WINTER TEST 11
Citan – new urban van from Mercedes-Benz
• On Winter Test Drives in Northern Sweden
E
very vehicle that wears the Mercedes-Benz ‘triple-star’ badge must earn its stripes before going into the sales batt lefield. It is a badge of honour to those working at Mercedes-Benz. To customers it is a symbol of prestige and quality. That message was delivered strongly by Volker Mornhinweg, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans to the International Van Jury assembly in Northern Sweden. The object of the exercise was to demonstrate how the new Citan project has advanced since our sneak preview in Germany in February. Mr. Mornhinweg is confident that the transformation of the Renault Kangoo into the new Mercedes-Benz Citan has been successful. Apart from the door, side panels and the engine, practically Volker Mornhinweg
everything else has been changed. Much time and effort has been put into fine tuning and moulding the van into the MercedesBenz DNA. Citan has to feel and drive like a Merc – fit comfortabably into the family and above all wear the badge with honour and pride. Details of the test drives will be revealed next month after the official launch of the Citan prior to the RA I Amsterdam Show (16th April). Meanwhile, at Mercedes-Benz' own Test Centre near the Arctic Circle the Citan has been going through extreme tests at sub-zero temperatures. As we saw and experienced, the Citan successfully came through sub-zero temperature tests on designated carved out tracks with metre-high snow banks. Situated nea r t he sma l l town of Arjeplog, Mercedes-Benz has its own test centre with fully equipped workshops, offices and a variety of test circuits including one on a frozen lake as well as a challenging
mountain route. These test focus on cold start behaviour, heating and ventilation systems, seat heating, windscreen defrosting etc. Materials used are put through their paces too, for example, how do items such as door seals perform at below zero? Will they go britt le or crack? Th is region also provides an ideal opportunity to trial and fi ne-tune the suspension control systems. The latest Adaptive ESP – Electronic Stability Programme comes as standard on the Citan and from our experience in the Sprinter where the system has been perfected, it is a magnificent system and can save lives on the road. In reality ESP covers an array of functions that aid the control of the vehicle such as anti-lock braking, acceleration skid control, drive and braking, torque control, engine friction torque control, under-steer control and rolling movement intervention. As experienced in Arjepleg with the Sprinter, ascents of 10 to 20% incline were driven. Covered on one side with high-grip heated asphalt and slippery ice on the other, the van navigated the inclines and descents safely. With one of the Mercedes-Benz engineers
IceMaker testing the depth of the ice.
16 FLEETVAN&UTILITY | Spring 2012
WINTER TEST 11 alongside, patience was all that was required as it takes just a lifetime for the wheel spin to cease and the traction to kick in. With the aid of hill start, the brakes remain on for 0.8 seconds to allow foot movements from the brake pedal to the accelerator. Other courses tried during the day long exercise included driving on compacted snow at high speeds and undertaking brake tests, pushing the loaded Sprinter to the limit. As expected, it responded safely and predictably at all times. The Sprinter's new 7-speed automatic transmission was appraised
here too on the vast frozen lake, prepared by the Icemakers, a company that specialises in creating precisely defined courses for Mercedes-Benz over the years, including a circuit with a diameter of 500 metres. Here and on the various handling circuits with their sweeping and tight bends, both the Sprinter and Citan had to demonstrate their grip and handling stability. The brand’s hallmark tuning of suspension and control systems became apparent under these conditions. Volker Mornhinweg also got involved in the test programme. He spent two days in Arjeplog behind the wheel of the Citan putting
the newest member of the Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle family to the test. And he left impressed. “Our new suspension and our control systems are now perfectly tuned. It’s something you notice on the various handling courses and when moving off or braking. I’m also extremely happy with the changes in the interior – both in terms of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, as well as the robust materials selection. The Citan is now a bona fide Mercedes-Benz after all the tests and work our development engineers have done. And so it’s ready for series production.”
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter continues to evolve • New Autobox • Enhanced ESP functions
I
n a world fi rst, the new Mercedes-Benz 7G-Tronic transmission is now available in the Sprinter. With a full electronic control, this auto gearshift has already proved itself on Mercedes-Benz cars but has been adapted to meet specific requirements of van usage. “The great advantage of the new transmission with its seven gears is that it combines a wide spread between the lowest and the highest gears with closely spaced ratios,” explained Volker Mornhinweg, Head of Mercedes-Benz vans. The 7-speed torque converter automatic transmission delivers smooth shift action, which is complimented with practically no interruption in power delivery. And that was proven when driving on the long straight stretches of compacted snow on metre deep ice on lake Udjaur. Of course, the driver can intervene manually whenever necessary – to make use of the engine braking effect during descents, for example. Together with R&D partners Bosch MercedesBenz has introduced the next generation of Adaptive ESP, called ESP9i, that feature a Text: Jarlath Sweeney - editor@fleet.ie
number of additional functions :-
engine compartment.
Brake Disk Wipe: in the wet, this system builds up a low level of brake pressure, and wipes the fi lm of water off the brake disc so that the full braking power is available straight away if it should be required. Electronic Brake Prefill: if the driver releases the pressure on the accelerator suddenly, it is interpreted as the fi rst step of an imminent braking process. The system then reacts to this by gently applying the brake pads to the brake disc, and the reaction time for any braking is reduced. Since Mercedes-Benz passenger cars were fitted with ESP, driver related accidents fell by more than 42% between 1998/1999 and 2002/2003. For other brands, the number fell by around 13% during the same period. Another major development in the ESP9i is the integration of the sensor cluster into the ECU– Electrical Control Unit. Here-tofore the sensor was placed separately under the passenger seat with the ECU within the FLEETVAN&UTILITY | Spring 2012 17