FIRST DRIVE MERCEDES-BENZ E-CLASS ESTATE: Mercedes-Benz's E-Class estate might sell in small numbers but it is an ideal alternative to the much maligned SUV, writes Paddy Comyn
SO, THE SUV is dead. It appears that way anyway if you look at the figures for the larger models in that particular market. Being seen in a new, large SUV has become about as politically correct as walking down the street linking arms with Nick Griffin and Jan Moir. Sales of vehicles such as the Lexus RX, BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz ML have all suffered through a combination of the downturn and a bit of a backlash against the SUV genre as a whole.
So how do you get into a large executive car without really offending anyone? An estate car should do the trick. The estate car, ignored in America, is found in epidemic proportions in mainland Europe, especially in Germany.
In days of old it meant that driving an estate car was like piloting a chest of drawers, but advances in engineering mean they are no more unwieldy than their saloon counterparts and they have the warm, cuddly sentiment attached to them, which even with a 6.3-litre V8 seems to make axe-wielding environmentalists want to give you a hug. You can drive an estate car and you look like a family man, someone who likes outdoor pursuits. In a strange paradox it is one of the least offensive genres of cars, even though in many cases they are made up of more metal than some SUVs.
The E-Class saloon arrived earlier this year and comes to market with hugely aggressive and competitive pricing and if there are executive buyers willing to stick their head above the parapet next year then that car will probably be high up on their list. Estate versions of executive cars have sold poorly in Ireland, with just 5 per cent of the E-Class models sold previously being estates.
Sometimes estate models look like a bit of an afterthought but you only have to step outside Frankfurt Airport to see how important this model is to both the brand and the country’s taxi drivers.
The styling is really good. Previous versions of the E-Class estate had look like hearses but this time around, despite the huge luggage area, the rear end looks like a better fit. There is a massive 695 litres of space in the rear and that is before you start folding down seats, which will expand this out to a wardrobe-swallowing 1,950 litres.
The tailgate opens remotely from the key fob and you can fold down rear seats easily from a cable pull in the load compartment. You can also add two extra seats. The optional folding bench seat is designed to accommodate two additional passengers up to 50kg in weight and 140cm in height. Kids love these seats even though with them in use there isn’t much more room for luggage.
The estate comes with standard self-levelling rear suspension, which ensures that the car always remains at the same level, even when fully loaded. The suspension set-up has also been adapted to suit the modified dimensions of the car, so there are slightly stiffer shock absorber settings and torsion bar stabilisers.
Safety is covered by nine airbags as standard as well as Neck-Pro crash-responsive head restraints and should you wish to spend more on safety, you can invest in the Distronic Plus proximity control and the Pre-Safe brake.
This uses information from short-wave sensors in the front bumper to tension the front seat belts at the last moment before an accident is recognised as unavoidable.
There is a considerable choice when it comes to engines, with some more relevant than others for our own market. The big seller will be the E200 CDi, which comes with a four-cylinder 2,143cc, 136bhp diesel engine that puts out 360Nm of torque yet only coughs up 152g/km of CO2.
If you do want your E-Class estate straight away in January then you can have the more powerful 170bhp, E220 CDi which has almost identical CO2 emissions and fuel economy of 5.8l/100km despite the extra potency. Don’t expect to see too many other engine variants on Irish roads, but you can have a 204bhp, E250 CDi – it too with fuel economy of 5.8l/100km and CO2 emissions of 150-153g/km. The E350 CDI is a V6 diesel, with 231bhp, fuel economy of 7l/100km and CO2 emissions of 185-192g/km with a seven-speed automatic transmission. Petrol fans, if there are any left, can choose from the E200 CGi (183bhp), E250 CGi (204bhp), E350 CGi V6 (272bhp), E500 V8 (388bhp) and E63 AMG V8 (525bhp).
The current E-Class is an infinitely better car to drive than before and the estate version, rather unsurprisingly, is no exception. We tried the E200 CDi first, which is the car that will be the big seller in Ireland (Mercedes expects to sell 75-100 E-Class estates in 2010) and despite being the least powerful engine of the range, it could cope more than well with the car’s 1,825kg. On a combination of autobahn and twisty country road it felt relaxed, stable and really comfortable.
As usual, it feels better with an automatic transmission, even if the manual gearbox is much better than it used to be, but you will be glad you chose an automatic when it comes to trade-in time.
The E-Class Estate is coming to Ireland in late January, in time for February delivery and with the E200 CDi saloon now costing €41,300, we guess that the estate model could cost a fraction under €45,000 when it arrives.
Factfile: Mercedes-Benz E Class
E200 CDI ESTATE
Engine: 2,143cc, four-cyli- nder in-line diesel putting out 136bhp and 360Nm of torque
Max speed: 205km/h 0-100km/h: 10.9 secs
Fuel economy: 5.8l/100km
Co2 emissions: 152g/km
Motor tax band: C
Annual road tax: €302
Price: circa €45,000
E220 CDI ESTATE
Engine: 2,143cc, four-cyli- nder in-line diesel putting out 170bhp and 400Nm of torque
Max speed: 218km/h
0-100km/h: 8.8 secs
Fuel economy: 5.7l/100km
Co2 emissions: 150g/km
Motor tax band: C
Annual Road Tax: €302
Price: circa €48,000