Dilemma - Merc E300 hybrid or E350?
Discussion
I'm looking at what to replace my C63 with (
) and think it'll be a new Merc E-class estate. I'm currently torn between the E300 Hybrid or the E350. Heart says E350 with its big V6 diesel, however head says E300 for economy (I understand the E350's are thirsty) and also the coolness of electric power (well, up to 22mph anyway).
Has anyone driven or owned either (or both!) of these cars?
) and think it'll be a new Merc E-class estate. I'm currently torn between the E300 Hybrid or the E350. Heart says E350 with its big V6 diesel, however head says E300 for economy (I understand the E350's are thirsty) and also the coolness of electric power (well, up to 22mph anyway).Has anyone driven or owned either (or both!) of these cars?
I own an E350 cdi and have driven the 300. While I don't think performance is too dissimilar the 300 doesn't have the torque surge of the 350 and it has the 4 cylinder rattle. While i didn't do any major mileage in the 300 my chauffeur driving colleagues easily see 60 mpg where I rarely (unless on a motorway run) see over 30 mpg in my 350
mr_oversteer said:
I own an E350 cdi and have driven the 300. While I don't think performance is too dissimilar the 300 doesn't have the torque surge of the 350 and it has the 4 cylinder rattle. While i didn't do any major mileage in the 300 my chauffeur driving colleagues easily see 60 mpg where I rarely (unless on a motorway run) see over 30 mpg in my 350
30 mpg is very low. Are you mostly booting it around town? Thankyou4calling said:
mr_oversteer said:
I own an E350 cdi and have driven the 300. While I don't think performance is too dissimilar the 300 doesn't have the torque surge of the 350 and it has the 4 cylinder rattle. While i didn't do any major mileage in the 300 my chauffeur driving colleagues easily see 60 mpg where I rarely (unless on a motorway run) see over 30 mpg in my 350
30 mpg is very low. Are you mostly booting it around town? ghibbett said:
I'm looking at what to replace my C63 with () and think it'll be a new Merc E-class estate. I'm currently torn between the E300 Hybrid or the E350. Heart says E350 with its big V6 diesel, however head says E300 for economy (I understand the E350's are thirsty) and also the coolness of electric power (well, up to 22mph anyway).
Has anyone driven or owned either (or both!) of these cars?
Boo... why's the C63 going, more mileage due?) and think it'll be a new Merc E-class estate. I'm currently torn between the E300 Hybrid or the E350. Heart says E350 with its big V6 diesel, however head says E300 for economy (I understand the E350's are thirsty) and also the coolness of electric power (well, up to 22mph anyway).Has anyone driven or owned either (or both!) of these cars?
So over the weekend I managed to test drive both an E350 Bluetech and an E300 Bluetech Hybrid. The E350 was a dealer demonstrator with 35,000 miles on it whereas the E300 was a brand new car showing 12 miles.
Having the E300 to test drive was an unexpected bonus, however as it was a brand new car we could only take it 'around the block', thus I couldn't replicate the route I did in the E350.
E350 Bluetech
The route I had planned out was actually pretty boring, but replicated a shorter version of a typical commute. It consitied of about 80% dual carriageway with the remainder being A-roads interspersed with traffic lights and roundabouts. As Gizze has recommended, I got into the car, started it, reset the OBC, then flicked back to the digital speed screen and got on with driving the car.
Just under 40 miles later when I returned, I checked the OBC to find it stating 39.2mpg. I'd been using cruise control at between 75-80mph, along with a few spirited acceleration runs to see how she performed. Overall I thought this wasn't too bad.
E300 Bluetech Hybrid
Just having a car there to drive was an unexpected bonus, so I wasn't worried that the test drives routes were different. Even it they'd been the same, the E300 was a brand new car and the engine felt very tight. However the 'round the block' route was still a good 12 miles and gave me ample opportunity to get a feel for the car. The route was a mix of back-lane B-road and fast A-roads, so not much opportunity to take advantage of the hybrid facility other than when sailing up to a junction. Overall the car averaged 42mpg according to the OBC.
Preconceptions
So before I drove these cars, and from reading various posts & reviews, I had a few preconceptions about both vehicles; I thought the 350 would be extremely refined with monster torque and would really show the lack of the refinement in the E300. I also expected there to be a sizeable performance difference. I expected the E300 to be nice, but far more unrefined and just that bit lacking compared with the E300. Basically I thought there'd be a gulf between the 2 cars in terms of refinement, performance and desirability.
