Be it in terms of design, comfort, technology, safety features, individuality or economics, the new Mercedes-Benz Tourrider represents a milestone moment for motor-coaches in North America. It was specifically tailored for the region with the unique inter-national know-how of Mercedes-Benz – the inventory of the bus. The new Tourrider is truly the Mercedes-Benz of motorcoaches.
The new Tourrider is precisely tailored to North America. It is a three-axle, high-deck coach with a length of 45 feet/13.72 meters (including energy-absorbing bumper: forty-five feet, eight inches/13.92 meters and offered in two model variants –Tourrider Business and Tourrider Premium. The Tourrider Business is the coach for sophisticated expectations, the “Business Class” among motorcoaches, while the Tourrider Premium is the luxury motor-coach that fulfills all the expectations of the “First Class.”
Even from a distance, the Tourrider is instantly recognizable as a member of the Mercedes-Benz brand with its chrome-framed grill with centrally-placed star and the typical horizontal arrangement with headlamps on one level. Although the housings are identical, the motorcoach has different “eyes.” While the Tourrider Business uses individual dome headlamps, the Tourrider Premium, makes use of exclusively developed LED integral headlamps. The rear of the Tourrider Premium features a trapezoidal rear window with integrated Mercedes star typical of the brand. The Tourrider Business sports a V-shaped black cover panel with louvers that pay homage to the shape of early American muscle cars. The new Tourrider also combines form and function: from the front to the rear, the vehicle has been aerodynamically optimized to reduce fuel consumption.
In the interior, passengers benefit from generous space, especially aboard the Tour-rider Premium with its passenger compartment raised by 2.36 inches compared with the Tourrider Business. Additionally, every-one is welcome in the Tourrider and that is why it can be optioned with two wheelchair spaces. The corresponding automatic lift is easy to operate and is stowed in a space-saving way above the drive axle. The Tour-rider Premium offers the option of installing the fascinating Top Sky Panorama glass roof to turn the passenger compartment into a true dream. During evening or nighttime journeys, optional ambient LED lighting strips below the luggage racks and under the window sills further enhance the ambiance and rider experience.
The seats used in the Tourrider are produced in-house: Not a surprise as this is Europe’s largest coach seat manufacturer. As standard equipment, the Tourrider Business is equipped with the comfortable Mercedes-Benz Travel Star Eco seats. Meanwhile, the Tourrider Premium enjoys first-class seating in the form of Travel Star Xtra seats with Luxline upholstery – the most luxurious motorcoach seating available from Mercedes-Benz. Motorcoach companies can individually enhance the Tourrider’s extraordinary character with an extremely diverse range of fabrics and colors, decors, topstitching, piping or the variants of the fine, yet easy-care, composition leather fiber material. Buyers can also choose the design for the decorative elements on-board. Finally, passengers enjoy options such as a twin USB socket installed centrally underneath each of the double seats and/or 100-volt sockets for charging their electronic devices.
Tourrider engineers also placed great emphasis on optimizing passenger compartment heating and air conditioning. Pleasant cooling – even during periods of high ambient temperature – is ensured by the powerful integrated air conditioning system from Eberspaecher/Sütrak with an out-put of 35 kW. Plus, the driver’s workplace also benefits from a separate 9 kW air conditioning system.
With their job bearing great responsibility, drivers always play a leading role for Mercedes-Benz engineers and designers. The Tourrider Business impresses with its dynamic-functional Cockpit Basic Plus, while the Tourrider Premium dazzles with the luxurious and functional Cockpit Com-fort Plus. Both are of exemplary ergonomic design and offer numerous practical and innovative functions. However, the two cockpits do differ in design and structure as well as in their equipment. A host of functions support drivers in their tasks. On the left the driver will find the knob of the standard electronic parking brake. It combines simple handling with high safety. Other practical helpers: The luggage compartment doors can be locked separately on the left and right by means of a switch. In line with this, the dashboard display shows the open status of the doors.
Pioneering assistance systems for accident mitigation are among the strongest points of the Mercedes-Benz Tourrider. All-around visibility when maneuvering and in tight places is provided by a 360-degree camera system. Also aiding visibility, both the low beam and main beam benefit from the extraordinary light yield of the two LED headlamp systems. With the standard docking lights, the Tourrider also supports its drivers when reversing in the dark.
The outstanding new safety features of the Tourrider also include the optional radar-based Sideguard Assist cornering assistant with pedestrian detection. If a moving object – such as a pedestrian or a cyclist –or a stationary obstacle is located in the monitoring zone on the side of the door, the system issues a warning to the driver. It thereby assists the driver in particular when turning off in busy areas and also effectively protects both fellow motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
The Tourrider is also the first motorcoach available with the unique Active Brake Assist 5 emergency braking system – or ABA 5 for short – featuring pedestrian detection. Within the system limits, this assistance system (standard in both Tourrider Business and Premium) is the first emergency braking system for buses which is able to initiate an automated emergency stop in reaction not only to stationary and moving obstacles, but also for pedestrians. An add-on component of ABA 5 is the radar-based autonomous intelligent cruise control (standard in Tour-rider Premium). It relieves the strain on the driver on long-distance stretches and inter-state highways. If the assistance system detects a slower vehicle ahead, it automatically slows the coach down until a speed-dependent distance pre-selected by the driver is reached, which the system then maintains constantly.
Attention Assist (ATAS) – available as an option – warns the driver both visually and audibly if it detects the typical signs of fatigue or inattentiveness, and prompts the driver to take a break. Another assistance system of the Tourrider is the standard Lane Assistant, which detects when the vehicle inadvertently leaves the marked lane with the help of a camera system behind the windshield. When the vehicle crosses the lane marker without signaling, the driver is alerted by means of a noticeable vibration on the corresponding side of their seat.
At the heart of the drive system used exclusively in coaches for North America is the inline six-cylinder Mercedes-Benz OM 471, which has proven itself many thousands of times over. With its 12.8-liter displacement, the engine delivers 450 hp (336 kW) and attains a maximum torque level of 115 lb.-ft. (2300 Nm). It impresses with a technology package consisting of common-rail direct injection with the unique flexible high-pressure injection system X-Pulse, charge air cooling as well as exhaust gas recirculation and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology. The engine therefore excels with its fuel efficiency, powerful acceleration, refinement and reliability. Power transmission is handled by the Allison WTB 50R torque converter automatic transmission.
Wherever a Mercedes-Benz drives, service is always on-hand. The service offerings for the Tourrider are available through Daimler Coaches North America, thus enabling coach companies to enjoy an efficient, modern and comprehensive network of service stations which deliver the highest levels of quality as well as a rapid and reliable supply of spare parts. The Mercedes-Benz Tourrider not only keeps your coaches on the road, but also keeps your business on track.