ON A list of endangered species, you might have expected to see the humble estate car feature prominently. First it was rudely barged aside by the ingenious seating arrangement that was the MPV, or people carrier, then it was trampled all over by the SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle), which seemed to satisfy an inner yearning within people to lord it over their fellow motorist.
The biggest estate car of all, and therefore perhaps the one with furthest to fall, is the Mercedes-Benz E-class. A new version is in British showrooms, lifting its powered tailgate and flaunting its big booty for all to see.
There’s controversy, however. Antiques dealers, Labrador owners and parents weighed down with all-terrain pushchairs have pointed out that beneath the sleek new bodywork, the E-class estate’s unique selling point — it’s gargantuan boot — has, for the first time, got smaller.
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Exactly how much smaller, we’ll come to in a moment. First, let’s look at the range and pricing, notably the latter which has suffered a minor eruption like Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
The E-class estate range starts from £36,735, for the E200 d SE, or £39,230 for the AMG Line trim version. At the top of the diesel line up is the £49,735 E350 d AMG Line, and for the time being, the only petrol-powered model is the sporty Mercedes-AMG E43 4 Matic, which is £58,290.
The mid-range E220d SE starts from £38,230, or £40,725 for the AMG Line model, tested here. The equivalent, last generation E220 BlueTEC AMG was £39,355, so prices have climbed by nearly £1,400.
Mercedes would argue you get more for your money; more power and performance yet lower CO2 emissions, a nine-speed gearbox in place of a seven-speed and a smarter cabin with more advanced features.
And they’d have a point. Settle into the driver’s seat and this is a world away from the last E-class. It’s seriously classy — too good, some would say, for muddy children and their sticky sweets and runaway raisins.
The dashboard has more curves than an hourglass. Press the ignition button and you enter a digital world, with not an analogue dial in sight. You can choose from three different displays for the main dials — Sport, Classic, Progressive. Presumably, Prog Rock didn’t make the cut.
The optional Comand Online system (£1,495) comes with a 12.3-inch display and sat nav that is so detailed that you could probably see your neighbour sunbathing in their garden, by zooming in with Google Earth.
The front seats are decidedly snug, hinting, perhaps, that Mercedes has made this car a little more sporty to drive than the last model. But they’re comfortable over a long run, as is the driving position.
It’s a joy to find that the E-class no longer squeaks. The last one is famous amongst owners for a noise coming from behind its dashboard that, passengers would unkindly remark, sounded like a bed upstairs being put through its paces. But in this model, the only rattle you’ll hear will be from toddlers in their child seats. At least, when new.
There’s a good amount of rear legroom but the two outer seats are more sculpted than before, so anyone sat in the middle will feel unwanted. The optional panoramic double sunroof (part of a £3,895 Premium Plus package), and dual level rear ventilation ducts with temperature controls are nice to have, but the absence of any USB charging ports won’t impress teenagers who are hooked on their gadgets.
“The previous E-class is famous for a noise emanating from behind the dashboard that sounded like a bed being put through its paces”
The reduced boot space could mean that anyone who bought the last model because it trumped all rivals in this department may be disappointed. It’s a consequence of the car’s sleeker lines and sloping tailgate, and means that the boot has shrunk from 695 litres to 640.
Yet it remains one of the most practical estates money can buy — a suitcase or two bigger than an Audi A6 Avant, BMW 5-series Touring or Volvo V90 — and comes with a powered tailgate as standard. It also has substantial storage space under the floor, as well as the excellent automatically-retracting luggage cover with its integrated dividing net that keeps the weekly shop or pets out of the cabin.
Another minor gripe, however, is that the roof rails on this generation of car are flush with the bodywork, whereas the last version’s stood proud. What’s the big deal? Anyone changing from one to the other that uses a roof rack for bikes or roof boxes will have to buy a new rack.
There’s been a marked step forward with the driving experience. Refinement is much improved and the latest 2-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine only ever raises its voice under full throttle. The rest of the time it’s largely silent — ideal for long runs.
Performance is relatively brisk for such a bulky (1,760kg) car, taking 7.7sec to get from standstill to 62mph, and there’s effortless acceleration from just 1,600rpm. If you’re lucky, you might just get somewhere over 60mpg, too.
With nine speeds, the automatic gearbox probably sounds like it has several gears too many, yet it never falters or has to pause for thought. The gearshifts are smooth and fast, and the ‘box is also responsive to the Dynamic Select driving modes – Eco, Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Individual.
To be honest, most drivers most of the time will find Comfort by far the best choice, making the Mercedes feel as they’d hoped for: as calm and composed as the steady hand of a barber performing a cut-throat shave.
In Eco mode, the car drives like a Saint lost in the Outback and running low on fuel; in Sport the suspension is too firm and in Sport+ the engine and gearbox become hyperactive.
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It’s also worth noting that if Comfort is your priority, give the optional 20 inch alloy wheels a miss. They thump over drains and potholes and feel skittish over manholes.
There’s another element to the latest E-class that will appeal to the sort of people who could happily spend all day wandering around a Maplin store. Of any model you can go out and buy today, it is as close to a self-driving car as it gets. Fitted with the optional Driving Assistance Package (£1,695), it will steer, accelerate, slow and even change lanes for the driver. During our time with the car, the most impressive thing was that it all worked faultlessly, and didn’t require panicked intervention on the driver’s part.
All in all, then, the Mercedes E-class estate is an impressive package. The only downside to buying one is that you won’t be alone; there is no exclusivity from having a Mercedes-Benz parked outside your house. In middle class households, the German cars are as common as White Company bed linen or SMEG fridge-freezers. This September, over 31,800 Mercedes were sold to British drivers, taking the year’s total to nearly 136,000.
But when a car’s as good as this one, that’s hardly a surprise. The real surprise is finding the estate car remains a thriving species.
The post 2016 Mercedes-Benz E-class estate review appeared first on Sunday Times Driving.
source http://www.driving.co.uk/car-reviews/mercedes-e220-d-estate-amg-line-2016-review/
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