Smooth on the rough
Page 16
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by Oliver Dixon
• With the launch of the four-wheel-drive M-Class next year, the renewal of the Mercedes-Benz product range will be complete. Commercial Motor has taken the opportunity of a sneak preview of this last piece in the jigsaw.
Logic suggests that the M-Class is a like-for-like replacement for the GWagen. Times have changed in the four-wheeldrive market, however, and the M-Class is a far more refined vehicle.
In profile, the M-Class sits midway between the traditional boxy fourwheel-drive and a more modern MPV-type vehicle.
The driving position is quite high (we estimated it to be around 450mm from the ground) but the bonnet slopes away quickly, making all-round visibility extremely good.
The M-Class is built in Alabama, a move designed to tap into the large market which exists in the US for this type of machine. This is underlined by some rather un-European design features, including an auto matic door-locking system which comes in when the vehicle exceeds 6km/h.
Also typically American is the cavernous interior. With the rear bench seat in place it accommodates five in comfort; with just the two front seats it offers an enormous loadspace, easily enough to let it work as a commercial vehicle.
A perennial problem with four-wheel-drive vehicles is ride quality. The MClass, which sits on a strange combination of rear coil springs and front torsion bars, has no such problem. From urban to motorway speeds, it sticks to the road like glue. Permanent four-wheel drive may not appeal to some, hut combined with this suspension system it works extraordinarily well.
Our vehicle was powered by the vee-six petrol unit found in the C-Class car range. Talk of a diesel variant is premature, but the five-cylinder 0M602 turbocharged Sprinter engine could fit rather nicely into this gap.
You'll have to wait some time before the M-Class becomes common on European roads. However, if the price is right, fourwheel-drive buyers who wait for it may be doing themselves a favour.