Welcome to the Vito page. In fact welcome to the webs first Vito page, well I think it was the first. I first uploaded this page in December 1998. We sold our Vito 113 Flexivan in 2005, but thought we would leave the page up as a reference.
Confused about the difference between a Vito and V class? The Vito is the commercial version of the V class. They are basically the same vehicle with the exception that the V class comes with more features mainly aimed at passenger comfort. My site is mainly aimed at the Vito owners, however V class owners are most welcome to stay and have a look around.
Our van collection.
The Vito draws both its name and exceptional standards of
build quality from Daimler-Chrysler's Vitoria production plant in the
Basque country of Spain. Where light commercial vehicles have been produced
at the plant since 1955, a total upgrade and huge expansion of the facility
began in the early 1990s in preparation for the launch of the Vito range.
Around 1 billion Deutschmarks, or AUS$835 million, was spent on the upgrade and expansion program which included the installation of advanced automation systems. Modelled on Daimler Chrysler's Sindelfingen car assembly plant in Germany, the rejuvenated Vitoria facility ranks with Europe's finest and has the capacity to produce 80,000 vehicles per year.
Since 1994 the plant has been certified to European quality assurance standard ISO 9001. More than 150,000 Mercedes-Benz Vitos have rolled off the Vitoria line since the model's introduction in 1996.
High levels of automation at the Vitoria plant ensure strict standards of production quality and economic efficiency are constantly maintained. In the body shell shop, for instance, the state-of-the-art production lines comprise 108 robots. Around 80 percent of all welding spots are applied by robots. On fully automated conveyor systems, the various parts of the body shell are transported to the body assembly line where they are identified by production numbers stored in data modules. The parts are then correctly positioned by robots and welded together into complete bodies in three minute cycles.
In a specially equipped 3D measuring centre, individual bodies are selected at random from the assembly process and measured by advanced electronic systems which check the geometry and dimensional accuracy of each body part, joint and gap. This continuous checking of individual bodies ensures all bodies are built to a uniform quality standard.
Engines for the Vito vans, including the new CDI diesel engines, are supplied to the Vitoria facility from German plants in Mannheim (diesel) and Unterturkheim (petrol).
Since then I have travelled 45000 trouble free kilometers. Not long after delivery I replaced the factory radio/cassette with a Sony ten stack CD player. I also fitted some rear speakers. I have also replaced the front passengers bench seat with a bucket seat from a 108 delivery van.
Electric Vito's are being tested by Deutsche Post AG in
Bremen, Germany and at the Expo 2000 in Hannover. The Vito series
vehicles, model type 108 E, will be used primarily for delivering mail.
The vehicle trials are part of an EU project, EVD-Post, in which other
European postal services are also participating. The aim of this project
is to test electric vehicles for use in postal distribution services.
The Mercedes Vito 108 E has a 40kW (2,000 to 5,000 rpm) DC asynchronous motor with a maximum torque of 1 9ONm at 2,000 rpm. The manual gearbox has five forward gears with an operating range of up to 130 kilometres depending on terrain and use; the maximum speed is about 120km / hr. In order to optimally use stored energy, the electric motor of the Vito 108 E functions as an electric brake. The energy generated charges the high energy battery located in the cargo area.
A maintenance-free "Zebra Z5" battery (Na/NiC 12) from Switzerland weighing 410 kg serves as an energy accumulator and has a minimum of 1,000 charging cycles. The payload is approximately 500 kg.
