Long-distance love affair
By JUNE H.L. WONG
It's nearly impossible to design a car that pleases everyone but, with the R-Class, Mercedes-Benz serves up a vehicle that thrills the entire family.
IT was love at first sight. But when you are a boy who is almost 13, you don’t show it; you have to act cool. It was only after he and his mother were safely off and away from DaimlerChrysler Malaysia’s office, he blurted out: “This is one seriously sexy car, mum. It’s so sweet!”
So how did the Mercedes Benz R350 – a soccer mum kind of a car – earn the rave reviews of a hard-to-please pre-teen and his cars-all-look-alike middle-aged mum?
The Mercedes-Benz R-Class epitomises restrained elegance.
First off, its shape: It’s lean, sleek and streamlined with a restrained elegance that calls attention without being in-your-face about it.
The radiator grille retains Merc’s trademark badge and sharply angled headlights give the car a slant-eyed look. From the side, the R-Class sweeps up from a low front to a higher rear, the aerodynamic lines rounding off nicely at the back.
Next, the interior. After taking in the great legroom and plush leather executive-chair-type seats, my boy drooled over the rear-seat entertainment system. The seven-inch LCD screens built into the front seat headrests let the rear passengers enjoy their favourite music or video on the DVD player.
Two sets of foldable earphones are included to complete the in-flight entertainment experience at ground level.
Nice touches abound, such as the one-touch tailgate.
Knowing I had the space and the entertainment to keep everyone happy, it was time to load up and head south. See, that was the reason for me finally taking up DCM's offer to try out the R-Class. Knowing my partiality to MPVs and SUVs, the DCM people asked me to take it for review when the R-Class was first launched in January. But I didn’t have any reason to until the recent school break.
The family had decided to spend a few days in Singapore but there are five of us and the family saloon is just not roomy enough for a long road trip with three large teenagers.
Enter the R-Class and there were sighs of relief all round.
On the appointed day, up went the rear door, down went one third-row seat and in went our luggage. There were four suitcases, a huge plastic bag for several pairs of footwear, a carryall for the PS2 set and another rather large suitcase. Everything went in.
A feature which I really like is the way the whole rear door lifts up automatically at the touch of a button. And it lifts up very high so there’s terrific height clearance. Closing it is a little bit more tricky, especially if you are under 160cm (5’ 3”), as you have to press a button on the door and when it’s open, it’s waaaay up there.
We hit the road mid-afternoon. The going was slow because of road works on the North-South Highway but for a change, it was all quiet on the back seat(s) front as the kids were entertained by the Final Fantasy movie they brought along. There was none of that “Are we there yet?”
Rain fell almost incessantly as we traversed Johor and often it was so heavy, visibility was reduced to mere metres. Yet, I felt confident and safe. Road holding was tight and the ride was solid and steady.
The drive was so smooth that, despite the dreadful stormy weather, everyone else fell asleep. Tired dad had moved right to the back and the seat was comfortable enough for a full-size, slightly tubby adult male to snore in.
Driving the R-Class in Singapore was a breeze. Despite its size and length, which is about 5m, it’s very nippy with a really good turning radius. We discovered that quickly as we kept making wrong turns on the unfamiliar roads.
Double sun visors.
Even the narrow streets of Chinatown didn’t pose any difficulty to the R-Class. One sticky point though, it is quite hard to see the back when you are reversing, especially into a parking space, because the headrests get in the way.
For a car that’s so big (it weighs 2.2 tonnes, unladen!) and fabulously powerful, consumption was pretty good.
We made it to Singapore from PJ on less than three-quarters of a full tank (do bear in mind it holds 80l).
The journey home was smooth and easy. In fact, it was a breeze because the weather was good. We left at 4.30pm and reached our front gate just after 7.30pm.
At the end, I asked the family to rate the holiday and the R-Class. Singapore and its attractions (mainly its excellent National Museum) got 7.5 out of 10 and the R got seven from the Dad (our misadventures with the key had something to do with that, see below) eight from the girls, and a nine from the besotted boy. Me? I rate it 8.5 for its overall comfort and space, ease of driving, and pure sense of strength and safety.
One last point: The glass sunroof was a joy. It was indeed panoramic as claimed by the carmaker, extending almost the entire surface of the roof and allowed us to enjoy the Singapore night sky. So sweet!
Focus Sunday April 15, 2007
So clever ...
THEY call it the “smart key”. But when you aren't used to its clever little ways, you can end up feeling ... not so smart.
In fact, I felt downright foolish when I couldn’t find the key after switching off the Mercedes Benz R350’s engine outside my relative's house. I had gone there to show off the lovely car and ended up blocking her driveway.
I frantically called the DaimlerChrysler Malaysia (DCM) people for help and it dawned upon them that they had forgotten to pass me the key when I collected the car from their office.
Thus, did I learn that the R-Class had a smart key which did not have to be shoved into a hole to start the engine. All you needed to do was to carry it in your pocket or bag and the car would “sense” its presence and voila!, you pressed a large silver button to start the engine. (The same button also stops the engine.)
You don’t need to use the key either to open the doors. As long as you have the key in your pocket or handbag, you can press a little button on the door handle to pop the lock.
And that was why the DCM chap forgot to pass me the key, which he had in his pocket. Fortunately, I was only a short distance away so he could deliver the key to me quite quickly and we laughed it off.
But the lesson was forgotten by the time we returned from Singapore.
My husband had dropped me off at KLCC before driving off to his office. Ten minutes later, he called to say, “Er, dear, do you have the car key?” The electronic dashboard had flashed the warning, “Unable to detect key”. Of course it couldn’t – said key was in my handbag!
In the interest of safety, the engine will not shut down when the car is moving, even if the key has been inadvertently taken away. But what happens if you stop moving, like at a set of red lights? Hubby found out when the car switched itself off at the traffic lights.
I had to run out – a very sweaty 15-minute trot – to hand him the key.
The smart key is designed to be an anti-theft and security device. Indeed, I enjoyed not having to fumble around in my bag for the key. And it worked pretty well as long as I was the driver and held the key.
But, drive off without it and you can get into a pretty desperate situation if you don’t have enough time – about 30 minutes – to retrieve it.
My husband still prefers the traditional key that you stick into a slot. But I think I could get used to it. It’s a matter of the human being as smart as the gizmo
