Test drive Mercedes Benz ML class w164 2005-2008 SUV

Distracting factor

To come to Sochi in the midst of the holiday season and never (never once!) Do not swim in the Black Black Sea - this must be managed. I managed. But what about salty waves and bronze tan? -someone will legally ask. Alas. There was a distracting factor - so serious that he made me come to terms with the Brynzov tan. Call that factor Mercedes-Benz M-Klasse.
The Stuttgart M-Class was at the source of the SUV genre, and therefore is rightfully considered one of the legislators of the mod in this sector of the modern auto industry. The market fate of the model, which appeared in 1997, took shape, let's say, in two ways. On the one hand, it is a sin to complain-from the moment of entering the market, more than 620,000 copies of the M-class have been dispersed around the world, which in itself is not bad. But on the other hand, it could have been better if the competitors did not fight competently. First bosom friends from Munich they took the Stuttgarts by the kadyk, releasing their X-fifth, and others pulled themselves up behind them-and the M-class gradually got off the pole-poses and turned into one of. However, not only cunning competitors, but also their own age model are to blame. Eight years of life in the market is a lot. For such a period, anything is boring, so the M-Class was boring. Here you can no longer by inflicting new modifications and notorious faces lifting into the range of new modifications. And they did not cost. A new M-class with a general external resemblance to the old is a completely different machine. She causes interest no less than once caused the ancestor-at least, judging by the test drive in Sochi and his mountainous surroundings. To Cavalcade of new EMOK they rolled up persons of local entrepreneurial nationality and asked greedily: did you bring cars for sale? How much? In a hotel, clogged with stars, she telephone on vacation and artists on a chns, the same questions sounded. Будем считать, что выборка потенциальных пользователей нового М-класса вполне репрезентативна.
In the valleys and after the hills. The near-Social Middle Ages can offer the driver a lot of governing fun a la Camel Trophy, but in this case such a task was not set. Because the off-road Offroad Pro package for the new M-class is a two-stage (with a decreasing mode) distribution, blocking the center and rear differentials, special tuning of the air suspension Airmatic, which allows raising the clearance to 291 mm, etc. - In our market it will be later. It was then that we’ll celebrate the dirt, and try to overcome the declared 100 percent rise and a 60-centimeter ford and tilt up to 35 degrees. (By the way, the previous model has a maximum clearance of 204 mm and goes for a half-meter depth.) In the meantime, we have an M-class in a regular parquet version-and the road corresponds to it. Serpentins, lifting-scrains, many closed turns ... A colleague sitting next to me, a former racer, says that at this highway good rally dopes can be arranged at every step. In principle, the car does almost everything herself, and it can not particularly interfere, except that sometimes to press one or another button. Here, and the advanced system control system 4ets, and Anfahrassistent (for touching to the hill), and Downhill, and Downhill Downhill Speed \u200b\u200bRegulation (maintains the set speed of 4 to 18 km/h), and many more smart things. Airmatic suspension, settled parquetly, allows you to change the clearance from normal - 181 mm, to high - 261 mm (however, there is no need to raise the car on this highway), and at speeds above 140 km/h it automatically lowers the body 15 mm from Ordinar, providing a clearance of 166 mm. The adaptive damping system ADS II itself changes shock absorbers settings depending on the road, driving style and car loading. Working on a special Skyhook algorithm, it grazes each shock absorber (for example, makes the compression and a tough collection move softly, and vice versa), which, in particular, avoids nose -to -braking and other unpleasant moments. I must say that in automatic mode and especially in forced mode Comfort in the mountains to go a little rolling in the mountains, but it is worth switching to Sport, how the car immediately settles down and makes it possible to drive very aggressively even on the most ornate serpentine. Special thanks to the steering wheel. The old M-class reproached many with steering-the new one does not have it. Sorry for the stamp, the steering wheel is quite informative. The driver always knows where the front wheels are. It seems that Stuttgart is gradually moving away from the steering of ultra-lightness, which was once promoted as the highest degree of comfort, to the Munich sharpness and accuracy of management.
Sticky is rosy. The new M-class looks very advantageous (and felt) compared to the old one-it is some kind of more collected, nowhere and not so crazy, fit-sports. A kind of stronger ruddy. Which you just can’t get from the coils. He has an extremely hard supporting body (the old design had a frame structure), other proportions: it is 150 mm longer, 71 mm wider and 9 mm below the predecessor (wheelbuilding the base has grown by 95 mm). Optimization of forms and lines has given a striking aerodynamic effect - the frontal resistance coefficient is now 0.34 (for an SUV, such dimensions are more than great) against the previous 0.40. Hence the modest fuel appetite (10% less than before) and almost complete acoustic comfort: there is almost no wind noise. (By the way, motor and road noises are also not annoyed-the sound insulation of the cabin is very decent.) In the cabin, it has become more spacious-for example, in the distance between the front and rear seats, the M-Class came close to the sedans of the highest class. The luggage compartment is very solid - its volume can be varied from 551 to 2050 liters.
On the Sochi test drive, I skated two gasoline versions: ML 500 V8 and ML 350 V6 (see table). The first, of course, is more prominent, but the second is by no means a pince - its motor, in principle, is more than enough for all things. There are in the range of diesel machines ML 320 CDI V6 and ML 280 CDI V6, respectively, 224 and 190 horses. All modifications are equipped with a 7G-Tronic 7-speed automatic machine with the ability to switch gearbox by manually buttons on the steering wheel. The control of the modes is entrusted to the Direct Select electronic system - its miniature, almost sensory sensitive lever is located on the column to the right of the steering wheel. A lot of kind words have already been said about the 7G-Tronic box, and I also liked it. Sensitive, responsive, fast соображающая. В режиме кик-даун понижает не на одну передачу, а на столько, на сколько сама решит в зависимости от -- что тоже приятно.
Экономя печатную площадь, не буду расписывать комфортное оснащение машины -- базовая и опционная заряженность очень высокая, список огромный. Особо отмечу раздельный (для каждого седока) климат-контроль Thermotronic (Сочи, лето, сами понимаете) и убойную аудиосистему, которая в опционном варианте (11 динамиков и сабвуфер) долбит сэрраундом так, что мало не покажется, да и в базовом (6 динамиков) тоже неслабо. Закадычные друзья в Мюнхене уже, наверное, услышали. И, наверное, слегка напряглись.

ТЕКСТ СЕРГЕЙ СОРОКИН,ФОТО DAIMLERCHRYSLER

Mercedes-Benz M-Klasse
ML 500 ML 350
Двигатель бензиновый V8 бензиновый V6
Рабочий объем (куб. см) 4966 3498
Мощность (л.с. при об/мин) 306 при 5600 272 при 6000
Момент (Нм при об/мин) 460 при 2700-4750 350 при 2400-5000
Привод постоянный полный
Коробка передач 7-ст. machine
Длина/ширина/высота (мм) 4780/1911/1815
Колесная база (мм) 2915
Масса снаряженная (кг) 2060 2100
Максимальная скорость (км/ч) 240 225
Разгон до 100 км/ч (с) 6,9 8,4
Расход топлива (средний, л/100 км) 13,4 11,7
Цена в Москве () 82 900 59 900

 

Source: "Autopilot"