New EVM Euro6 Sprinter based Classic and X’Clusive 2

The Classic

The Classic is built on the extended wheelbase, 4,325mm, version of the Sprinter. It has EVM’s modified front full height entrance and a non-powered door. Other features are bonded privacy windows and air conditioning. The twin rear doors are retained and these give access to a good sized luggage boot with safety bulkhead separating it from the passenger saloon.

This produces a vehicle with an overall length of 7,345mm, width of 1,990m and height of 2,800mm.

The saloon is trimmed to the normal high EVM standard using a mix of moulded plastic and soft trim finishes. The vehicle I drove had 16 Comfort reclining seats with full belts trimmed in grey leather effect trim and fitted with arm rests on the gangway side. The Classic can have 19 seats with the loss of some boot space or at 22 without the luggage boot.

Despite being an entry level model the interior specification is high with full length racks incorporating individual passenger controls and a lockable driver’s locker; full length saloon lighting with night driving setting; glazed roof hatch; Mercedes-Benz saloon air conditioning and an in-coach sound system incorporating driver PA.

It all adds up to a very attractive, practical vehicle able to tackle a wide range of duties. A wide range of options includes tables, in-coach entertainment systems, etc, if you want to gild your lily.

Driving the 516

This was the vehicle that I was keenest to drive because the Sprinter 516 is by far the most popular base for five tonne minicoaches and it was fitted with the new 7G Tronic-Plus transmission. I reported on the new 7G Tronic transmission on a Euro5 Sprinter last year and found it to be a truly exceptional transmission in terms of smoothness. I was interested to see how Mercedes-Benz had managed to improve it still further.

Leaving EVM’s new centre in Horsham I headed for the M23. Early impressions were favourable the vehicle drove very smoothly, quietly changing up and down the box as we negotiated minor access roads, junctions and roundabouts until we got going on the dual carriageway. I was impressed, as I always am, with the ready availability of power from the Sprinter and the smooth way it is delivers that massive amount of torque.

The long steady uphill stretch of dual carriageway up to the M23 motorway is about a mile and is a very good test of how a vehicle performs. The 516 took it in its stride delivering instant power and plenty of performance but also doing it very quietly. These things are always subjective but my senses were telling me that the vehicle was making gear changes at lower rpm than the previous one I drove. It was difficult to judge because my previous outing with a 7G fitted Sprinter was the more powerful 519 model. Anyway later reference to my notes showed it was indeed changing around 200rpm earlier and up against the limiter it pulls some 600rpm less running at 2,200rpm rather than 2,800rpm.

Mercedes-Benz claimed that the new 7G Tronic Plus was even smoother than the earlier version and they are absolutely right. It is brilliantly smooth and so quiet. You really have to concentrate to detect many of the changes whether accelerating or decelerating. Compared to the old five-speed automatic used on the Sprinter it is like chalk and cheese and I always thought that was a good box but there is just no comparison in the quality of the shift.

On the M23 I was able to lift the 516 to cruising speed up against the limiter which it did easily and smoothly and above all quietly. Ride was excellent, the combination of independent front suspension and parabolic leaf springs on the Sprinter has always promoted a good ride even on the M23 which is not one of Britain’s smoothest motorways.

Braking was also very good giving safe, secure, straight stopping. In truth if you drive the vehicle properly, allowing the auto transmission to do its work, you really don’t need to use the brakes that much except in emergencies.

Leaving the M23 we toured some of the rural roads of East Sussex. Here again the Sprinter proved to be very well behaved. It just got on with the job quietly and efficiently, riding very smoothly. The vehicle seems to be working so well within its capacity all the time that it should be possible to achieve good fuel consumption figures with it; provided you drive it properly.

EVM and its predecessor KVC have always had a reputation for the quality of their conversions and the new Euro6 Classic 516 didn’t disappoint in that regard. The modified entrance with its three step layout provides easy entry with well placed grab handles and the Comfort seats are indeed comfortable with a nice level support. Vision through the large panoramic windows is excellent and the well balanced Mercedes-Benz air conditioning and heating system enabled a comfortable ambience to be achieved on what was a quite cold day.

The quality of the build was emphasised on some of the East Sussex A roads with plenty of deformations from poorly repaired surfaces and at times some sizeable, unavoidable potholing. Throughout it all the body remained tight with no vibration, shaking, no rattles and above all none of those infuriating plastic on plastic squeaks.

Not having the chance to try a manual version of the new Euro6 Sprinter I sought the views of an old friend, Seamus McDade, who looks after the Sprinter fleet of Airporter in Londonderry. They use both Euro5 and Euro6 Sprinter 516’s converted by EVM on a concentrated express service. Seamus reports that the manual Euro6 Sprinters drive very similarly to the Euro5’s but he too feels they seem to deliver the power more smoothly and quietly. It is too early to determine whether they are more fuel efficient and he wouldn’t expect them to provide reliable evidence on that score until they have operated for a few weeks and undergone their first service. He has promised to monitor them closely for me and I will report back later in the year.