2015 MERCEDES-BENZ V-Class Review

Moreover, the car can park itself with the driver controlling just the throttle. While the V-Class does a pretty good job, the technology available nowadays means such systems can rival an average driver at best.

Out on the open road, the V-Class is just as surprisingly pleasant for its driver as it is for its passengers. For the man behind the wheel, it all starts with the driving position, which is a mélange of car and van.

As for the actual driving part, this Mercedes feels just like a 2,145 kg (4,730 lbs) SUV. Then again, you’d expect it to have nothing in common with the heavy feel of a commercial vehicle, since it comes with technical features such as a stiff structure or car-like suspension.

An important part of this feel arrives thanks to the new electromechanical steering. It’s light and lacks serious feedback, but it does allow you to precisely place the front wheels where you want them to be. The steering may not be all that talkative, but it certainly is a good listener, as it monitors your inputs and feeds the Crosswind Assist with info. The result is that, for instance, driving past trucks won’t have any effect on the massive V-Class.

Mix the aforementioned characteristics and you end up with a vehicle that’s easy to drive. Not only does the V-Class manage to make the drive pleasant, but it doesn’t put any kind of strain on its driver.

You can choose between three different outputs for Mercedes 2.1-liter four-cylinder diesel, a powerplant sourced from its passenger cars. While you should avoid the 136 hp V 200 CDI version, the V 220 CDI, which delivers 163 hp and 380 Nm (221 lb-ft) of torque will do the job decently.

The Viano’s 204 hp and 440 Nm (325 lb-ft) V6s is gone, being replaced by an incarnation of the aforementioned unit that delivers 190 hp and just as much torque as the six-cylinder. There’s also an overboost system that places an extra 10 hp and 40 Nm (29.5 lb-ft) under your right foot - this is the V 250 BlueTec model we drove.

While the 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) time has dropped by 0.1s to 9.1s, efficiency is up 28 percent. Aside from the downsizing, this was possible thanks to features such as a start-stop system and on-demand engine auxiliaries.

In the real world though, the start stop won’t be active for too long, simply because the large cabin requires the climate control to work hard. Still, the system managed to bring the vehicle to the desired temperature in due time.

Mercedes claims the Euro6 V 250 BlueTEC only needs 6.6l/100 km (35.6 mpg) inside the city and 5.6l/100 km (42 mpg) on the highway. During our drive, we achieved 10l/100 km (23.5 mpg) between urban borders and around the same value out on the open road.

Thanks to its two turbines, the oil burner pulls well up to about 180 km/h (110 mph), which is more than you’ll ever need. If you insist though, the thing will go past 200 km/h (124 mph). The unit is also smooth enough for its job, but you won’t be able to sustain speeds in the triple digit area due to the fuel efficiency and it’s all the fault of the 7G-Tronic Plus automatic gearbox.

Just like on the rest of Mercedes-Benz models, the slushbox feels outdated, even when we’re only referring to comfort. Not only are its shifting and shift logic below the technical level of the engine, but the lack of an eighth or ninth ratio means that, once you pass 130 km/h (80 mph), the efficiency starts dropping dramatically due to the high revs.

Given the luxurious nature of the V-Class, the standard six-speed manual doesn’t fit it, so the automatic remains the only choice.

As weird as it may sound, there’s an Agility Control feature that alters the throttle mapping and the automatic gearbox, offering you multiple driving modes. Not surprisingly, the V-Class felt in its element in the default Comfort setup. While the Sport only makes the transmission drawbacks even more obvious, the Eco model doesn’t feel artificial.

We must obviously also talk aerodynamics - not only did the designers draw a pretty face, they also made sure the panel gaps are kept as tight as possible. If you order the BlueEFFICIENCY package, you’ll even get aero panels for the underbody.

You can add the laminated glass windows of the Avantgarde trim level and you end up with premium soundproofing. This, together with the superb ride comfort place the V-Class way ahead any competitor in its class.

