Wednesday 21st September 2016

Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain for Paris

The Mercedes niche filling continues with Allroad-rivalling E-Class Estate

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You wait ages for one off-road estate... Yep, following on from last week's announcement of the Volvo V90 Cross Country, Mercedes has detailed its upcoming E-Class All Terrain. For when one of Mercedes' numerous off-road cars doesn't fit the bill, presumably.

The fightback against SUVs continues!

Described as having a "powerful and robust appearance", the All-Terrain is identified over a regular wagon by its raised ride height - more on that in a sec - the new front grille and bumper arrangement, an altered rear bumper design and the black plastic arch extensions that "emphasise the all-terrain character." Both 19- and 20-inch wheels feature unique designs for this model and come with more sidewall than regular E-Class wheels to aid ground clearance and comfort - could this in fact be the most refined new E-Class of them all?

The E-Class All-Terrain will initially be offered with the new four-cylinder diesel in E220d spec, the range to be bolstered soon after with the E350d V6. Both will get the nine-speed auto and 4Matic all-wheel drive as standard. 

See look, off-roadery

To the actual off-road stuff. Like many other Mercedes models, the All-Terrain will feature the Dynamic Select driving mode function; however, this E-Class also includes the 'All-Terrain' setting seen in the Mercedes SUVs. This raises the air suspension by 20mm (up to 35mm is possible), adjusts the thresholds of the driving assists and displays off-road information in the dash. Compared to an E-Class estate, the All-Terrain rides 29mm higher and now features 156mm of ground clearance. Hardly a Range Rover then, but probably more than any customers will actually require.

Following a Paris show debut, Mercedes predicts a market launch for the E-Class All-Terrain early next year. Which is about the same time as the Volvo. Probably budget a good chunk more than £40K for either. But which would it be?

 

[sidesauce]

Weirdly, I kind of like that and I'm generally not an estate fan...

[confused_buyer]

I read the headline and thought "crikey, the roads in Paris must be getting bad".

[hornetrider]

I'd quite like BMW to launch a 5 series X-drive over here.

[TurboHatchback]

'Off road' vehicle, 20" wheels with rubber band road tyres. The marketing department really are on a roll.

[PetrolAholic]

Before I owned an E350 CDI (2012) I would have said I like that, but i'm never ever owning a Merc again.

[Mintbird]

only 15.6 cm clearance? Volvo has 21. thats a big difference.

[jhonn]

Another niche filler - more choice for the buyer - Yay!

[Mintbird]

PetrolAholic said:

Before I owned an E350 CDI (2012) I would have said I like that, but i'm never ever owning a Merc again.

? the W212 is a great car.

[BlackLabel]

hornetrider said:

I'd quite like BMW to launch a 5 series X-drive over here.

You can now get a 7 series xdrive so I'm sure the 5 series version won't be far behind.

[E65Ross]

TurboHatchback said:

'Off road' vehicle, 20" wheels with rubber band road tyres. The marketing department really are on a roll.

Does the tyre sidewall and size make a big difference to its off-road capability? Range Rover seems to be alright with 20 inch wheels so long as you get decent tyres.

I'd be interested in knowing the answer to that, as I'm not entirely sure. But if it's more to do with the tyres (in terms of tread pattern and width, more than sidewall size) and also why 20 inch wheels may be worse than, say, 17 inch wheels.... Would be keen to know the reasoning behind your comment.

Thanks.

[matsoc]

BlackLabel said:

hornetrider said:

I'd quite like BMW to launch a 5 series X-drive over here.

You can now get a 7 series xdrive so I'm sure the 5 series version won't be far behind.

I own a 5series Xdrive (530xd), bought new last Ocotober in Italy. It was available also in E61 generation. Is the RHD version missing?

[spreadsheet monkey]

TurboHatchback said:

'Off road' vehicle, 20" wheels with rubber band road tyres. The marketing department really are on a roll.

Article says "Both 19- and 20-inch wheels feature unique designs for this model and come with more sidewall than regular E-Class wheels to aid ground clearance and comfort". So presumably they're not rubber band tyres.

19" wheels seem to be pretty normal these days for this size of car. How small do you want/need the wheels to be?

[hornetrider]

matsoc said:

BlackLabel said:

hornetrider said:

I'd quite like BMW to launch a 5 series X-drive over here.

You can now get a 7 series xdrive so I'm sure the 5 series version won't be far behind.

I own a 5series Xdrive (530xd), bought new last Ocotober in Italy. It was available also in E61 generation. Is the RHD version missing?

Yep. I'm aware they are available on the continent, not here though.

