Mercedes has launched 1,700 new Sprinters

Prepare all of your ‘fastest vehicle on the road!’ clichés: it’s the new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. This is the third-generation version of Merc’s big van, and there are some interesting highlights. And many, many versions.

While it comes in traditional rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive configurations, there’s now an entry level front-drive version, allowing prices in Germany to start below 20,000 euros. Or about £17,500, which is around five grand cheaper than the outgoing Sprinter’s starting point.

Losing the rear driveshafts lowers the rear loading sill (by 80mm) and adds carrying capacity (50kg) while allowing the use of a slick nine-speed automatic gearbox, like in Merc’s cars. It also opens up more elaborate campervan options.

There are eight levels of connectivity, with the Sprinter becoming a part of the Internet of Things. If you’re still as slightly befuddled by that term as us, it basically means it can slot into the systems of delivery companies and so on, far more easily. Tick the nicest options boxes and you can have a massive media screen, too. Again, like Merc’s cars.

All of its diesel engines – with between 113bhp and 187bhp – meet Euro 6 standards, and come with a choice of manual and automatic gearboxes. Predictably, given the lifespan of the Sprinter’s previous generations, this third-gen van will offer an electric transmission, too, the eSprinter launching in 2019.

There are so many variants – over 1,700 – we could use up the rest of the internet listing them, but know that the Sprinter can accommodate anywhere from three to 20 people, with a shedload of USB charging points when you get to the posh minibus versions. There’s a campervan, a flat-bed pick-up and all manner of shapes and sizes of regular van in between.

In fact, the only thing that appears to be missing is an AMG version. But then with so many sweeping stereotypes about Sprinters’ use of the outside lane of the motorway, more speed probably isn’t a priority. And if you’re disappointed, there’s always Brabus…