SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model range announcement. The driving experiences were limited to short drives over a prepared course chosen to make the products look good. We can therefore not tell you what they will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical they are, or how reliable they will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until such time as we get actual test units for trial. Thank you for your patience.
Pics supplied
New and more powerful engines, more muscle for AMG with a new top model arriving in September, uprated specifications across the board with more features borrowed from S-Class, and possibly the world’s first diesel-electric hybrid; these make up the 15-model Mercedes-Benz E-class range announced in Franschhoek recently.
Sedan variants are powered by E200 and E250 versions of the familiar 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, an E250 CDI four, an E350 BlueTec 3.0-litre diesel, plus E400 six-cylinder and E500 eight-pot petrol motors. Station wagons are available overseas, but MBSA does not plan to bring any in at this time.
No fewer than ten new or optimised assistance systems from the S-Class feature in the new cars. They combine a host of comfort and safety features referred to by Mercedes-Benz as "intelligent drive." These include systems that can aid in avoiding mishaps with crossing vehicles or pedestrians, active Lane Keeping Assist that helps prevent collisions with oncoming traffic, and anti-glare permanent high-beam headlamps. Optional on most models, they remain on high beam for best visibility, but cut off selectively to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.
The headlamps have been redesigned and house all functional elements within a single lens while ensuring that the "four-eyed" look typical of the E-Class has been graphically retained. Both the low-beam headlights and daytime running lamps feature LED technology as standard, with full-LED main lights available optionally. A spokesperson put it this way: “You remember the huge leap in lighting quality from halogen to bi-xenon? The one from xenon to full-LED is just as dramatic.”
For the first time, the E-Class is available with two different front ends. Elegance models come standard with the classic three-dimensional, three-louvre, saloon radiator and Mercedes-Benz star on the bonnet. The Avantgarde equipment line, on the other hand, incorporates the sportier front end with central star on the grille. Both interior and exterior have been reworked extensively, with scarcely a panel remaining untouched, but it’s still the familiar E-Class we all know.
We drove a representative selection. While the bigger versions were obviously awesome to experience, even the “baby” of the group, the E200, provided very acceptable acceleration and performance. Over an 80-km stretch of hilly country and back roads it cruised comfortably with more than enough energy for day-to-day use. Only the greedy really need more.
Of special interest is the new E300 BlueTec hybrid. Its engine is that of the E250, 2143 cc diesel with a 20-kW, 250 Nm electric motor fitted concentrically with a wet clutch between the engine and 7-Gtronic gearbox. With the torque converter deleted, the total assembly is only 90 mm longer than the previous, non-hybrid setup. Total combined outputs are 170 kW and 590 Nm, with CO2 emissions given as 110 gm/km. Once inertia has been overcome, “sailing,” or propulsion by electric power alone, is apparently possible at speeds up to 160 km/h.
Kinsey and I tested this theory over the final 100 km from the lunch stop to Cape Town International. The wind blustered, there were uphills and downs over a mountain pass and there was some traffic. We drove normally, cruising between 100 and 110 km/h unless a restriction required us to drive more slowly. There were obviously times when the diesel engine had to kick in. He averaged 6,1 l/100 on his stint while I managed 5,8. These results are impressive considering Car magazine’s fuel index of 7,2 for the previous E250 CDI.
Coupés and cabriolets use E250, E400 and E500 four, six and eight-cylinder petrol engines. The new, more advanced 2.0-litre E250 develops 5 kW and 40 Nm more than the old 1800cc engine did, for claimed fuel consumption between 5,7 and 6,1 l/100 km. Next up is the new E400, a three-litre bi-turbo six that puts out 245 kW and 480 Nm; using 7,4 to 7,6 litres of fuel per 100 km. The 4663 cc V8, E500 remains as it was power-wise, consuming a claimed 8,9 l/100 km.
Finally, the mind-numbing E63 AMG: The new standard version develops 410 kW and 720 Nm; 24 kW and 20 Nm more than it did before, to blast its way through the traps in 4,2 seconds. The “S” version due later this year ups the ante to 430/800 and does the sprint one-tenth of a second quicker. Fuel economy claims are 9,8 and 9,9 l/100 respectively.
Much about these E-class cars is new and value has certainly been added, but price increases have been held tightly in check. They will be well received.
Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored press launch.
The numbers
Prices include CO2 tax in all cases except the 110-gm/km hybrid, which is exempt.
Saloons - from R544 078 to R937 735
Coupés - from R585 827 to R947 596
Cabriolets - from R661 110 to R1 008 987
E300 BlueTec hybrid (saloon only) – R634 000
E63 AMG – R1 286 890
E63 AMG “S” – R1 407 890
Warranty and maintenance: 6 years/100 000 km
E350 sedan
E500
E63 AMG sedan
E300 BlueTec hybrid
E500 coupe
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
My reviews and launch reports appear on Thursdays in the Wheels supplement to The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles each month, most months of the year (except over the festive season) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8