[DM525i]

Interested to know why you wouldn't ever own a Merc again. Must say some of the older ones (10 years or so) look pretty scabby and rotten (I'm obsessed with rust). Skoda, Audi, Volvo have all done this. Seems like a good idea to take an estate and give it a little more usability.

[SWoll]

Horrible looking thing, and whoever chose metallic red to go with the awful grey plastic and fake chrome wants shooting. Looks like a GLA that's been through a pasta machine.

[Leins]

confused_buyer said:

I read the headline and thought "crikey, the roads in Paris must be getting bad".

I thought they might be sending Jack Ickx back into the desert

[TurboHatchback]

E65Ross said:

TurboHatchback said:

'Off road' vehicle, 20" wheels with rubber band road tyres. The marketing department really are on a roll.

Does the tyre sidewall and size make a big difference to its off-road capability? Range Rover seems to be alright with 20 inch wheels so long as you get decent tyres.

I'd be interested in knowing the answer to that, as I'm not entirely sure. But if it's more to do with the tyres (in terms of tread pattern and width, more than sidewall size) and also why 20 inch wheels may be worse than, say, 17 inch wheels.... Would be keen to know the reasoning behind your comment.

Thanks.

Yes it does for several reasons:

• Damage resistance: When going over 'pointy' or 'edgy' terrain the tyre deforms around the terrain. How much it can deform is defined by the tyre pressure, profile and construction. You want to spread the ground pressure over the tyre surface as evenly as possible to avoid punctures or damage, with a tiny sidewall the tyre must be stiff and non-deformable and hence much more vulnerable. The likelyhood of the alloy itself contacting rock and cracking is alsohugely increased.
• Grip: Another advantage to squishy tyres with proper all-terrain tread is that as the rounded contact patch is squashed flat the tread blocks actually grab or 'pinch' the ground, hugely increasing traction. Obviously with rigidly square profiled road tyres this cannot happen.

Of course I realise that these will never be used to traverse any more than the local pony club paddock so it matters not a jot, I just find all the 'Grrr, manly' marketing guff bemusing on a vehicle that wouldn't last 2 miles without breaking on any real trails. The same can be said of all it's competitors too so not a model specific criticism.

[E65Ross]

TurboHatchback said:

E65Ross said:

TurboHatchback said:

'Off road' vehicle, 20" wheels with rubber band road tyres. The marketing department really are on a roll.

Does the tyre sidewall and size make a big difference to its off-road capability? Range Rover seems to be alright with 20 inch wheels so long as you get decent tyres.

I'd be interested in knowing the answer to that, as I'm not entirely sure. But if it's more to do with the tyres (in terms of tread pattern and width, more than sidewall size) and also why 20 inch wheels may be worse than, say, 17 inch wheels.... Would be keen to know the reasoning behind your comment.

Thanks.

Yes it does for several reasons:

• Damage resistance: When going over 'pointy' or 'edgy' terrain the tyre deforms around the terrain. How much it can deform is defined by the tyre pressure, profile and construction. You want to spread the ground pressure over the tyre surface as evenly as possible to avoid punctures or damage, with a tiny sidewall the tyre must be stiff and non-deformable and hence much more vulnerable. The likelyhood of the alloy itself contacting rock and cracking is alsohugely increased.
• Grip: Another advantage to squishy tyres with proper all-terrain tread is that as the rounded contact patch is squashed flat the tread blocks actually grab or 'pinch' the ground, hugely increasing traction. Obviously with rigidly square profiled road tyres this cannot happen.

Of course I realise that these will never be used to traverse any more than the local pony club paddock so it matters not a jot, I just find all the 'Grrr, manly' marketing guff bemusing on a vehicle that wouldn't last 2 miles without breaking on any real trails. The same can be said of all it's competitors too so not a model specific criticism.

Thanks for taking the time to post that

[Roger Irrelevant]

I am very much a fan of the rufty-tufty estate car - my current Outback is pretty much perfect for me. The thing is, though, since I do actually use them off-road a reasonable amount I really wouldn't want to spend loads of money on one I felt I needed to keep in good nick. I almost bought an XC70 for not short of £20k but got cold feet as I reckon I'd never want to actually take it down a narrow rocky track, which would make it a bit pointless. This Merc looks nice and a few years down the road I might have considered one, but with 15cm ground clearance and a pretty long wheelbase I'm not convinced it would be all that much cop off-road.

[Sheepshanks]

PetrolAholic said:

Before I owned an E350 CDI (2012) I would have said I like that, but i'm never ever owning a Merc again.

Probably a good decision - the Merc forums are littered with people who moved from that model (W212) to the latest one (W213) and really don't like it.