From a Yaris to a Sprinter

[David C]

I'm an electrician and the company I'm currently with is getting a new service truck and I'll be the designated driver. I have a 45 minutes drive to the shop with my Yaris then I'll have to adjust to a 8' raised roof, 19' long cargo van (Mercedes Sprinter), weights twice as much, has a 3L V6 turbo Diesel engine, rear wheel drive, etc. polar opposite of a 3dr hatch. My main concern when driving bigger vehicles than my own is staying centered in the lane because the driver seat isn't anywhere near where I'm used to in relation to the road and wheels. Other than that I'm comfortable driving, backing, getting in and out of ditch and unpaved roads, etc. I'd be pretty pissed to scrape a car on the highway, passing by too close.

At least both vehicles are white, so it should help with the transition ;)

[SirDigby]

i drive my yaris to work. i drive a Chevrolet 1 ton savanna all day. 23' long. (or a ford F550 crane truck) never had any issues transitioning vehicles. i used to drive for UPS and they have an awesome driver's training program! i never have issues driving anything after taking that class!
all vehicles i drive are white. (HA!)

[David C]

I simply don't spend much time behind the wheel of bigger cars than my Yaris at this moments, but like I said its gonna change Monday morning.

[Kalispel]

I can't stand driving anything larger than a Corolla/Civic size car. Even the newer Accord and Camry models are too large for my taste. My Yaris is the perfect size for me. :thumbsup:

Good luck driving those fat boats. :laugh:

[junorico24]

Sprinters would make a sweet camper van tho.

[David C]

Sprinters would make a sweet camper van tho.



Yup, you can setup a hammock in the back

[dogsridewith]

Can you drive the Yaris into the Sprinter?

[ern-diz]

Can you drive the Yaris into the Sprinter?

Ha :biggrin:

[David C]

I wish, but it's only 53" interior width. It can however fit up to 137" (11') inside and haul up to 1.55 ton of cargo. However if you drive the Yaris in from the side doors, it may fit, but stick out a little on the sides :p

[Thirty-Nine]

We rented a Sprinter for 11 nights in New Zealand. It as a 2WD version, but it made for a very awesome RV while we had it. They drive quite well; much less trucklike that one might expect.

http://crankshaftculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/van-by-the-beach.jpg

http://crankshaftculture.com/2016/10/31/van-life-can-awesome-can-also-frustrating/

[junorico24]

We rented a Sprinter for 11 nights in New Zealand. It as a 2WD version, but it made for a very awesome RV while we had it. They drive quite well; much less trucklike that one might expect.

http://crankshaftculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/van-by-the-beach.jpg

http://crankshaftculture.com/2016/10/31/van-life-can-awesome-can-also-frustrating/

Awesome, where in NZ? I went to Auckland this year i love the place. We rented a mazda 2. I want to go back explore the South Islands in a sprinter.:biggrin:



CAMPER! :smoking:

[Whiplash]

That looks nice.

[David C]

Looks like it won't be ready for Monday, the rankings will take a little longer to be installed. Hopefully will get to drive it before the snow storms hit

[Thirty-Nine]

Awesome, where in NZ? I went to Auckland this year i love the place. We rented a mazda 2. I want to go back explore the South Islands in a sprinter.:biggrin:

CAMPER! :smoking:

We were all over NZ. We picked up the van in Christchurch, took it to Queenstown, Milford Sound, up the Western coast, up to the Tasman Sea, over to Blenheim, ferried over to the North Island, up the West Coast then dropped it off in Auckland. Took my wife's cousin's Mitsubishi Delica all around the North Island, then hopped over to Sydney, up to Newcastle, then flew out of Sydney. Total trip was three weeks. More on our NZ trip here:

http://crankshaftculture.com/2016/11/11/new-zealand-close-personal/

[junorico24]

We were all over NZ. We picked up the van in Christchurch, took it to Queenstown, Milford Sound, up the Western coast, up to the Tasman Sea, over to Blenheim, ferried over to the North Island, up the West Coast then dropped it off in Auckland. Took my wife's cousin's Mitsubishi Delica all around the North Island, then hopped over to Sydney, up to Newcastle, then flew out of Sydney. Total trip was three weeks. More on our NZ trip here:

http://crankshaftculture.com/2016/11/11/new-zealand-close-personal/

OMG! :bow:

You did all that in 3 weeks? geez! I went to matamata ( lord of rings film set) hamilton, Waiheke Island, Rotaroa and Auckland Harbor. It was an awesome place, loads of sheeps and mountains and green pastures.

