If you've ever stepped within a sprinter 170 van, the first thing a person notice isn't the particular dashboard or the fancy Mercedes badging—it's the sheer quantity of area stretching out at the rear of you. It feels less like a shipment vehicle and even more just like a tiny facilities apartment that simply occurs have tires. While most people are usually familiar with the conventional vans you observe delivering packages, the particular 170-inch wheelbase edition is a completely various animal, particularly if you're looking to develop out a mobile home or the serious work rig.
Choosing the particular right van is really a massive decision, plus it usually comes down to a fight between the perky 144-inch wheelbase and the cavernous 170. I've spent a great deal of time poking around these rigs, and there's a certain kind of miraculous that occurs when a person have those additional few feet associated with floor space. This changes the method you live, the way you pack, and honestly, the way you think about existence on the road.
The luxurious of Not Folding Your Bed
The biggest selling point of the sprinter 170 van is, without having a doubt, the particular layout flexibility. Within the shorter models, you're almost always enjoying a game of Tetris. You usually have in order to choose between a fixed bed and the functional indoor bath, or perhaps you end upward with a "convertible" dinette where you need to move pillows and table legs every single night just to get to sleep.
In a 170, that struggle fundamentally disappears. You can have a full-sized, permanent queen bed in the as well as still have plenty of room for a dedicated kitchen, a seating area, and even a wet bath. Getting a fixed bed is one of these things you don't realize is the luxury until you've spent a week directly converting a table into a mattress while you're worn out. In the 170, you just crawl into bed. That's it.
Further than the bed, that additional length means a person can actually possess a "garage" area underneath. If you're into mountain biking, browsing, or skiing, the 170 is the dream. You may slide two or three bikes under the mattress platform and still have room with regard to your water reservoirs, electrical system, plus camping chairs. You aren't constantly moving gear from your entrance seats towards the back again just to make room to sit back.
Driving the Beast: Expect a Learning Curve
Now, let's end up being real for the second—driving a sprinter 170 van is not exactly like traveling your SUV. In roughly 22 ft long, you have to be conscious of where you're going. It's the long vehicle, and the wheelbase creates a significant "break-over" position along with a massive turning radius.
Parallel parking within a busy town center? Best of luck. You're going to be looking for those finish spots in car parking lots or staying to the back again of the lot where you can draw through two spaces. You also have got to be actually careful about "tail swing. " Considering that there's a reasonable quantity of van dangling out behind the rear wheels, once you take a sharp turn, the back again end from the van swings out in the opposite path. It's something a person learn quickly following a few close calls with a gasoline station bollard, but it's worth keeping in mind in case you're used to smaller cars.
Having said that, once you're within the open road, the 170 is definitely surprisingly smooth. This catches the breeze a bit more than the shorter versions, but the weight of the full build in fact helps settle the particular suspension. It cruises comfortably at 70 mph, and the particular visibility from that will high captain's seat is not easy to defeat. You feel like the particular king of the street, mostly because you're looking down in the roofs associated with almost every other car.
The particular Stealth Factor and Neighborhood Vibes
One thing individuals often overlook is usually how the size affects your "stealth" when camping. A sprinter 170 van is undeniably the "big van. " While a 144 can sometimes pass regarding a standard passenger vehicle if it doesn't have a lot of home windows or ladders, the particular 170 looks like the commercial vehicle or even a full-blown RV.
In the event that you're planning upon carrying out a lot associated with urban camping or even "stealth" parking within residential areas, the particular 170 is a bit even more conspicuous. It's hard to hide a 22-foot-long Mercedes. However, the upside is usually that since it looks like a high end commercial van, lots of people just assume it's a contractor or a delivery service and leave it only. It's all regarding how you dress it up. When you have photo voltaic panels, a MaxxAir fan, and the ladder on the back, the key is out there. But if you keep the exterior clear, you can still get away with a great deal.
Maintenance plus the Mercedes Taxes
Let's talk about the elephant within the room: the price. Buying a sprinter 170 van is an investment, both in advance and down the road. Mercedes-Benz vehicles require particular maintenance, and they aren't exactly cheap to fix if something goes sideways. You're looking at more expensive oil adjustments, specialized DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) techniques, and parts that will usually have to be ordered from Germany or perhaps a specific dealer.
Nevertheless, there's grounds people pay the high quality. The engines—especially the particular 6-cylinder diesels—are known for being complete workhorses. It's not uncommon to see these vans with three hundred, 000 or 400, 000 miles upon them still humming along. If you're planning on residing in this van full-time or taking it on a multi-year journey across the continent, that reliability is worth the extra few thousand bucks in maintenance expenses over the living from the vehicle.
Will be the 170 Extended Worth looking at?
Simply to make issues more complicated, additionally there is a "170 Extended" edition. This keeps the same wheelbase but provides even more body length to the particular back. Personally, except if you are journeying with a loved ones of four or even you're hauling an entire mobile workshop, the standard 170 is usually the "sweet spot. " The Extended version has an even crazier tail swing plus can be a nightmare on woodland service roads exactly where you might bottom part out the tail on a drop. For 90% of vanlifers and contractors, the standard 170 provides more than enough room with no making the vehicle impossible to manage within the wild.
Making the Last Call
So, who will be the sprinter 170 van really for?
If you're a weekend warrior that just wants in order to zip up to the mountains, find a small parking spot, and head home Weekend night, you might find it the bit overkill. When you are preparing to spend several weeks at a period on the street, or if you're working remotely and require a legitimate "office" space that doesn't feel like a wardrobe, the 170 is usually a total game-changer.
It's about the standard of living inside the van. Being able to stand upward, walk five paces, and not journey over your companion or your canine is a big-deal. It's the difference in between feeling like you're "camping" and sensation like you're "living. "
Yes, it's large. Yes, it's a pain to park at Whole Meals. And yes, you'll probably have to be more picky about which small dirt roads a person explore. Nevertheless the rain is serving down outside plus you're cozy inside your spacious, fully-equipped home on tires, you won't end up being wishing you experienced less space. You'll be glad a person went using the huge one.