Standard or 4 X 4? - 144 or 170?

I'm willing to order the Sprinter for the great RV conversion adventure and I would like to know if I'm going in the right direction:
1 Do We really need a 4 x 4?I live in Quebec Canada and we have snow, slush, ice and you name it. My idea is to use the Sprinter for vacations, and some travel in Winter to BC and South.
In the summer we do a lot of camping in not paved parks and we are planning on boon-docking.
I'm not comfortable with being forced to opt for the V6 as I heard the 4 cylinders with the 7 speed transmission is far superior to the V6 with a 5 speed.
I watched the video of Sprinters traveling to Alaska with rear wheel drive and apparently they didn't have any problems.
I took a Sprinter shuttle from Vancouver to Whistler and the driver told me the rear wheel drive was excellent with winter tires, excepting some really covered hills, other than that it handles very well.
Also the 4 x 4 is more expensive.
2 144 or 170?
I'm trying to based my layout on the European Westfalia Columbus 600 or 640 which translate to 19 or 21' meaning the 144 for the 600 model or less than the 170 for the 640 Westfalia.
Again, the price difference between the 170 and 144 and the 4 x4 vs standard.
Please advice
BTW we are only a couple using the van.
Thanks in advance!

How abooot you delete one or your second and identical post?

Not sure what you are attempting to achieve with multiples, but history has shown that this a not a desired practice....




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I didn't know about "desired practices policy" but nevertheless I deleted one of the posts. It is good to know that there are some people out there checking.

Goldenraf said:

I didn't know about "desired practices policy" but nevertheless I deleted one of the posts. It is good to know that there are some people out there checking.

Click to expand...

"Policy".... your word, not mine.



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You know what I mean

4x4 is a substantially louder drivetrain. the front driveline components whether disengaged/engaged make sounds that you do not experience in a 2wd. On highways you will not benefit from 4x4. I use it as a daily driver and in the city the 4x4 is great in the winter, and year round on the muddy or bumpy job sites. You shouldn't have any problems with a 2wd with your intended usage. Just check user 'Geek' and his usage and where he got to in a 2wd. I find the extra noise associated with the 4x4 componets annoying at times when travelling on the highway, and it's not easy to use sound reduction materials since the transfer case is right under your feet. I already put down 1lb MLV on the floor and do not see any difference in noise reduction.

Having owned, a 2wd v6/5spd, a 2wd 4cyl/7spd, and now a 4x4, my favourite engine is the V6 because of how smooth and effortless it accelerates on the highway, and the beautiful 'Wooosh' of the turbo. In city driving there's no difference between 4cyl/7spd and v6/5spd. The 4cyl is a little rougher at idle, and a little hesitant at acceleration on the highways, but the trade off is better fuel efficiency. Just check out the difference in fuel consumption among users on fuelly.com. I would say there's a 2l/100km fuel savings with the 4cyl.

I like having 4x4 even though I don't often use it. The first time you need it you'll be glad to have it.

I agree, 4x4 if nothing else you can re-sell much easier.