I hauled a cubic yard of sand in the LT recently (~1.5 ton) and averaged around 11litres per 100km (~21 - 22 miles per usg) … had I slowed down (truck has a 7’ high tarpaulin over the dump bed), I would have probably been closer to 10.  Empty, I routinely get 8-9 l / 100km on the highway and 10 around town.

That’s better than most North American pickups (1/2 or 3/4 ton) manage unladen.  

At 80kW (~109 hp), there’s not a heap of power in the LT (the newer MB 2.7/2.8 litre i4’s produce 130 - 156 hp) … but there is little notice in performance with a load.

BTW:  Fixed the parking heater this afternoon (though I won’t need it for four months) - the control unit was un-plugged … not sure how or why that happened.

> On 26-Aug-2016, at 22:05, Karl Mullendore <tdiguru@WESTYVENTURES.COM> wrote:
> 
>> Also, these European designs just don't have the reserve for use or abuse
> that conventional American Iron has. In many ways these can become the
> Vanagon of the future with the unforeseen breakdowns and expenses.
>> 
>> Once you have a coach with the typical add on body you also have all the
> poor construction that typically goes with this. Most of these are not long
> term 25 year 300,000 mile vehicles.
> 
> Again, I refer you to www.andeanroads.com
> This particular fleet of Sprinters, FOUR-cylinder at that, are taking far
> more abuse in Argentina than most USA-made (not American, btw) campers see,
> do very well at it, all the while returning double the fuel mileage. I think
> I'll stick with Mercedes, thanks.