It started out as any other road test. I took the early flight into Pune and there the M-Class was, waiting for me in all its gargantuan glory. It does look a little American this ML, what with all its visual bulk and generous helpings of chrome. But unlike most American SUVs it’s not ugly — it’s actually a handsome brute.
And weirdly, this got me thinking about the whole concept of dating. Bear with me. We go through early adulthood looking for someone special, and in this process, we end up meeting a lot of people along the way. And then along comes the aforementioned someone and sweeps us off our feet. And then we marry them. So dating is no more than a process of selection.
My job is a lot like this. I review cars hoping that there will be one that grabs me by the heartstrings. And just like you choose whom you date, I choose what cars I review. And just like you, I get it wrong sometimes. With a few exceptions, I really wouldn’t mind owning most of the cars I’ve tested because most of them are wonderful and exciting.
But then along came the ML and changed everything. This is not just a car I wouldn’t mind owning. This is a car I need. But how can a self-confessed petro-sexual be completely sold on a big diesel SUV? Read on.
The 3.0L turbocharged V6 diesel makes 258bhp and a slightly mental 619Nm of torque. That’s 11 more torques than the six-litre V12-engined Ferrari 599. This is coupled to the 7G-TRONIC double-clutch gearbox that does duty in most Mercs. It also has 4-MATIC, which is Merc’s all-wheel-drive system. Throw in AIRMATIC air suspension with options for Comfort and Sport, a dedicated off-road mode, Downhill Speed Regulator and a suspension lift option and you’ll find there is quite a bit of chassis tech to deal with the big bad world.
The test car came with the Designo interior package which had beige leather on the seats and door lining and black wood on the dash and steering wheel. I normally hate a half-timbered steering wheel because they’ve always had brown wood. But the black just makes it work. The front seats themselves are infinitely adjustable and have memory for three profiles each. The back seats are great for having a snooze because they’re slightly reclined. And they’re very, very comfortable. The boot is bigger than most Bombay apartments and can easily swallow four people’s luggage for a fortnight.
When you get in, you’ll find Merc’s signature slab of wood, which, like I mentioned earlier, was black in my test car. The combination of that and the beige seats makes you feel warm and cocooned, yet posh and stylish at the same time. It’s a very wholesome feeling that's hard to describe in 800 words or less. When you’re ready to set off, it eases off the line ever so gently. You’ll find that there’s so much more to this V6 diesel than the numbers suggest — an inner strength, if you will.
Windows up, you can neither hear it nor feel it in the city. To be honest, windows up, you really can’t hear nor feel anything in the city because the suspension and NVH management are just so bloody brilliant.
No matter. I was running late for an appointment in Bombay. Time for the highway blast. With the suspension set to Sport, the ML covers ground in a way that is normally the persevere of GT cars. Pace, comfort and predictability seem inherently engineered into this MB. If you just drive at your normal pace without looking at the speedo, you’ll find yourself doing well over twice the speed limit. But you can’t feel it because it’s just so composed. I arrived at my destination as fresh as I was when I left with time to spare for lunch. Incredible.
So it’s great in the city and even better on the highway. There was just one more test left. Mercedes say this car has everything you need to do some proper off roading. So I went back to Pune to test the bigger GL on their own off road track (more on that in the coming weeks) and came out a believer.
But would this, the smaller, cheaper ML be as good? To find out, I went exploring and found a track that was used by big earth movers with tracks. And it was raining. And there was about two feet of slush (that’s as deep as I could see). And there was a 20-degree incline. I would have thought twice about doing this in a hardcore off-roader. Scary stuff indeed.
But, and this is truly astonishing, I pushed all the off-road and went for it. And it just kept going. And going where all I could see was sky. Kindly note at this point that this car had 20in AMG wheels and ROAD TYRES. It’s not supposed to able to do that. But it could have done that all day.
This is the first car that I’m going to give a 10/10 to because it exceeded my rather unreasonable expectations in every aspect. And besides it’s a `57-lakh car that feels like an 80+ lakh car. I wonder what they're putting in Merc’s water these days. Whatever it is, I want some.