2008 Dodge Sprinter Review

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12 PASSENGER VAN RENTALS

 

2008 DODGE SPRINTER
A College Reunion on the Road
By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

The view out our
south-facing window is spectacular. The hills of south central
Kentucky glow with fall color. The Cumberland River winds around
and through these wild and scenic hills just as do some of the
best driving roads anywhere. We’re perched on a cliff about a
hundred feet above the river at the classic DuPont Lodge, a
wonderful old structure built from native logs and stone by the
Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. An odd place for an
MSU (Michigan State University) college reunion, you say? You’re
right. But here we are. My
pretty blonde and her college pals, four other couples of them,
have been planning this getaway weekend for more than six
months. Seven of these 10 folks roomed together at MSU
throughout college in various combinations and some dated one
another. I’m still sorting out some of the relationships. Two
other fellows and I married into the group. I guess we’re sort
of in-laws.

Just after the plans for the trip were finalized last summer
I attended the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep all-product preview at the
Chelsea, MI proving grounds where this big, but sleek, freshly
redesigned for ’07,

10-passenger Dodge Sprinter van caught my eye. There’s room
enough in that thing for us all to travel together, I thought.
Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Our benefactors at the New Chrysler
thought it would be a good way for me to road test the Sprinter,
so they assented to the plan.

Essentially a

Mercedes (Freightliner) ¾-ton unibody platform and badged as
a Dodge, the

Sprinter is a versatile cargo, chassis-cab or

passenger van rental used most often as a delivery van, work
truck, airport shuttle, hauler of anything and, in this case, a
nice

bus for ten. Assembled in Mannheim, Germany the cargo vans
feature three heights with the highest ceilings being 6-foot
3-inches. The cargo versions are shipped in ‘kit’ form to South
Carolina for final assembly. Our passenger van features two
seats up front for driver and passenger, then three rows for
crew – configured three, two, three – with plenty of cargo area
behind the third row -the ideal reunion transport. Our 144-inch
wheelbase version is the middle of three sizes available for the
Sprinter.We picked up our

passengers and their gear early on a warm November Thursday
morning and we headed south for this easy 300-mile drive. An
unscheduled stop

at
Gary and Tonya’s house to pick up a special bottle of bourbon
delayed us only a little. We brought a very special,
commemorative bottle of wine so a special bottle of bourbon
would compliment the bar nicely.

The noise inside the

Sprinter for the first couple-hundred miles was astounding,
with the guys trading jokes in the front and the girls laughing
(probably at us) in the rear. In case it wasn’t noisy enough
someone bought a best-of Roy Orbison tape when we stopped for
brunch at the Cracker Barrel and stuck it in the in-dash, 6-CD
changer. The speakers are quite good. Our live sing-alongers get
good marks for enthusiasm, but not for carrying a tune.

Luggage for this
motley crew barely filled a third of the cargo area behind the
third seat. A few things were stowed under the seats. Without
seats the tallest and longest Sprinter, by the way, can hold an
amazing 600 cubic-feet of stuff. Gross vehicle weight goes up to
over 11,000 pounds and maximum payload is up to 5,649 pounds. In
spite of my girth we did not tax the capacity. Towing capacity
is a modest 5,000 pounds. The seven-hour drive was easy in the

Sprinter, for both driver and passengers, with stops only
for the aforementioned leisurely brunch and one for fuel. I
think we’re

getting
over 20-mpg but we’ll try to calculate later. This 3.0-liter V6
turbo-diesel is not rated for fuel mileage by the EPA because it
is essentially a commercial vehicle. It makes only 154
horsepower but generates 280 pound-feet of torque. It feels like
plenty with the five speed automatic with manual mode, though
we’re not nearly fully loaded.

The insulation inside the

Sprinter van rental was equal to the task of softening the
initial roar of laughter and roar of off-key singing. Little
road noise intruded on the occasionally quiet conversation that
followed along this nice freeway cruise – a civilized vehicle,
indeed.

The air-suspended driver’s seat is high, vertical and
generous with a manual lumbar support and enough adjustments to
accommodate my tush. Competition for the identical front
passenger seat, or “shotgun” position was intense. Hours of
driving did not fatigue me in the least. I just engaged the
smooth-acting cruise control with the stalk that seems identical
to my pretty blonde’s SLK roadster, rested my feet flat on the
floor and felt like I was in a nice, firm living room chair. The
tilt steering wheel is rather bus-like in its position but
comfortable and easy to manage.

The Cumberland
Falls (KY) State Resort Park encompasses thousands of acres of
wilderness with white water rafting, hiking and all the
traditional outdoor activities. The falls’

claim to fame, other than being the second largest east of
the Mississippi (next only to Niagara) is as the only place in
the Western Hemisphere where we can experience a “moon bow,” –
literally a rainbow cast by the light of a full moon. My pretty
blonde and I have been here many times but never at the right
time for the moon bow. 

The next day we
left the Sprinter in the parking lot of the DuPont Lodge while
we all hiked down the hill to explore the falls and take a big
hike. Some of this group are in better physical condition than
others. Across the river a trail to Eagle Falls passes high
above Cumberland Falls for spectacular views in spite of the
minimal fall water flow. A few opted to sit on a woodland bench
while some hiked farther down to Eagle Falls. By the time we got
back up to the resting place I wished I had stayed behind as
well. Then, hiking back we realized that we had to hike all the
way back up the hill to the lodge. Well, three of us made that
final trek up the winding pavement to the lodge where we fired
up the Sprinter and drove back down the hill to gather up the
lazy ones. Before piling back into the Sprinter van to head to
town for dinner we broke out our special wine for a toast. A
domestic pink, we considered it particularly reflective of our
college days. You guessed it. We toasted this reunion with a
lovely Boones Farm Strawberry Hill.

