Press Release
Body and safety:Always a step ahead The Viano has a self-supporting unitised body structure and the body forms a single load-bearing unit with the vehicle frame. The two wheelbases are created by alterations to the length of the side members from the C-pillars back. Overhangs of two different lengths account for the three vehicle lengths. The sliding doors ??????????????????????????????????????? on the driver??????????????????????????????????????s side, or on the driver??????????????????????????????????????s and front passenger??????????????????????????????????????s sides ??????????????????????????????????????? and the rear door, which is available either as a tailgate or with hinged doors, provide additional body variants Smooth, rounded forms merge into the flush-bonded windows to ensure not only stylistic homogeneity, but also a Cd value of 0.33 ??????????????????????????????????????? extremely impressive for its class. The safety of the vehicle occupants took top priority in the development of the Viano. Detailed simulation-based calculations ensured that the crash resistance, rigidity, strength and flexural and torsional characteristics of all the vehicle variants were optimised as early as the design phase. Before the first vehicle could take to the road in prototype form, powerful computers had completed a process of virtual optimisation on all body structures to provide the best possible protection in frontal, offset, lateral and rear-end impacts, as well as in the roof drop and rollover tests. Subsequent real-life testing using test vehicles was therefore simply a matter of fine-tuning. The seat mountings are anchored on the side members and the cross members, which are welded to the floor plate. The A-, B- and C-pillars, side walls and rear wings, sides of the roof frame and side door sills join forces to create an extremely robust passenger compartment. The rigidity of this safety cell has been designed to complement the enormous potential energy absorption of the front-end structure. The front section of the body consists of a front-end assembly containing two deformation boxes, which are fixed to the front ends of the side members. In the event of an impact, these absorb maximum kinetic energy and in minor collisions prevent damage to the side members of the frame. Behind the front-end assembly is the engine, mounted longitudinally on a subframe, and the front-axle module including the steering and suspension. Detailed analysis has allowed the roof structure, which consists of a front and rear roof frame and horizontal roof bows, to be optimised and reinforced against the effects of shaking and vibrations. The attachment of roof-mounted carrier systems was a consideration in the development of even the entry-level model. Roof rails, and glass tilting/sliding sunroofs in the front and rear compartments are all available as an option. The generously-sized front, side and rear windows are flush-bonded. The windscreen is made of laminated glass and is a load-bearing element of the passenger compartment. The side windows come with tinted glass as standard and the passenger compartment can also be ordered with a dark-tinted option. Like the sliding door and tailgate, the wide-opening driver??????????????????????????????????????s and front passenger doors have been designed with a steel sandwich construction which optimises rigidity and keeps weight to a minimum. The large side sliding door ??????????????????????????????????????? 985 mm in width x 1240 mm in height ??????????????????????????????????????? makes loading and unloading even bulky goods that much easier. It can also be locked and unlocked by radio remote control in the same way as the tailgate. A new feature allows the sliding door and tailgate to be locked and unlocked independently of the front doors. The tailgate has an opening angle of around 90 degrees and is fitted on both sides with dual-purpose gas-filled struts, which serve as a limiter for the opening angle and aid the closing process. The tailgate is also perfectly equipped to accommodate the Mercedes-Benz bicycle rack available as an accessory.
