Test drive Mercedes Benz ML class w164 2005-2008 SUV

Happy New Year operation

At this very moment, being at an altitude of 11,000 meters above the ground, I remember with pleasure (and it’s not a sin and share with the reader) and involuntarily assess the first four days of the new year. Understanding that the holidays would not be so memorable, cheerful and well -organized, if they hadn’t been in fellow travelers of the brand new ML 500. The nature untouched by civilization, a stupefying fresh air, a company of good friends and a comfortable, fast, serious car as they say, what else is needed for complete happiness ? If you believe the statement how you celebrate the New Year, so I will have it I must be satisfied with everything in 2006, and I can count on a chrome key to a car with a three-beam star on a radiator grille.

Voyage in the spirit of Mercedes

We have such a tradition on New Year's Eve not immediately, but at first to move away from Moscow, leaving behind the bad air and all the worries. But every time there is a dilemma what to go for? Own car is not great, and friends, of course, strive to go with me; Yes, and out of town, especially if far, where it is more comfortable and more adequate to get out on an SUV. So special thanks to the Russian office of the German company.

It could even be upset that it was necessary to go to the Ivanovo region, and the appetite of the most powerful representation of the ML family is not at all childhood. Well, yes nonsense all this, especially if you travel five. The process of refueling, by the way, causes surrounding emotions when you fill a full tank. Five minutes pass, ten, fifteen, and the cashier at the gas station begins to let go of unkind jokes, and everything pours and pours out of the distribution hose. As it turns out, to pour a 95-liter tank (and there is still a reserve of 13 liters) it takes no less than 20 minutes. But with so much fuel, you can easily overcome more than one hundred kilometers, or rather five or six. It all depends on your temperament. For example, during my trip, the average fuel consumption was 17.6 liters per 100 km, which is not so much. Do not forget that we were driving not slowly, and the car was loaded with five people and a stuffed trunk with a bit. It was there, except for personal things, that we managed to fit a full supply of provisions for four days, and per 16 people! Can you imagine, reader, how much is it? Unlikely. This means that the 500-liter ML trigger was filled almost under the roof (its maximum volume with folded seats is 2050 liters). Therefore, the designers must be thanked not only for the spacious compartment, but also for the electric drive of the fifth door, which is standard equipment of the ML 500 version. You fit the filled body to the top, click the button on the keychain, and in front of you are the cave. Moreover, the car is still, for security purposes, it remains closed. And to lower the door, just press the button.

You sit on the driver's place, and immediately feel in a car of which class you are. The automatic transmission selector in the new ML migrated to the steering column, as a result of which additional niches appeared on the central tunnel. And, of course, the quality of finishing materials is at a height, although the difference between the gaps between the door panels and the torpedo speaks of the American assembly. Moderately, a soft and supple chair is able to adapt to every figure, not without the help of numerous electric motors. The steering column is also adjusted in the same way.

Since the ML 500 has remarkable potential, a sports theme is noticeable in the interior. Firstly, seats with developed lateral support. Secondly, aluminum pedals and chrome inserts on the front panel. And let the central console be finished with natural wood, as if in prove luxury, instruments with two chrome ovals of the speedometer and tachometer reminds of sports models of Mercedes-Benz, like the SLK relatives or a sliding-expensive SLR compartment. In the same style and handle of an electronic climate control, staturely, separate for the driver and front passenger. Moreover, the rear passengers have their own microclimate control unit. By the way, they are spacious and quite comfortable, which was proved by three fellow travelers, who, for 350 km, at one end, sometimes only asked to go quietly.

Movement mode

They stopped rocking, as soon as we got out onto the track, and I pressed the desired button, that is, transferred the suspension into a sports mode. The shock absorbers instantly became tougher, and almost every uneven road began to surrender to the cabin. At the same time, longitudinal swing decreased, and the cranes of the body became minimal. Moreover, at high speeds in this mode of movement, confidence in the car appears, ML gives a clear sense of the car.

So we drove the time all the way expensive and on vacation. Of course, traffic police workers the day before, and of course, immediately after the new year they did not doze off, and outside the Moscow region they met us with undisguised hope of parting on holidays. But we have never pampering them: on the way from Moscow in a passenger, and on the return road at the wheel there was my good friend from the organs. That is why every stop lasted no more than 30 seconds, and I was not able to restrain a smile when I saw a traffic cop, moving away from sin, was frustrated in the mirror.

For ML 500 on the highway, as if there are no barriers. Need to overtake? He pressed the accelerator pedal a little, and received immediate acceleration to the pleasant sound of the power unit. Only now, the pedal’s move was too big to the brakes. Yes, and you are a little nervous on the bends, because the ML 500 winding roads do not really like. Apparently, a rather heavy nose affects, when entering the turn, the car shows a certain perseverance. On the other hand, the electronic stabilization system, if that, insures, and does it very competently and quickly. It is worth starting gliding, a yellow light begins to blink on the instrument panel, and the computer immediately selectively brakes one or more wheels, forcing the body to follow strictly along the course. We once had a chance to check the cross -country ability ML.

On the second day of the celebrations, they decided to make a barbecue. They lit a barbecue, and when it got dark, they understood the light above it. To illuminate the meat with a flashlight, it is like clogging nails with a screwdriver. Having seen the opportunity to fit ML to the edge, they decided to do so. But after ten meters, the snow got stuck to the thresholds. Problem? No problems! I raise the body using Airmatic, and under the cheerful wink of the indicator on the instrument panel (it signals a constant redistribution of the moment between the wheels) I adjust the car to the picnic site. In the light of xenon headlights, we quickly prepare the required amount of meat and arrange dances to the music pouring from the Harmann/Kardon audio system.

And I wish you

I will not talk about other episodes of the meeting of 2006, and about how we went back. I can only say that the Mercedes-Benz ml 500, for 82,900 euros, was very pleased with us.

Taking this opportunity, and you, dear reader, wish you all the best and joys. And so that you have the opportunity to check the ML in the case.

Text: Andrey Osipov
Brief technical characteristics of Mercedes-Benz ml 500
Engine volume, cubic meter. See 4966
The number of valves per cylinder 3
Power, l. with. at about./min. 306/5600
Max. Torque, NM at about./Min. 460/2700 4750
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p. 6.9
Maximum speed, km/h 240
The average fuel consumption l./100 km. 13.4
The volume of the fuel tank, l. 95
Car mass, kg. 2100
Dimensions, mm. 4780x1911x1815

Source: Newspaper "Automobile Izvestia" [No. 3 (93), 2006]