Truck Topics
The “5†Revolution
The Daimler-Chrysler Sprinter is unique in many ways but none more so than its revolutionary five-cylinder diesel engine.
American drivers have been raised on powerful gas guzzling V-8’s and big bore six cylinder engines for over 70 years and introducing new designs take proven performance to make a sale.
Daimler’s highly successful Mercedes automobiles were the first passenger vehicles to use diesel technology. The diesel itself owes it name to Rudolph Diesel, a German inventor who developed the basic engineering principles of burning fuel slowly at higher temperatures around 1897.
This process allowed for the use of lower grade fuels that were less volatile than gasoline. But his invention was far from perfect at the time of his death in 1913.
The process requires more than just high compression; it requires building an engine totally differently than those powered by gasoline. Every component has be able to withstand enormous impact forces and machined parts, especially for the injection systems, have to be able held to much tighter tolerances than found in other fossil fuel engines.
In time it was discovered that the smaller you made an engine the more difficult it was to use diesel technology.
It would be another 20 years on the drawing board before Mercedes engineers overcame the size and quality control problems and introduced the first successful diesel powered car in 1936. And it has been the world leader in that endeavor for almost 70 years.
It is interesting to note that over a quarter-century ago Robert O’Reilly of Olympia, Wash., was honored by Mercedes during its Great Diesel Search for having driven his 1957 Mercedes 180D over 1,184,880 miles. Diesel durability is legendary and Mercedes is source of the legend.
The five cylinder 2.7 liter Mercedes CDI in the Sprinter is the culmination of over 90 years of research and 70 years of proven technology.
This power plant, and power is the right word, has a turbo charging, dual overhead cams and common rail direct fuel injection making it a miniature version of engines used on big rigs all over the world. Why 5 cylinders instead of 4 or 6 or 8 cylinders like most vans on the road? Because simply put 4 cylinder diesels have traditionally only been able to deliver high fuel mileage but at the cost of low horsepower.
The six cylinder diesels have had the opposite problem of delivering massive horsepower but were a victim of the additional weight required due to increased engine size and thus lost the fuel economy battle.
The 5 cylinder design was first introduced in Mercedes cars in 1987 and has gone through hundreds of changes since that time making today’s Sprinter one of the most reliable engines ever made for this class of vehicle.
It is interesting to note that today, almost 5 years after the introduction of the Sprinter, Chevrolet has introduced its first 5 cylinder gasoline engine, called the Victory Red, in its new lineup of Colorado light pickups. And you can bet that in the next years the 5 cylinder design will be copied by Ford as well from its recently acquired Volvo lineup of cars.
The future is about judicious use our resources, especially fossil fuels while delivering the power we need and simply put the 5 Cylinder design gives you everything you need and nothing you don’t, to make it right choice for your van.
Sprinter Van Contacts:
Grieger's Motor Sales
Brad Hallal
219-405-8148
Vist Web Site
Bob Caldwell Dodge
614-265-2999
Vist Web Site