Not that I haven't tested cars, I actually continue to test cars frequently, but time to sit down and type words other than the so very urgent work emails is getting harder and harder to find.
Still, after 2 sleepless nights traveling to Tokyo, I'm not sharp enough to work, and having to wait for my US colleague to land, I find myself in a very rare moment of nothing to do.
So let's optimize time and write about 2 cars at once. Why? Well No time to cover both with detail, not as interesting to me as most my posts and they both surprised me positively. You got it... I didn;t believe my self either, but the did.
I don't have pictures of the Mercedes as it was totaled by another colleague 3 days into the test, but I did manage to drive it a good 1300km.
Let's start with the Mercedes. (image source CarThrottle)
I must admit I was not expecting that car to be like that. 99% of all Mercedes are built as if they where supposed to replace your sofa. Comfort first, so you have a heavy vehicle packed with all sorts of gizmos, on an typically comfortable setup of wheel-Tyre-suspension and then all sorts of soft rubber filtering out feedback from the wheels all the way up the steering.
Then comes the "AMG pack"... 99.9% of those are plastic bolt-on and big rims. They improve things marginally, and look good, but there is a very valid reason why AMG's are built out of the shell of the based cars instead of just bolting plastics and placing stickers.
But this...this is a different sort of transformation.
Immediately you feel the car tighter and less comfortable (AKA worse sofa but a better car). The rims and tires do increase the feedback trough the steering...it's not a lotus or an s2000...but it is better that the original car by a considerable margin.
Then there is the suspension... you instantly feel bumps and road imperfections and you feel very little roll and a firmer response. Either they got lucky, or an engineer back Mercedes was left out of the cage for a while and done his part.
Particularly in the wet. The 3rd generation E-class was a PIG in the wet and this seams much more refined and with plenty grip-limit warning and positive feedback.
So is it good? yup! is it good enough to make me rethink my "Mercedes position"? no
The competence of the chassis is clear and it's road holding abilities are noticeable, however the weight is there and you feel it moving around generating inertia all places it shouldn't. A simple "s"curve will show the chassis under work to manage all that weight.
As the road holding is good, the let-go is also a bit on the violent side, However this feels more to do with the setup trying to compromise less and still be slightly comfy. A set of EIBACH springs would certainly fix this and give it a bit more progressive feel. But then the middle age crises customer would complain of back pain... so... it's a compromise that I hate to say I understand, but given the customer base for Mercedes, I actually do. And then. there is the ever intrusive ESP that almost stops the car. On this front, Mercedes has a lot to learn form BMW. And yes I know there are more read accidents with BMW sliding out of control, but if you don't know how to drive, call a cap, take a uber, use the metro system...or get proper driving lessons on a race track.
So Overall, the Benz is by far one of the best Mercedes I've recently tested (I admit not to test a lot of them because I really don't like'em, so population on my sampling is small by criteria) when it comes to being able to handle the sheer mass of the car. You really need to provoke the chassis to get a glimpse of reality.
Reality however is that the car is heavy and as such, a competent road holding will depend a lot on the tires... so the grip-limit-let-go of the continentals sport contacts is violent. You should be expecting it, because the abused needed to provoke is rather considerable, but not as high as a race track experience... I mean if you need to dodge an obstacle on the road, at speed, you can induce this rather easily. Then you'll experience a brief panic as you feel it sliding violently, and then the ESP takes over and the thrill is gone.
So verdict is : competent but not funny. And just too heavy to make the tires comfortable.
So verdict is : competent but not funny. And just too heavy to make the tires comfortable.
Imagine that you weight 150Kg and you are running the marathon. Your cardio-vascular system will be struggling to handle this but your ankles and knees will end up shot for good half way through it! That's what it feels.
Now the Jag : (image source AutoExpress)
Another surprise! First time I sit on the Jag I had to lower my head to pass the a pillar while sitting. I was expecting that! it is a Jag... so sporty by default. But then I look at the massive hood, from the driving position, and if feels like I'm higher than I should and that the bonnet seems huge. It's weird.
You feel like going into a sports car, and then once inside you feel like your's looking through an SUV. Definitely not the experience I was expecting to have. So first thought : Jeeez this thing feels massive. It's gonna drive like a truck!
Then you key the car and you see the aluminium side to side bar with some parts of it slowly opening and starting to show air ducts. OK... I understand that Jag also implies luxury, but c'mon how many more of these gizmos are going to overweight the car and spoil the experience?
There is an answer for that: a bit too much.
I started the car and drove away and immediately it feels massive. It is not light and nimble.
There is an answer for that: a bit too much.
I started the car and drove away and immediately it feels massive. It is not light and nimble.
I get it It's a Jag and not a Lotus, but I can't stop thinking how many kg I would save just by removing pointless luxury items, and make it more like an E-Type than a living-room Sofa-ype.
So far the Jag is losing to the Benz.... they both are heavy, they both are massive, they both are more suitable for a tank driver than a true sports aficionado. But the Benz feels less bulky and more closer to the ground. It' feels more connected to both you and the ground... less sofa-like.
Don't get me wrong... the Jag has a firm ride, but the body movement is instantly more noticeable than the Benz.
However, and do remember that this was a series of surprises, the first roundabout I managed to get for my own self, I started pulling it hard, trying to find the limits, and what do you know.... it started a gracious, controlled and very predictable rear slide. I would expect everything from a brute let-go as the Benz to a under-steer safe as the Audi's, but not a controlled, progressive, slide, from the massive SUV like feeling I was having. It truly puzzled me.
In the end, the Benz has a better driving feel while in grip drive, due to being lower and stiffer, but the balance on that Jaguar chassis is very good.
So these 2 cars managed to surprise me. Wouldn't buy either because:
1 - they're diesel
2 - they're massive
3 - they're comfy disguised as sporty filled with compromise that never really gets hardcore sporty, so they don't feel into any category I like.
Having said that, If I was grip driving, I'd rather be in the Benz, but if i was to shred a set of tires on an afternoon, I'd take the Jag out for drift.
'
No comments:
Post a Comment