A 4 cylinder diesel Sprinter?

guido4475 · Aug 13, 2012

I just read, a little behind in my reading, in the May issue of Light and Medium Truck magazine, In the story titled "On The Exhibit Floor", Claus Tritt, General manager of Daimler vans, LLC, stated the introduction of a 4 cylinder diesel Sprinter and a new transmission in 2013.The reason was to meet the demand for more fuel efficient vans.

Also, in the same issue, and the same story, Ford announced in late March that there would be a diesel engine in the full-size Transit, but would not release any other specifics.

The Transit has been sold in Europe since 1965, according to the article.

But the Ecoboost should be a good gas engine for the Transit, being a twin-turbo, and intentionally designed for towing.

scottm4211 · Aug 13, 2012

I've also read that the transit will come with a naturally aspirated gas engine and the diesel will probably be around a 3 liter European model.

FIS53 · Aug 14, 2012

Benz in europe offers several diesel engines in the Sprinters. One difference is they are usually mated to a manual transmission rather than the automatic. Engines used to range from the 1.9L with a couple of 2.xL 4 cylinders and then the 6 cylinders. For a city delivery van a 4 banger would work rather well.

Fords Transit has similar offerings but like Chrysler they are reluctant to bring in diesel based vans. The Connect offers several diesels with manual transmissions and only one gas engine. Similar for the full size Transit. Would be nice to see some more options in engine and transmission offerings.

I'm still waiting to see if Chrysler will sell the Fiat van which of course in europe offers several diesels as well. With the Nissan NV now available as a van option the commercial van segment could be pretty crowded with choices and only GM will not have one of these high roof units out there.