Test drive Mercedes Benz ML class w163 1997-2001 SUV
Universal machine
Last year, we began to publish a series of articles on SUVs that belong to the luxury class. There are not so many cars. Almost all representatives of this category have visited our tests - Dodge Durango, Lexus LX450, Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator, Infiniti QX4, Range Rover ... All this time we consciously kept Mercedes ML320 - so as not to lift the bar too high. From the very beginning, it was clear that it was difficult to compete with this car - both on the highway and on off -road. But his turn has come ... The Germans have long passively watched the events in the American market of SUVs: until a certain point in the buyers who chose Range Rover or Toyota Land Cruiser, for example, there were not so many station wagons of Mercedes E-class. But when in this market (and especially - in the category of cars worth over $ 30,000), a real boom began and the account of those who preferred the luxury car luxury SUV, went for hundreds of thousands, the Germans started. They did it a little late, but the corresponding result - the ML320 model, which appeared on sale last year - turned out to be worthy.
The Mercedes-Benz concern never fought a special love for off-road cars. And pickups (light trucks), on the basis of which Americans are building their SUVs, there are no Mercedes in the range. At one time, however, by order of the Wehrmacht, a comfortable car with a 6x4 wheel formula was created - but just a few copies. Well, the unfading Gelandewagen is also produced, but with his appearance, only in his appearance - only to serve in the army. Yes, and he is so many years that ... in general, the design of a new machine began with a clean sheet. It would seem that such an unusual one can be in an SUV? How many of them, for every taste, have already been produced by various manufacturers? Mercedes combined directly opposite qualities, crossing the mechanics of the SUV with the comfort of a representative car, and gave what happened, a very interesting outer shell. Yes, such an apparatus is appropriate both on a gazepa party and on a social rack.
Mercedes ML320 can be classified as compact SUVs. If you put some Ford Explorer Limited or Jeep Grand Cherokee in the LAREDO version, the belonging of all cars to one class will not cause doubt. Nevertheless, the ML320 is still separate. Firstly, due to the fact that the very idea of \u200b\u200ba Mercedes SUV is still about the same strange and unusual as a set of lemo-based porcelain for a picnic. The second reason is appearance: the aplomb is no less than in Mercedes 600sel. Or take dimensions. The length of the car is larger than Explorer or Grand Cherokee, and only because of the shape of the bell-shaped looks shorter. Yes, and in the width and height of the ML320 surpasses many competitors ... 
If not for the solid (204 mm) road clearance, ML320 could be mistaken for its grown A-Brate. They are very similar as if the faces of radiators, cat-sized headlights and peculiar contours of puffy, short-legged bodies that have come out from under the hole punch. The radiator cladding is decorated with a huge three -beam star - like SL and SLK models. Those who wish can enrich the exterior of their cars with hatches, discreet kangaroeners, protecting the thresholds and a reserve on a folding bracket. 
The Chrysler Corporation once proved that the SUV can have a supporting body - take at least Jeep Cherokee or Grand Cherokee. The main advantage of the supporting body is lightness. In addition, it creaks less and rattles. Now there are more and more such cars (Nissan, Toyota), and they are quite confident in the parking lot of McDonald's or a suburban club. But a real SUV - for serious matters - is simply obliged to have a supporting frame. Mercedes -Benz, with his rich experience in creating heavy trucks and military vehicles, chose this particular - a scheme for ML320, donating a weight in weight. However, looking at the car, it’s hard to believe that he weighs two tons. And even more difficult to get used to the idea that formally is a truck. 
If you remove the body from the car, you can see a powerful supporting frame on which the subframes of the front and rear axles are fixed. Stop! Here is the first serious difference from a traditional truck is a suspension. Typically, the SUVs have both bridges - insoluble, and only some models can find an independent suspension, but only the front one. The ML320 also has an independent suspension, on transverse aluminum levers. Both the front and behind are installed reptile stabilizers. The suspension is long -term, in the back - on the springs, in front - on longitudinal torsiones. 