Dinner at O’Mally’s in Corbin, KY was just the ticket for
this motley bunch. We parked the good lookin’ Sprinter on the
grass in the theater’s overflow lot so we wouldn’t clog up the
busy O’Mally’s lot. I’m amazed at how many looks this thing
garners. Getting in and out of the

Sprinter van was often a challenge for driver and
passengers. The huge step from inside to outside make some of us
middle-agers groan. The grab handles for the front seats are so
high above the door that John, our tall, lanky retired hoops
coach who now referees high school ball, could barely reach it.
There needs to be a grab handle on the A-pillar about half way
up. Additionally, the sliding side door seemed to take an
inordinate amount of slam to close – not bad from outside, but
rather difficult from the inside.

The din of Karaoke and smells of big food – ribs, catfish,
burgers – filled O’Mally’s and we were loud enough to fit in
just fine, though we seemed to be the only folks without a
southern accent and the only folks not smoking. Walter, a
wrinkly old character with scruffy white beard, cowboy hat and
shiny-tipped boots, led the singers with his unique style. He
was followed by some young folks with fine voices who could
manage the tunes beautifully but related not at all with the
audience. The bar was packed with a bunch of National Guard
folks having a good time before heading for Afghanistan. They
received a resounding, and richly deserved, round of applause
when introduced.

Our second day
hike needed to be accomplished around the Saturday college
football schedule so we took off after breakfast at the lodge,
overlooking the scenic river valley, to hike the trail on the
far side of the river. This time we drove down the hill so the
van would be ready to take us back up. Trail number 10 was
reasonably well marked and had no appreciable elevation change
as it followed the river. According to the maps we could hike
along this trail for 52 miles to a park a couple counties away
if we wanted to. Michigan got whooped by Ohio State and MSU (our
Alma matter) beat Purdue. Not a bad way to spend the day. The
lodge has satellite service so college football goes on into
evening as did the toasting, story telling, eating and laughing.

We tested the Sprinter’s handling and ride characteristics
that evening with a drive to a classic small town eatery I had
discovered on a previous trip to the area, the Stearns
Restaurant in lovely downtown (that’s a semantic stretch)
Stearns. Southwest from Cumberland Falls, Highway 90 winds
generally toward US 27 the major north/south route through this
part of Kentucky. Not far past the Cumberland River, narrow,
smooth Highway 700 branches off to the southwest giving us a
shortcut to our destination. The complete lack of any shoulder
combined with sharp drop offs at pavement’s edge make for no
margin of error. The Sprinter swung and swayed through this

15 miles scenic (even after dark) two-lane admirably with
surprisingly precise steering and less than expected lean. At
the wheel I was impressed. Those in the back however were
getting a bit queasy by the time we reached our destination.
Since we were driving after dark there was no horizon for anyone
to focus on in spite of the intense high-beam, bi-xenon
headlights that lit up the country scenes and forests at the
road’s edge, so most back there were a tad sea sick. All
Sprinters come standard with ABS, traction control, tire
pressure monitors, electronic brake force distribution,
electronic roll mitigation and dual-stage air bags up front – as
much safety and handling control systems as most high-tech
automobiles.

I heard no complaints during dinner as I think everyone
enjoyed the simple country cooking. Perhaps the sign above the
cash register and a take-no-nonsense waitress had something to
do with that. The sign read, “There will be a $5 charge for
whining!” Before we had all finished ordering the waitress
insisted Gary was already $20 in the hole having noted – not
really complained – that they were out of corn bread and had no
horseradish for the pot roast.

Our 2007

Sprinter 2500 Passenger Van shows a base sticker price of
$34,350. Nearly $12,000 worth of options brings the bottom line
up to $46,105. A bit pricier than the large Ford and GM
competitors the Sprinter has dozens of options to make it useful
to anyone. Options on our tester include: a silver metallic
paint job for nearly a grand; an in-dash 6-CD changer with good
sound system for $515; an accessory group with Bi-xenon
headlamps, fog lamps, headlight washers, and a light and rain
sensor for $1,705; driver and passenger suspension seats for
$285; trailer towing package worth $280; a Security Group
including first-aid kit, security alarm auxiliary air bags and
air compressor for $1,295; a heavy duty, roof-mounted AC unit
listed at $2,450; the Customer Preferred Package with about 15
luxury features at $1,375.

Upgraded a bit for 2008 Sprinter comes standard with

12-passenger seating (2-3-3-4), electronic sliding doors,
higher payload, front swivel bucket seats and five roof lamps.
It comes in three lengths, three configurations (passenger
wagon, cargo van and chassis cab), two engines (gas and diesel)
and an amazing variety of options.

Warranty coverage is a minimal 3-year/30,000-mile limited and
an admirable 5-year/100,000-miles on the diesel engine
components.

For our purposes the Sprinter was a near-perfect ride. Big
enough for everyone to move around inside at will, lots and lots
of cargo capacity, easy to drive long distances, excellent fuel
mileage for such a big vehicle (20-mpg and better), so nice to
look at that we kept getting looks of curiosity and a fine sound
system even at pumped up volumes.

I’m not sure how readily available the Sprinter passenger van
is to rent but we would certainly recommend it for this kind of
communal trip use. In fact, it would be ideal for any situation
where you need to

transport lots of folks at once, even for long distances.

Great ride! Thanks New Chrysler.

© Steve Purdy, Shunpiker Productions, All Rights Reserved