Took my truck into the shop today for a leak in the fuel filter canister & rode back to work in a van powered by a 5cyl Mercedes diesel. To say the least, I was impressed!! Plenty of power & the guy driving the van says that the fuel economy is pretty good, they only have to fill up every 3 days! Although I wouldn't trade my Cummins in for anything, I wouldn't be too broke up about having one of these engines in my truck either.

 

Thats the 270 CDI engine that's in Sprinter vans (which you probably rode in, with either a freightliner or dodge label). They get fantastic mpg for a van of that size - 22mpg or so. Now if they'd just sell the C270CDI over here like they do in Europe, now that would be awesome. As you know MB now sells the E320CDI sedan, but the smaller C-class would be perfect with the 270 engine! Ahh maybe once ULSD hits we'll get some cool diesels.

 

Since I work at Freightliner, I get the privledge (if you want to call it that) to work on these alot. Most of our biggest repairs are on UPS and FED EX vans since they have a large depot full of them here. I cant say im impressed at all of them. Most overhauls are showing up under 100k. Granted they are from UPS which drive the heck out of them. Chain drive engine instead of gear driven. Lots of plastic and aluminum to sum it up.