On the same frame is the V6 engine about three valves (two inlets, one graduation) and two candles on the cylinder, as well as a transmission consisting of a 5 -speed automatic box of German production and the American handout of Borg Warner. Everything is packed beautifully and compactly. Redactor crankcases cast from a light alloy are fixed to subframes through rubber pillows. Inside the carders - the second (and most importantly) difference between ML320 and other SUVs. There are no mechanical locks! They are successfully replaced by an electronic 4-ETC system. In normal mode, torque is transmitted to the axis in a ratio of 50/50. If the wheels begin to slip, the 4 -tc - on the basis of data on the frequency of their rotation coming from the ABS sensors - slows down the axlers and transfers the torque to those that still maintain adhesion to the soil. A car with such a system is able to move in the right direction even when this clutch has only one wheel.
Executive mechanisms - large ventilated brake discs - are perfectly visible through dandy five -spoke wheels. Perhaps the only minus 4 -tc is that it acts as if mirroring ABS, and both cannot work at the same time-after braking, it takes some time so that the 4 -tc begins to function again. This, of course, is not very good for overcoming off-road, but still better than the usual blocking of differentials. If only because the 4 -tc works itself, not demanding anything from the driver. Looking ahead, I’ll say that this system is effective. When the left wheels unexpectedly stalled the sandy wheels on a speed of turning on the sand covering, and the machine began to turn, the electronics reacted faster and almost instantly leveled the SUV. But there is also an ESP course stabilization system, however, as an option.
It turned out to be surprisingly easy to get inside, the planting height for the SUV is small - only 470 mm. The salon is unexpectedly spacious - despite the small external dimensions of the car. There is no particular luxury here, but - comfortable. The seats with flat pillows are sheathed with a soft, fabric fabric, which helps with developed lateral stops to hold the driver's body on steep turns. There are few adjustments, but all the necessary - in stock. In our car, they turned out to be mechanical, but there are also electric ones, and with memory. The signaling device of the unsastened belts squeals for five seconds, then falls silent (even if you remain unsteady). 
Review forward - without comments. With normal planting, the hood from the driver's seat is not visible. On the one hand, this is good - it does not loom before my eyes. But when you need to accurately determine the position of the machine, you have to pull the neck. At the same time, the right edge of the hood is still not visible. The rear review through the intra -junction mirror is practically overlapped by the middle of the average of the back row seats. However, they can be folded so that they do not interfere. At least one, at least all. Folding the seats, however, is not very simple - you have to sweat until you move them forward. The complexity of the design, apparently, is explained by the fact that the third row of seats is also provided as the option, which turns the car into a 7-seater. The idea is controversial - for seven ML320 people are clearly not enough. But in the 5-seater version, the rear passengers are extremely spacious, and the sizes of the luggage compartment are impressive. 
The back of the cabin looks quite traditionally (for the SUV), the entire design is concentrated in front. A steering column with a variable angle of inclination and a fairly large trunk; switch appliances; steering collections of switches of light-and-dwellers; a wide central console with a radio, climate control handles and all kinds of buttons; Necessary parking brake - all this is characteristic of a passenger Mercedes. So you can easily forget that you are driving an SUV. To please the main - American - ML320 market, received a thin leash of the cruise control, located just above the light switch, and the cup holders for each crew member, and the front cup holders smoothly lean back after pressing them. Behind the handle of the checkpoint - in the center - there is a panel control of four glass windows, mirrors and locking doors. In fact, it is more familiar and more convenient when these buttons and switches are placed on the driver's door, but recently many manufacturers transfer them to the middle of the cabin - it is easier to release versions for countries with left -handed traffic.
The box lever is the most common, as in Mercedes cars. There are no additional handles - all -wheel drive is constantly turned on. The reduced range of transmission (2.64: 1) is turned on by the button. For this, however, it is necessary to completely stop the car and transfer the lever of the box into a neutral position. The active safety of the car, provided by smart mechanics and electronics, is well supplemented by passive safety. In addition to belts (for all passengers), the driver and his neighbor have two pillows - front and side. And raising the hood, you see such massive metal structures that you immediately forget about the relative flimsy of plastic bumper.
