Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport 120CDI

After just missing the podium at the Vito Sport sponsored Bristol Oktoberfest, Mercedes-Benz approached us to take a look at the Vito Sport itself as a life-style and MTB utility vehicle. Here we take a look at the range topping 204bhp V6 diesel in it's Dualiner, 5-seater configuration.

Ask on any MTB forum the question, “what MTB van?”, and you’ll usually a flood of response for VW’s Transporter. But Mercedes-Benz are keen to point out that Vito is every bit a match for the VW. And through a long-standing programme of sponsoring sporting events and pro teams/riders, they’re actually listening to what the real users of these vehicles actually want.

a turbocharged V6 diesel offering a very pokey 204bhp of power...

We were given the Dualiner 120 CDI. Externally it looks like the panel van, but the bulkhead is moved back and you get a set of removable rear seats at the expense of rear load space. The 120 CDI engine is a turbocharged V6 diesel offering a very pokey 204bhp of power and 440nm of torque. A more modest 4-cylinder model is offered with a manual gearbox and optional auto, the 120 CDI is offered as an auto only.

Video of Brechfa visit with the Vito Sport

The Vito Sport is fantastic looking vehicle in its Black Metallic paint, 17” alloys, colour-coded body plastics and chromed step-up bars - it certainly looks the part! Further enhancements to distinguish it from the more commercial standard Vitos include uprated seats, air-con, the auto gearbox and cruise control. Visually the interior styling still feels a touch workman-like rather than lifestyle, but the quality is excellent and it’s a good nod to practicality with everything but the seats being wipe-clean. The non-carpeted but tidily finished floors are particularly good for cleaning up after muddy bikes have been in and out but are likely to look scruffy quite quickly. Things like suspension fork legs, bag studs or plastic containers being dragged in and out seemed to scuff ours up a bit in just a few days use, but it’s purely a cosmetic issue.

Entry to the load area is via twin split doors rather than a hatch style opening, great for access when room to the rear of the vehicle is limited, not so good for sheltering from the rain while getting changed! The twin sliding side doors remain allowing access to the the rear seating area and they’re windowed and tinted. The rear doors are also windowed but completely blacked out for security which is good.

the Dualiner will happily take four riders, four bikes and all their kit...

The rear load space of the Dualiner looks a bit disappointing initially, the Dualiner aspect means the rear seats eat hugely into its length and the rear wheel arches take up a large portion of the floor plan you’re left with. But to be fair it’s comparable to the VW Transporter Kombi in length though. You won’t get any bikes in whole and we could only manage two bikes width ways (plus kit) by just taking the front wheels out. But even then we had to let the rear tyres down and it was a case of squeezing them in behind the wheel arches. Take both wheels out of the bikes though and the Dualiner will happily take four riders, four bikes and all their kit. The capacity is there, it’s just perhaps not as flexible as some would like. Some kind of configurable shelving system would allow a floor to be put in above the wheel arches and improve the floor plan, but also allow the huge vertical space to be better used. A longer wheelbase version is available to give a bit of extra room.

On the other hand, the rear seated area is almost too generous with excessive amounts of legroom, but the sliding panel doors do dictate the bulkhead location and in turn how the space is divided up. That said there’s loads of space for extra kit here whether you’ve got people in the back or not, and with the seats being removable it doubles up as a second load area. Unfortunately the non-removable bulkhead means it can’t be converted back to a full-size panel-van.

0-60 covered in a sporty-hatchback worrying 8.3 seconds...

Driving the Vito was a mostly an un-vanlike experience. Yes, the steering is a touch heavy and the pedals quite weighty, and when you turn in it’s obvious you’re still driving what is essentially derived from a large commercial vehicle. But the handling is otherwise very good, the rear wheel drive chassis is stiff and there’s little body roll. The ride quality is very ‘Benz-like despite its keen, sporty handling, with cabin noise low and poor road surfaces largely undetectable. Rolling down the normally rough track out of the Brechfa car park it really hit home just how good the ride quality is! The adjustable cruise control is a huge bonus and something you don’t miss until you’ve actually had it, and it really helps make light work of long motorway or trunk road journeys.

The performance from the 3.0L V6 diesel is simply astonishing with 0-60 covered in a sporty-hatchback worrying 8.3 seconds. But it’s the in gear acceleration and uphill performance where it really shines and it’s just a shame that the auto-only transmission dulls it a bit. A nudge of the gear lever left or right allows you to override the auto-box, but quite often you find yourself putting your foot down only to wait for the auto to dither and make its mind up before finally unleashing the full 440nm of neck wrenching torque. But pre-emptively down-shift the auto and bury the throttle, and that stereotypical turbo-diesel wave of power kicks in, lasting well up into the rev range, ending in a very un-diesel sounding crescendo! It’s amazing to think you’re driving almost two-tons of commercial vehicle! The auto is generally nice to have for a large chunk of the time, but many would prefer the manual option and it really would add to the ‘sport’ element of the Vito.

crossing wet campsites and the like, it’s a lot of power going down through those rear wheels...

The downside of this strong engine is its thirst. The auto box makes it tricky to drive economically, although the cruise control helps on the motorway. We barely scraped 30mpg running a return trip of Bristol to Brechfa. Start to actually use the performance on tap and it’s very easy to get an MPG in the low 20s! The rear drive chassis also makes life a little interesting. Vitos are likely to be doing a bit of mild offroading crossing wet campsites and the like, and it’s a lot of power going down through those rear wheels. When filming we found the rear end very keen to spin up simply pulling out of soggy welsh lay-bys.

While it might seem that the Dualiner configuration might compromise the Vito somewhat, it does have the benefit of doubling up as very roomy family car. And as mentioned, if you do a bit of extra work loading it, it will take four riders and kit, in comfort - not something many vehicles can boast. If your MTB van needs to double as your main car too then it’s a perfectly great compromise. However, if you’re priority is getting a couple of bikes in whole with all your kit, plus having the room to shut yourself in and get changed, or even sleep in the thing, the Vito Sport can be had as a 2-seat panel van and this is a much better choice.

The exact Van and configuration we drove comes in at £22,700 + VAT with Vito Sports starting from £19,750+ VAT for 115CDI. It’s a big outlay but the model we had is priced inline with the largest engined VW Transporter Kombi, and a lot of the kit you get for that price with the Vito (air con, sat nav, cruise control) are all rather pricey extras on the VW, so in that respect it’s good value.

Any criticisms leveled at the Dualiner configuration are not specific to the Vito, as having any five-seater version of a panel van is always going to be a compromise in terms of rear space. But some kind of modular configuration system for the rear space would make the Dualiner less compromised.

The wide gap between the engine models means you may struggle to pick between the frugal but more sluggish 115 CDI and the thirsty and excessive 120 CDI though. We loved the 120CDI but if we were picking up that fuel bill each month we’d probably quickly tire of it.

Overall we loved our time with the Vito, it was comfortable and nice to drive, and it carted our kit around without needing to be precious about ruining a car. Add to that the decent equipment levels, and you’ve got a genuine substitute for the family car.

*priced ex VAT