Driving in Style

When an invite to drive all the way to the CamSur Watersports Complex comes your way, it’s kind of easy to say no. There is, after all, that eight-hour drive to consider. That is, of course, until you realize you’ll be driving a Mercedes Benz. In a case like this, it suddenly becomes hard to say no. (Did Andy and I just take off from the same point?) In our case, the invite came via text message from Cats Motors marketing manager Apple Ting, who explained to us that we’d be driving either a B-Class Sports Tourer or an M-Class SUV all the way to the Bicol region. Despite the appeal of the oh-so-cute compact Benz, we were naturally hoping we’d be assigned an M-Class, since we were expecting the SUV’s spaciousness to provide more comfort for the long haul. Luckily, that is exactly what transpired.

As The Philippine STAR was fortunate enough to have been given three seats in the small contingent, we were spread out evenly. Thus, Andy Leuterio and James Deakin took on one of the B-Class vehicles in the convoy while yours truly shared M-Class driving duties with Manila Times motoring editor Brian Afuang. Given the scenario, the STAR boys decided that we’d share the responsibilities of bringing the entire story to you, our readers, hence the accompanying B-Class story by Andy and the photographs courtesy of James.

Here’s what we found out from our lengthy M-Class experience. The 6-cylinder ML350 is both an able and comfortable drive. Power output (272hp @ 6,000rpm) and torque levels (350Nm between 2,400 and 5,000rpm) are nothing short of impressive. This is especially apparent on straights, where the big Benz’s abilities are made particularly evident (0-100kph is rated at an impressive 8.4 seconds). As for the ride, well, you can trust this Mercedes Benz to live up to some of its more refined siblings’ legendary pillowy feel. The standard-fit 7G-TRONIC automatic transmission (which selects gears directly to ensure enhanced ride comfort), and 4MATIC permanent all-wheel drive with the Electronic Traction System (which ensures better traction control) add to the ML350’s comfort levels immensely.

Inside, intuitive controls and tasteful appointments typical of Benzes abound. The fine wood trim and Aspen fabric/ARTICO man-made leather combination prevalent in the interiors do wonders to enhance one’s sense of self-worth. We practically felt that we were spoiled to insane levels while inside the vehicle. This despite the occasional rough roads we had to traverse en route to our destination. The ML350’s on-board computer provides some pretty useful information as well. Prominently displayed in the dash between the speedometer and the tachometer, it gave us some nifty updates on fuel consumption, length of time of travel and total distance traveled since vehicle start-up. As such, we knew exactly where we stood in relation to our estimated time of travel – which is such a big plus on long road trips.

All in all, we had very little to complain about in the M-Class (Personally, I have beef with vehicles still not equipped with MP3 player connection capabilities in this day and age. Apparently, so does Andy.). After all, we were tasked to drive the top of the line vehicle in our little contingent. And, as Cats Motors senior marketing manager Andros Villaraza stressed before we took the long trip, often it isn’t so much Point A and Point B that matter, but rather the journey in between. For what it’s worth, we were driving in style – hence the pleasant experience, whichever way you put it.