The management turned out to be very easy. With a straightforward movement of feedback on the steering wheel, but it is worth turning it a little, and the steering wheel becomes sharp and informative - no worse than that of a passenger car, and, in any case, much better than most traditional SUVs. And in general, on the ML320 highway behaves almost like a passenger Mercedes. In corners, the car rolls much less than it could be expected at such a body height. The suspension transfers only small shocks to it - a consequence of the road surface defects, in general, the car is very gently. 
A five -speed machine crosses the gear with gently and smoothly, without pulling the car at the time of switching. There are no thoughts inherent in some boxes here. Only in Kick -Down, after a sharp pressing of the accelerator to the stop, the brains of the checkpoint requires some time to think - a little more than we would like. In general, the supply of torque is enough - up to a hundred, the heavy car accelerates in 9.5 seconds, which, you see, is quite decent. And although on the cars of this brand, it is probably more correct to move slowly, with a sense of self -esteem, it is difficult to resist the temptation to release the entire herd of 218 horses. By the way, an active driver can limit the number of steps within which the box switches, four, three, two or even one - the car becomes even more frustrated, just do not forget to look at the tachometer ... 
For photography, we drove the car into one of the reserves near Moscow, whose roads are familiar to us well - so that we can, without much risk, properly drive along the crossed terrain. The windows are wide open, the grass to the very edges of the glasses, some kind of greens flying into the windshield and beating along the radiator grill ... Excellent handling, the suspension, which appeared on hard coating is harsh, perfectly swallows murderous potholes for other cars. The brakes work no worse than on the asphalt, ABS behaves very correctly, allowing you to accurately dose brake force. 
Despite the lack of special off -road rubber, the cross -country cross -country ability was excellent. On the clay, slippery, after rain, the hill managed to enter without difficulty - without even including a reduced series of transmission. And the long -speed suspension allows you to easily pass through a medium -sized log ... The design and technical characteristics of a car are developed based on the requirements of a certain market segment, for which this car is intended. Different segments are different customer requests. Everything is strict here. But specific people buy a car. And the model, which was supposed to please everyone, may not come up.
Take care that with ML320 - not so. His versatility did not entail any losses. Mercedes-Benz managed to create a machine that has incorporated all the best from a good passenger car, and from an excellent SUV. And all this - for more than reasonable cost (in the USA, comparable in characteristics of the Mercedes G -class costs about $ 120,000, and ML320 - from $ 40,000). And this, of course, likes it. The Mercedes ML320 car was provided by Chap. Tel.: (095) 923-5857, 923-8667.
M-class SUVs (ML230, ML320 and ML430) are produced at the Mercedes-Benz plant near Tuskaluza, which is in Alabama. In fact, this is not the first - and so far the most successful - Mercedes attempt to gain a foothold in the United States. Back in 1905, the famous Steinway Piano Company, famous for its piano, began a licensed assembly of American Mercedes in New York. The plant burned down in 1907. In the 80s, trucks and unims were produced in Virginia in Virginia. Now there is a hope that the place of VAS, which is 20 kilometers from Tuskaluza, will become the admirers of Mercedes no less famous than Bowling Green - with Corvette lovers. 
The production of the M-class in Alabam began in January 1997. The factory is employed by 1,400 people working in two shifts. The planned production volume this year is 65 thousand cars, of which 40 thousand are intended for the North American market. At the end of June, a 50,000-thousand car came off the assembly line. On average, about 300 pieces are made a day ... The demand for the M -class is so great that in July the plant was stopped for a week - to mount additional equipment. This (and plus a hundred new workers) will allow you to bring the release to 80 thousand cars next year.
Alexey Strelkov
Source: Motor magazine [No. 8/1998]
