To CamSur and Back with "The B"

An eight-hour drive to a province one has never been to is not exactly calculated to make one jump for joy. Especially in this country, where traffic is often maddening and your chances of getting into an accident are about an even 50-50 depending on what fate will decide to throw in your path whether it’s an 18-wheeler truck or a child blithely crossing the road while texting. But fortunately, there were two very nice incentives: we’d be driving to CamSur, and more specifically the CamSur Watersports Complex with its world-class wakeboarding facilities, and we’d be driving "the B". Well, actually, our very dashing Motoring Editor finessed his way into the lone ML350 of our very expensive Mercedes-Benz fleet (with a Jeep Commander and Chrysler Pacifica as support vehicles), but for the most part, we hardworking journalists were given the keys to a trio of shiny B-150 and B-170 Sport Tourers.

The B, as you may already know, is Mercedes-Benz’s "active yuppie" hatchback, a tall-roof, 5-door passenger car with the versatility of the two-box layout and the futuristic appeal of a concept car, at least from the outside. Some angles might look ungainly, but from the front and the sides, the downward-angled sweep of the lines, the large greenhouse area, and the hyper-buglike look of the car makes it look like a million bucks. A little more than two, actually. So. We could hardly complain that we were being sent off to a driving ordeal in a fleet of cheapo rides, no sir.

Assigned to a B170 with less than 1,500 kilometers on the odometer and sharing it with C! Magazine’s James Deakin (who as you know is also from The Philippine STAR) and Chris Van Hoven, I lost no time in appropriating the backseat, thinking that it would be the best seat in the house when you’re coming from just four hours of sleep from the night before. Unfortunately for this iPod owner, the B has no AUX jack as I believe every premium car should have nowadays, but fortunately, it does have an auxiliary power outlet for backseat passengers. In no time at all, I’d plugged in my FM tuner and iPod and attempted to catch a few winks while James proceeded to tell us his tales of woe from years and years ago back in Australia. This guy is a born storyteller, I tell you, and to my knowledge, no one else can talk about psychotic women chasing him all over the outback and have you rolling around in laughter like he does. Eventually, I passed out from the oxygen deprivation, only to wake up an hour later somewhere in Quezon’s "Bitukang Manok" (yum) for a driver change after Chris not so much as asked me but declared "Andy, you want to drive." Okay, okay.

Now in the front seat, with 220km to go, I settled down to the business of driving (we Philippine STAR journos are consummate pros, you know…), adjusting my seat like so, getting the steering wheel rake just right, and getting a feel for the B’s dynamics. And they are very nice dynamics, in fact, considering that it’s a regular premium hatchback with some sporting traits. The low-profile tires give a ride that’s too firm if you’re riding in the back, but they work wonders for turn-in response and zig-zagging confidence, allowing us to attack switchbacks with "aplomb" (James reportedly hates it when we use that word) and evade numerous cracks and potholes on the road to CamSur. Plus, they look really cool.

As the badge on its rump connotes, the B170 has a mere 1.7-liters of engine displacement, and while its 114 horses deliver far from a stampede of power, the good news is that the motor happily zings to the redline and it’s blessed with a 7-speed CVT that just loves to work hard. The all-disk brakes (with ABS, of course) also have plenty of bite and not much fade, even though the soft pedal feedback gives you the impression that it’s tuned more for comfort. We had few problems keeping pace with the aggressively driven Jeep Commander, which was the lead car. Neither did we have much of a problem getting comfortable, because like any other Benz, the B has got fantastic front seats; firm in all the right places to support you through long drives. Now if only they’d ditch that idiosyncratic knob for the recline adjustment and just use a good old lever like God intended…

We eventually made it to CamSur in one piece and the cars none the worse for wear, followed by nothing to do the next day but make repeated attempts to master the wakeboard. CamSur Watersports Complex has a huge artificial lake for its cable wakeboard, and I tell you, nothing is more inspiring under the hot summer sun than watching one of the local pros perform tricks on the ramps as if these were the easiest thing in the world. And then, of course, nothing is more humbling than to attempt to ride the board yourself, fall flat on your face not two seconds later, then get passed by the four-year old daughter of the Aussie instructor on her own cute little wakeboard. Seriously though, with very affordable accommodations and great food, this place has got to be The Next Big Thing when it comes to vacations spots, long drive from Manila notwithstanding. Aside from the wakeboard lake and a decently large swimming pool, a half-pipe for skateboarders, a technical circuit for trials mountainbikers, and even a motocross circuit are in the works, making CWS the Extreme Disneyland for adrenaline junkies.

After a day of numerous failed attempts to master the wakeboard (James fared much better, damn him…), it was time to head home. Back in the B, we inadvertently got left behind by the convoy exiting CWS, initiating a near-frantic attempt to link up with our hung-over colleagues where we got to squeeze every last watt from the B’s motor. Through the switchbacks, passing dozens of dawdlers, and successfully evading all but one particularly cruel pothole which evinced a "KA-BLANG!" so frightening that we had to peek at the rear wheel well to see if it still had a wheel back there (it was, yippee!), I guess it’s fair to say that we drove the B far harder than a real-world owner would subject his Merc to. Through it all, the car stoically performed to the best of its abilities without complaint, rewarding a smooth hand and right foot with silken responses, and giving us the impression that we could drive it hard all day and not even ruffle its feathers. It even returned 8.7 kilometers to the liter, which was pretty good because we were pedal-to-the-metal most of the time. At its price point, the B-Class may not be for everybody, but as we proved over the course of that 800-kilometer round trip, it’s reasonably comfortable, it’s classy, and it’s got the game for buyers who need a sporty yet practical hatchback for their active lifestyles.