I'm very pleased to say that this wasn't the case.
Refinement
This is the E350's trump card. The engine is incredibly smooth, and not just for a diesel. Yes you can (just) hear it's a diesel, but the engine spins very sweetly, there are no vibrations through the seat/wheel/pedals at idle, and it wafts along beautifully.
The E300 was actually pretty damn good! Far better than I was expecting in fact. Yes it's a 4 cylinder diesel, but at low speeds and at idle the engine switches off to use the batteries. Pulling away in electric, along with sailing up towards junctions was just magic (). When the engine switches off in sail mode, I only knew this from looking at the rev counter. The engine kicks back in smoothly, but there is a very slight delay as it does so. Certainly it's not as refined as the E350, but the difference between the two was less that I'd thought.
Performance
I found the E350 rather underwhelming here. All this talk of C63 rivaling torque had me thinking it would be some form of tyre shredding monster. It absolutely is not! It may have a similar amount of torque as a C63, but there is no comparison. However in fairness, it does hide its acceleration well. What the E350 is is a very smooth diesel with okay-ish grunt.
And the E300? Well it was a new car, no doubt with a tight engine, but I still gave it some welly. It actually surprised me by feeling almost as quick as the E350. I reckon there'd not much between them in a straight line.
So overall my preconceived gulf between the two cars was more a small gap. I think my ideal combination would be an E350 Hybrid, however between the two tested I would plonk for the E300. I just loved the Hybrid technology.
Having the E300 to test drive was an unexpected bonus, however as it was a brand new car we could only take it 'around the block', thus I couldn't replicate the route I did in the E350.
E350 Bluetech
The route I had planned out was actually pretty boring, but replicated a shorter version of a typical commute. It consitied of about 80% dual carriageway with the remainder being A-roads interspersed with traffic lights and roundabouts. As Gizze has recommended, I got into the car, started it, reset the OBC, then flicked back to the digital speed screen and got on with driving the car.
Just under 40 miles later when I returned, I checked the OBC to find it stating 39.2mpg. I'd been using cruise control at between 75-80mph, along with a few spirited acceleration runs to see how she performed. Overall I thought this wasn't too bad.
E300 Bluetech Hybrid
Just having a car there to drive was an unexpected bonus, so I wasn't worried that the test drives routes were different. Even it they'd been the same, the E300 was a brand new car and the engine felt very tight. However the 'round the block' route was still a good 12 miles and gave me ample opportunity to get a feel for the car. The route was a mix of back-lane B-road and fast A-roads, so not much opportunity to take advantage of the hybrid facility other than when sailing up to a junction. Overall the car averaged 42mpg according to the OBC.
Preconceptions
So before I drove these cars, and from reading various posts & reviews, I had a few preconceptions about both vehicles; I thought the 350 would be extremely refined with monster torque and would really show the lack of the refinement in the E300. I also expected there to be a sizeable performance difference. I expected the E300 to be nice, but far more unrefined and just that bit lacking compared with the E300. Basically I thought there'd be a gulf between the 2 cars in terms of refinement, performance and desirability.
I'm very pleased to say that this wasn't the case.
Refinement
This is the E350's trump card. The engine is incredibly smooth, and not just for a diesel. Yes you can (just) hear it's a diesel, but the engine spins very sweetly, there are no vibrations through the seat/wheel/pedals at idle, and it wafts along beautifully.
The E300 was actually pretty damn good! Far better than I was expecting in fact. Yes it's a 4 cylinder diesel, but at low speeds and at idle the engine switches off to use the batteries. Pulling away in electric, along with sailing up towards junctions was just magic (). When the engine switches off in sail mode, I only knew this from looking at the rev counter. The engine kicks back in smoothly, but there is a very slight delay as it does so. Certainly it's not as refined as the E350, but the difference between the two was less that I'd thought.
Performance
I found the E350 rather underwhelming here. All this talk of C63 rivaling torque had me thinking it would be some form of tyre shredding monster. It absolutely is not! It may have a similar amount of torque as a C63, but there is no comparison. However in fairness, it does hide its acceleration well. What the E350 is is a very smooth diesel with okay-ish grunt.
And the E300? Well it was a new car, no doubt with a tight engine, but I still gave it some welly. It actually surprised me by feeling almost as quick as the E350. I reckon there'd not much between them in a straight line.
So overall my preconceived gulf between the two cars was more a small gap. I think my ideal combination would be an E350 Hybrid, however between the two tested I would plonk for the E300. I just loved the Hybrid technology.
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