to the slippery stuff. The way in which the improved Sprinter AWD scrambles for traction jogs my memory extra of dual-motor electrical autos than different all-wheel-drive vans I’ve pushed. There’s a degree of finesse that truck platforms similar to this not often exhibit. 

Mercedes engineers confirmed that whereas the system is carried over from SUVs, it has developed an enormous, expanded management map to accommodate completely different loading and upfit features of the van, together with upsized tires, lifts, and all the remainder that an overlanding consumer may throw at it. 

I couldn’t assist however surprise if all this traction experience shall be shared with upcoming electrical Sprinters, because the model shifts towards a full electrical lineup by 2030. For now, that query stays unanswered, however there have undoubtedly been hints. Mercedes has already introduced that beginning in 2023, it’ll construct a brand new eSprinter in South Carolina, and designed on a modular Electrical Versatility Platform that may place an electrical motor on the rear wheels. As for an all-wheel-drive eSprinter, I stay optimistic that it’ll stay an choice with the Van.EA devoted EV platform for gentle business autos. It’s laborious to think about Mercedes giving up such functionality within the shift to electrical. 

The 2023 Sprinters are arriving now within the U.S. The beginning value of the U.S.-spec Sprinter is $47,000 in Cargo Van type, ranging as much as $52,610 in Passenger Van type, and it’s a hefty $12,500 improve to any of these for the diesel engine and all-wheel drive. For anybody desirous about constructing the overlanding rig of their desires, it’s simply the beginning for the upfit, now with higher footing for the long run.

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Mercedes lined transportation bills and lodging so we might  get our footwear all muddy and probably be taught one thing about future Sprinters