Factor in the traditional treats of the segment, such as the acres of space and luxuriant visibility and you end up with a vehicle that treats its passengers with tons of respect, shortening long trips. The only thing that feels unusual is the sensations of speed, as the V-Class allows you to fully feel the velocity of the vehicle, as if you were in a sporty model.

As for the luggage, the rear of the V-Class can swallow 1,031 liters (36.6 cubic feet) of your stuff, but you can slide the rear seats forward to increase that volume without having to remove them, which you obviously can do if you prefer.

The suspension deserves quite some credit for the aforementioned achievements. While the standard passive dampers offer a decent compromise between ride and handling, we drove an example fitted with Agility Control suspension. This means two-way auto-adaptive shock absorbers, a feature that makes quite a difference.

Interestingly enough, the Germans also offer a... sports suspension, with stiffer front anti-roll bars, a 15 mm (0.6 inches) ride height drop, as well as specifically-tuned springs and passive dampers.

With Agility Control, the handling is reasonable - there’s a serious amount of body roll, but this doesn’t affect the V-Class road-holding abilities. For example, the thing corners better than a non-AMG G-Class.

As for the RWD, you won’t feel any oversteer tendencies, even when pushing the vehicle hard. In fact, this is one of the safest large, rear-wheel drive vehicles we’ve driven - German humor never includes jokes about the ESP, so when the German engineers mentioned the intelligent system tailored to the V-Class, they weren’t kidding.

In case you were wondering, our tester didn’t roll on the standard 16-inch wheels, but on 17-inch units. You can climb as high as 19 inches if you like.

Speaking of safety, the V-Class fully benefits from the three-pointed star badge, being packed with passive and active safety features. From Collision Prevention to Blind Spot Assist, Distronic Plus (active cruise control), Lane Keeping Assist and others, you have plenty of guardian angels. Six airbags come in standard, with an extra optional pair can extend on the sides of the cabin, from the A to the D pillar.

The Euro NCAP rated the V-Class at five stars, with a 93 percent protection score for adult occupants, 87 percent for child occupants, 67 percent for pedestrians and an 85 percent safety assist bonus.

Our only gripe with the V-Class as far as this area is concerned are the brakes. From the heavy pedal to the less-than-trustful feel of the deceleration process itself, both at high and low speeds, we were disappointed. In the end, you learn to live with this and anticipate the various situations.

We’ve had this issue with a Mercedes-Benz vehicle before, namely an SLK 350 with the AMG package. Just like back then, out car was gifted with the larger brake package, not the standard one, but this didn’t seem to help.

As for the other features you can gift a V-Class with, we’ll mention the ones that are the most enjoyable. The 8.4-inch infotainment display replacing the standard 7-inch screen is an example as good as any. In the aural pleasures department, the standard audio system delivers a fine quality, so you have to be really keen on this side in order to order the optional Burmester system.

Staying in this top layer of features, you can also have the Command Online system, which brings joys such as photo-augmented navigation, various apps, an 80-gigabyte hard drive, and, of course, Internet access.

To be more specific, the V-Class manages to make both its driver and its passengers feel like they are in a passenger can. From the styling to the way it drives, the V-Class is all white collar.

As a business shuttle, the Mercedes-Benz V-Class is the vehicle to have, providing you can afford it. All this reinventing of the van concept does come with a price. In Europe (Germany), the vehicle starts at EUR 42,000, while a well-gifted one will set you back around EUR 60,000 - the aforementioned prices include 19 percent VAT.

The financial side is also the only thing that keeps the V-Class from fully stealing the Volkswagen Multivan clientele, which it would otherwise do. A VW T5 starts at over EUR 30,000, while a merrily-configured one will climb to about EUR 45,000. Nonetheless, Volkswagen is currently in the final development stages of the T6 Transporter, so this will be a different fight in about two years from now.

As for the part with replacing the family-destined R-Class, the V-Class only manages to cater to such needs up to a point. The V-Class isn’t a perfect family car, simply because it’s something else, namely the German automaker’s ambition to build the ultimate van. What we have here is Mercedes being Mercedes and in the plush process, they’ve managed to make minivans cool.