T he Sprinter came with the potential disadvantage of having the
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lowest powered engine—at 1311hp—by a long way. While Merc's line-up extends up to a 1S4hp five-cylinder stump puller, presumably for reasons of keeping the range simple and costs down, the tipper only comes in one spec and only one colour, Arctic White (mind you, as five of our seven were white, that's apparently not a hardship and white is always a good background for a livery, too).
Everyone liked the Sprinter's interior trim quality although they soon rumbled that the plastic dashboard is not as soft as it looks. Despite its apparent sophistication and quiet tickover, the Sprinter wasn't totally without criticism for its noise levels at higher speeds—in fact, it was the noisiest at motorway speeds, no doubt a product of the low output engine having to work rather hard.
Its conveniently-placed and smoothly operating dash-mounted gearchange earned praise, as did the dynamic performance of its suspension and steering systems. The biggest criticism was saved far the mirrors, which could do with more glass area and better blind spot coverage.