By
ALISTAIR KENNEDY and BARRY LAKE
17 April 2006
Mercedes-Benz has continued the expansion of its Australian model
line-up with the release of its R-Class range, a six-seater vehicle that
falls somewhere between a luxury wagon, a people-mover and an SUV.
Built in the USA, the German-designed car
is based on the floorpan of the Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV. Although it
makes no pretence at being an off-roader, it inherits the M-Class’s
all-wheel drive system and all the electronic handling and braking
systems to make it a safe on-road vehicle in all weather conditions.
The R-Class comes in two wheelbase
lengths and with a choice of three engines, two petrol and one diesel.
At 5.157 metres in length and with a kerb
weight of up to 2270 kg the long wheelbase R-Class is big, bold and
massive.
The Mercedes R350 is powered by a
3.5-litre V6, the R500 by a 5.0-litre V8 while the R320 CDI has a
3.0-litre common-rail turbo-diesel engine. Power ranges from 165 kW in
the R320 to 225 kW in the V8 but, more importantly in real-world terms,
there’s torque galore: 350 Nm from 2400 to 5000 rpm from the V6; 460
Nm from 2700 to 4750 in the V8; and a huge 510 Nm from 1600 to 2800 rpm
from the diesel.
Our test was restricted to the
long-wheelbase petrol variants, the R350L and R500L and the test route
included a good mixture of city/suburban and freeway/country conditions.
Despite its size the R-Class was easy to manoeuvre around town with good
visibility all round and relatively easy to park, especially with the
help of parking sensors.
The Mercedes R-Class felt most at home on
the freeway, where it was in its element, chewing up the kilometres
effortlessly. In Europe the R-Class will often be used as a high-speed
express for businessmen as they cruise from city to city.
During our initial testing it also
handled reasonably well on twisting narrow Australian country roads.
The vehicle’s weight showed up in
fairly heavy fuel consumption. We recorded fuel figures of 15.6 litres
per 100 kilometres from the R350L in city traffic, which improved to
11.5 L/100km on the freeway.
Inside the R-Class there's plenty of
space for four adults although the third row is best kept for children.
Indeed Mercedes describes the car as a 4+2 rather than as a six-seater.
The centre row comprises two bucket seats
which can slide back and forward to optimise the balance between second
and third row legroom. The third row is a split bench seat. This
configuration, while it provides plenty of comfort for centre-row
passengers makes the car merely a four-seater when the rear seat is
folded away.
There’s plenty of headroom in the front
and second row seats although, again, the third row is cramped for a
tall adult.
Adding to the versatility of the R-Class,
all four rear seats can be folded flat to provide a large load-carrying
area with flat floor. Storage space, even in the long wheelbase model,
is limited when the third row seats are in place.
As mentioned, we’ve yet to see the
standard-wheelbase R-Class. It is 235mm shorter than the LWB version,
60mm of legroom being lost from each of the two rows of rear seating,
the remainder from the already limited rear storage area.
The complete Mercedes-Benz R-Class range
is:
R350 3.5-litre petrol: $82,900
R350 L 3.5-litre petrol: $85,900
R320 CDI 3.0-litre turbo diesel: $85,900
R320 CDI L 3.0-litre turbo diesel: $88,900
R500 5.0-litre petrol: $119,900
R500 L 5.0-litre petrol: $122,900