I wanted to go because I have co workers that are New Zealanders they are the nicest people. Was wondering what is up in New Zealand? lol.

I plan one day to do your trip in 2 weeks. I live in Sydney (boring). Newcastle is awesome, central coast is usually much better than overrated Sydney.

I plan to go to Queensland next year. I love driving up North. Taking the KIA Sportage again. It's still running like a champ. Due for a service this Monday! KIA is really beginning to win me over. Very underrated company.

:thumbup:

[Thirty-Nine]

OMG! :bow:

You did all that in 3 weeks? geez! I went to matamata ( lord of rings film set) hamilton, Waiheke Island, Rotaroa and Auckland Harbor. It was an awesome place, loads of sheeps and mountains and green pastures.

I wanted to go because I have co workers that are New Zealanders they are the nicest people. Was wondering what is up in New Zealand? lol.

I plan one day to do your trip in 2 weeks. I live in Sydney (boring). Newcastle is awesome, central coast is usually much better than overrated Sydney.

I plan to go to Queensland next year. I love driving up North. Taking the KIA Sportage again. It's still running like a champ. Due for a service this Monday! KIA is really beginning to win me over. Very underrated company.

:thumbup:

Yeah, it was a whirlwind trip for sure.

My wife's cousin lives on Waiheke! We were there for four days (the longest we stayed anywhere). Did you get out to Stony Batter? It was beautiful out there.

We stayed with a friend in Newcastle (she actually runs the Newcastle Museum). Really hope to get back to both NZ and OZ sooner than later.

[eTiMaGo]

Aw I thought Sprinter Trueno, that's not quite the same!

[David C]

This morning the boss handed me the keys of his brand new $80k Sprinter and I got to spend time behind the wheel and get familiar with the gas pedal feel (which is very stiff, but smooth). The humongous wide windshield really helps staying in my lane and tbh it felt very similar to my Yaris in terms of width. The fact that the hood drops quickly and the A pillars being so far to the side is the big reason to the familiar feel. Didn't had a problem parking in a tight driveway at dark between a car and a tree. Suspension is smooth and well balanced, doesn't feel rear heavy, but at first I felt like I was constantly nose diving due to the high seat position and dropping dash and hood. I think the magnifying side view mirrors will take the most getting used to, as I always feel like the car behind me is kissing my bumper. No lumbar adjustment/bottom cushion angle or suspension on the driver seat, fingers crossed that it won't mess up my back. The throttle is very slow, far from being jumpy, on the highway I almost have to floor it to get up to speed in a decent time, but again it's not broken in, still have 1 300km to go. Despite that, the engine doesn't rev high, red zone starts at 4k rpm and torque doesn't seem to show up until 2500 revs, which means I have to rev it up from 1500 when crushing on the highway to actually accelerate faster than a slug.

That's my first impression after spending 1.5h/60km on 6 travels today. Mostly highway, but some residential and boulevard too. Just finished reading the operator's manual, tomorrow i start at lunch time, so I get to stay up late (which I always do anyway) but get up late hehe. Maybe I'll show up a little early tomorrow so I can spend time tweaking seat position and stuff before hitting the road.

59070
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171122/18b08461808212ed58458107b5994a27.jpg

[ern-diz]

Nice!

[David C]

Got it down to 14.2L/100km average driving a 20km boulevard/residential commute to job site this morning.

[David C]

Finally hit the 1000km, engine is a little more responsive, slowly tackling engine braking on highway off ramps, brakes are still a long way to get full power without fade.

The huge windshield really make it a breeze to drive. No problem at all maneuvering the truck anywhere I want and need to.

Factory remote keyless entry sucks, pretty weak remote signal (uses infrared rather than transmitting radio waves), you have to be pointing it at the front left of the truck to expect anything to happen.

Headlights are very nice, beam pattern is awesome and not blinding, does offset the ridiculously huge reflection on the windows and windshield that mirror every little lights at night. Spending several hours a day driving the truck since we mostly do service calls. It's pleasant/not tiring to drive. Thanks boss !