Mercedes-Benz Vito 4x4 with four-wheel drive is celebrating its world premiere at the RAI fair in Amsterdam.
The Vito 4x4 features permanent all-wheel drive which distributes the drive torque to the front and rear axles on a 35:65 basis during normal operations on surfaces offering good traction.  

One of the special features of the Vito 4x4 is the lack of mechanical differential locks. Instead the four-wheel drive system uses the Electronic Traction System 4ETS. If one or more wheels begin to spin on slippery surfaces, 4ETS automatically and individually brakes the spinning wheels with brief pulses, thereby at the same time increasing the torque at the wheels which still have good traction. 4ETS uses the ABS wheel sensors for this purpose. This automatic braking intervention by 4ETS is able to simulate the effect of up to three differential locks. 4ETS is integrated into the standard Electronic Stability Program ESP®, and its control characteristics have been specifically configured for all-wheel drive. Depending on the market, ESP® is installed in the Vito models as either special or standard equipment.  

As the additional weight of the four-wheel-drive system is only 80 kg, the Vito 4x4 is available with an unchanged gross vehicle weight of 2.77 and 2.94 t. Since the addition of four-wheel drive only increases the overall vehicle height by 7 cm, the Vito 4x4 variants with a flat roof remain below the important threshold of 2 m. They are therefore suitable for conventional garages, multi-storey car parks and car washes – a major factor for unrestricted flexibility and day-to-day utility.  

Mercedes-Benz will supply the Vito 4x4 in two engine variants: the Vito 111 CDI (80 kW/109 hp) and the Vito 115 CDI (110 kW/150 hp).