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Styling challenges:
The R500 has an unappealing design, but great handling
Ronan McGrath
The first impression you get of the Mercedes R500 is it's massive. The utility vehicle is quite tall with a significantly long wheelbase. Styling is fairly controversial with a shortish nose and a long curved roofline. I was unable to warm to this styling, and it wasn't liked by any of the women I spoke with. With the men, opinions were more polarized; a few loved it, but most didn't.
The headlamp array styling was not to my taste and had a slightly 1937 Ford look to it. Overall, the relationship between the stubby nose and very long passenger compartment is bus-like and a bit disproportionate.
The interior is capacious for four passengers, but cramped for six. The individual seats are all very comfortable, while the third row is definitely better for occasional use, or for kids. I tried this with a number of adults and generally the third row wasn't liked. But it does have adequate headroom—something not found in all third rows. The headroom is more than adequate for even the tallest passengers.
With all the seats upright, there's limited luggage room. So as a weekend or corporate travel vehicle, the R500 is best suited to four passengers, rather than six. Folding down all the seats is fairly easy, though seat adjustment for the second row is manual.
Dash styling is a little confused, with a small amount of wood, lots of dark plastic and bright work. The rotary switchgear felt a bit cheap for this class of vehicle. There's room for three cups in the cup holder. It has a removable centre section for the third cup. It seemed like a bit of overkill to me. The base sound system was adequate rather than outstanding.
The huge rear doors make for easy cargo loading with all seats pushed flat, but it also means you need a fair amount of space as the door, when open, needs a lot of room.
Crisp driving
Driving the vehicle was much better than I expected. The trusty five-litre V-8 has been around for a long time, and the 302 horsepower is certainly adequate for this type of vehicle. I was surprised how quickly the impression of size disappeared once on the road, as the handling is crisp and comparable to a much smaller vehicle.
The chassis felt stiff and well engineered and there were absolutely no rattles. The car corners very predictably with a little under-steer if pushed hard, but it's forgiving to the overly enthusiastic. Parking is accomplished fairly easily, but I was surprised park distance control was not standard on a vehicle this size.
Suspension was slightly firm, but surprisingly, doesn't like speed bumps. It juddered more than I expected at very moderate speeds. The standout is the new seven-speed auto box. It's super smooth, and Mercedes has simplified the very small column-mounted shift lever to perfection...down for drive; up for reverse; and push in for park.
The more rarely used features, such as holding gear, are controlled by easy to use buttons on the back of the steering wheel. This is the best thought-out autobox I’ve ever seen.
Overall, the R500 is a much better driving vehicle that I expected, but it's difficult to position it in the market. It's a sort of luxury evolution of the minivan, positioned somewhere among the M, E-class wagon and the large G class. It might work as a fairly short-range commuter vehicle, or for those who often carry bulky objects. I think its styling will work against it, and it will be challenged in a fairly crowded market for utility vehicles.
Ronan McGrath is CIO of Rogers Communications Inc., based in Toronto.
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