Travels with Mister Metris

About half of Fleet Owner's test drive took place during night-time hours. The halogen headlights on the Metris provided excellent forward visibility, illuminating the roadway with a high degree of clarity.

The current base price of a "standard" 2017 Metris model is $32,900. The 2017 model Metris Passenger Van 126 operated by Fleet Owner, however, came with a price tag of $45,870, largely due to $10,765 in optional equipment – the most expensive being its “premium” safety package at $2,340.

Road work, even in the dead of night, occurred on many of the highways plied by Fleet Owner on its Metris journey – especially on this stretch of I-95 in New York heading south towards New York City and the George Washington Bridge. The need for a lot of maneuvering around construction zones triggered the van’s lane keeping assist system frequently, causing the steering wheel to vibrate. Fortunately it could be deactivated with the touch of a button.

On technological drawback to this 2017 model Metris: a “driver attention” system that activated frequently at night to urge the vehicle operator to pull over and take a break. Once activated it would chime every 15 to 20 minutes (interrupting classic heavy metal music piped into the sound system via a USB connection) and light up a digital coffee cup on the dash. Side note: almost all refueling depots in New Jersey like this one are “full service.” You pull up and attendants handle the refueling process.

This Metris van came equipped with the Mercedes Benz Parktronic plus active parking assist system. That proved most helpful during a crowded stopover at the DE Turf Sports Complex outside Frederica, DE.

The two-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine powering this Metris offers 208 hp and 258 ft.-lbs. of torque all connected to a seven speed "7G-TRONIC" automatic transmission. In short, it could get up to speed very quickly in highway merge situations, hitting 60 mph in about 9 seconds as advertised. The van’s 18.5 gallon fuel tank also provided a hefty amount of driving range as well. 

The Metris also offered up decent fuel economy as well. With a GVWR of 6,724 lbs. and running lightly loaded, the van scored right about 23 to 24 miles per gallon (mpg) in highway driving and a little better than 20 mpg in city driving. Roughly per every 100 miles of operated we burned about 4.5 gallons of fuel. An engine stop-start system improved the van’s fuel numbers further. Particular in urban driving conditions with a lot of traffic, it helped gain an additional 1 mpg by shutting the engine off at stop lights and also when stuck standing still on congested roadways for extended periods.

Another nice attribute of the 2017 Metris: its maneuverability. The steering wheel proved equivalent in size to that of a sedan instead of a truck, making one-handed maneuvering in crowded locations, such as refueling stations, quite easy.

This van also featured an optional "driver comfort package" that added an upgraded suspension and plusher, more ergonomic seats for the driver and upfront passenger. For our six-foot test driver (that would be the editor-in-chief) the seats proved a boon, helping to eliminate aches and pains after sitting for four and five hour driving sessions. However, a co-pilot measuring five foot, one inch in height found the added lumbar and seat supports uncomfortable.

Paying an added $2,340 for a safety technology package may seem like a lot, but it proved its worth a hundred times over on our test drive. In all sorts of crowded high-speed driving situations – such as crossing the Bay Bridge, pictured here – knowing in the blink of an eye if the van had a vehicle along the left or right side proved vital from a safety perspective on more than one occasion.

The Metris also proved to be a stable and sturdy vehicle in high-wind situations, such as experienced here on the Bay Bridge when 15 mile per hour gusts swept the structure during the crossing; gusts coming off the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. 

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge, often just called the “Bay Bridge” by local denizens, is officially named the "Gov. William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge" after William Preston Lane, Jr. who, as the 52nd Governor of Maryland, initiated its construction in the late 1940s after what the history books call “decades of political indecision and public controversy.” Its total length is 4.33 miles and 4.35 miles, respectively, for each span. The bridge is also infamous in trucking circles as a crash on it in 2008 led to the death of truck driver John Robert Short.

For this particular Metris, the engine and transmission were built in Germany, with that nation the source for 12% of its overall parts. Spain was not only the source for 72% of this van's parts, it was also the location for its final assembly; the city of Vitoria, to be precise. That being said, Mercedes Benz is right now building a new factory in North Charleston, S.C., for U.S. production of the Sprinter full-size van, the larger sibling of the Metris. Will the Metris one day be built there as well? 

The 20-inch spoke alloy wheels seen here are an option feature for the Metris; part of its "premium exterior package" that costs an extra $1,175.

Another nice feature for the Metris is its 15,000 mile maintenance interval. No more oil changes every 3,000 miles; it's five times longer than that old metric.

The Metris van is 202.4 inches long, 75.9 inches wide, and 74.8 inches high: great for carrying people and/or cargo. Lots of interior space to move around in.

Mercedes Benz is right now testing its next generation of safety technologies on its S-Class sedan: technologies that may one day migrate to its Sprinter and Metris vans. Those technologies include: Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC aids drivers even on a route-specific basis by “comfortably adjusting” vehicle speed; Active Speed Limit Assist automatically adapts the vehicle's speed to identified speed limits in conjunction with the onboard navigation system; Active Lane Change Assist to aid drivers when making lane changes; and Active Emergency Stop Assist, which must be used with Active Steering Assist engaged, brings the vehicle to a standstill if it detects a driver no longer actively operating the vehicle while it is in motion.

Though we didn't use them (instead allowing the automatic transmission to do all the gear shifting the work), mounted to the steering wheel are shift paddles—standard offerings for both Metris cargo and passenger vans—which allow the driver to manually change gears, whether in anticipation of a steep hill or to maximize their driving experience on a twisty road.