Driver's Notebook: Mmmmmm-Class
April 1, 2006
Ten years ago, Mercedes-Benz introduced luxury to the suburban-dwelling,
gas-guzzling, SUV-loving American family. At the time, the M-Class’ primary
selling points were its carlike handling and opulent appointments, not the least
attractive of which was the enormous three-pointed star affixed to the truck’s
gaping grille.
In the ensuing decade, the population of deluxe sport-utility competitors–whose
ranks now include the Acura MDX, Audi Q7, BMW X5, Cadillac Escalade, Porsche
Cayenne, ad nauseam–exploded. Yet Mercedes still has managed to carve a grand
total of more than 600,000 sales from the big-ticket chunk of the market that
was once the sole dominion of British rock-crushers with green oval badges.
(Land Rover, where hast thou gone?) Of course, modern SUVs rarely are prodded to
venture off the pavement, and luxury accoutrements–not just leather and wood,
but highway manners accompanied by high-horsepower engines–were never really the
focus of the Rover experience.
But for road warriors, the M-Class reigns supreme. The design is still
unmistakably Mercedes, despite multiple exterior alterations. Bold fender flares
and optional 19-inch wheels make the most of the wider stance, and viewed from
its profile, the raked-back windshield, starched shoulder lines, and dual chrome
exhaust pipes signify a sportier-than-usual sport-utility vehicle. Its
dimensions are bigger than the original, too. Half a foot longer, 3 inches
wider, and traveling on a 4-inch-longer wheelbase, the ML500 provides precious
extra inches of passenger room for five adults to ride in comfort. The cargo hold will expand to swallow 72 cubic feet
of groceries; a bit less than before, but trips to Costco should still prove
fruitful. And despite its slightly larger exterior dimensions, the new M weighs
400 pounds less than the old model, and it enjoys 10 percent better fuel
economy.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
By relocating the gear lever to the steering column, interior
designers created enough space in the center console for two large
cupholders. (Click image to enlarge)
Updates to the internal workings of the M-Class mean that most
functions–other than steering–are now controlled by wire, or at the push of
a button. The transmission stalk is a park-button-capped stub that sprouts from
the steering column. The optional air suspension is adjustable on the fly, so
that drivers may click back and forth from firm and sporty mode (perfect for
canyon road commuters) to a normal in-between everyday mode (not too hard, not
too soft) to a much more cushioned comfort mode (perfect for taxiing the in-laws
to and from the airport). The best new feature, however, is the optional
iPod integration. Plug your ’Pod into the felt-lined glove box, and your
personal tunes come funneling through the auxiliary audio channel. Then simply
thumb the steering wheel—mounted buttons to change tracks; song titles appear in
the instrument cluster just beneath the speedometer.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Those gauges on the ML500, incidentally, indicate the workings of a 5.0-liter
V-8, an engine shared with several other steeds in the Mercedes stable, which
produces enough horsepower (302) and torque (339 ft lbs) to reach 60 mph in 6.7
seconds. A smaller 3.5-liter V-6 is also available in the down-market ML350, but
the cost difference is negligible compared to the starts with the ML500
($49,275). Speed addicts, however, will want to hold out for the impending
arrival of the ML63, which boasts 510 hp. (Click image to enlarge)
Which brings us to the new sui generis in SUVs: Mated to any of these engines is
a manually selectable automatic transmission equipped with no fewer than seven
gears, the final two of which are overdrives. At freeway speeds, you can barely
hear the engine running. It may be the answer to a question no one asked, but
then, no one thought to ask for a luxurious SUV in the first place.
Mercedes-Benz
www.mbusa.com
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