SATURDAY, 31 OCTOBER, 2015
Fighting words from the desert Warboy ALWYN VILJOEN discovers why Merc ute drivers are cooler and have more fans. For real. Riding eternal on the fury road: MercedesBenz South Africa launched its brace of Gmodels on the site where the Mad Max chase scenes were shot in the Namibian desert. PHOTOS: ALWYN VILJOEN MERCEDESBENZ South Africa (MBSA) this week went where no luxury sport ute has gone be fore as it launched a brace of Gclass models to the media and dealers on the Mad Max movie set in Namibia. With the legendary GClass donating its goany where genes to turn the small Aclass to the plush SClass into formidable offroaders, CEO of the MBSA Fioran Seidler said nobody offers a better combination of dynamic efficiencies in the SUV range than Mercedes. These fighting words from the desert are not only aimed at BMW’s Xrange or Audi’s Qseries, for as Seidler knows, the sport ute field is a buyers’ paradise as everyone adds a lot more spec or huge discounts in the hope of making a sale. Next week, Toyota will launch yet another facelift of the evergreen Land Cruiser range in those same dunes. Mitsubishi has already added R70 000 in serious offroad kit to the Pajero and in the R700 k price range, and the new Ford Everest is now selling big SUV standards for medium SUV money, includ ing the electric folddown rear seats found only in Mercedes’s topoftherange Gclass offerings. Which may explain why, through rocky canyons, on oily sand roads and while cresting steep dunes, Mercedes showed no mercy to the shiny chrome on all the new Gclass models. In the process, all the models showed they can and do go anywhere that their road clearance allows. But note, while these utes are very, very good, they will not turn tar drivers into dunecresting heroes. Instead, the responsive steering, wide wheels and willing engines will obey the orders of inexperi enced drivers to bog down. This resulted in the plaintive sounds of wrenched plastics as several bumpers got dents and bents after another GWag on had to snatchrope us novices out of trouble. Mercedes, of course, made sure to have bumpers
imports that Namibians can buy, the answer lies in what the extra half a bar buys you. At the last count, the Mercedes models offer 15 active driverassist systems, not including two small fans in the front seats. It was 44°C outside while we played in a baking rock canyon, but those two fans kept the Mercedes passengers’ butts cool as they rested on Merc’s famous “manmade” leather. The Prado drivers, instead, dripped butt sweat onto the skin of the poor dead cow that covers their seats. So you can state for a fact that Mercedes drivers are cooler and have more fans than any grey import driver. The fans are standard in the topend of the range which is the GLS, but it arrives only later next year. All the other models are already on order at a dealer near you. Going where no luxury ute has gone before — and propably never will again — as Merc proved the abilities of its Gclass models in Namibia to media and dealers this week. in stock, for — and as all Mad Max fans know — if you can’t fix what is broken, you go insane. Oh, what lovely little fans Of course, only someone with anger issues the size of those harboured by Furiosa from the Mad Max movie would ever take these luxury SUVs over the rocks and dunes we launched them on to. But let the record show that Mercedes was not afraid to prove its plush sport utes over the same routes cur rently dominated by Toyota Land Cruisers and Mit subishi Delicas. As to the question who would be mad enough to send an “entrylevel” R600 k car into the desert instead of driving one of the much cheaper grey
CClass utes for rides eternal While all real drivers (those who hope to one day be carried to Valhalla, shiny and chrome) lust af ter the R1,4 million AMG 63 GWagon with its insane 760 kW V8 petrol engine, Seidler’s experi ence as former director of cars at MBSA has him predicting most people will sensibly settle for the four GLC models. I drove in them all and each of them is a CClass on steroids, with offroad abilities that will sadly never be used by 99,9% of their cityslicker own ers. All four models have permanent allwheel drive and Mercedes’s proven 9GTronic auto matic transmission. On slippery surfaces, the au toshifter’s torque converter provides traction when you need it, but as we city slickers discov ered in Namibia’s dunes, not even the nine lives in the gearbox will help you when you run out of talent in thick sand. If the Lotto ever pays out, the insane GWagon AMG 63 is my first choice. But while I have to
work for my money, the GLC 250d hits my sweet spot. The quietly rumbling diesel makes 500 New tons at low revs — ideal to keep the tyres rolling over soft sand — and its work rate of 150 kiloWatts makes the speed you need over the long, boring roads to those dunes. All models are covered by a sixyear or 100 000 km Premium Drive maintenance plan. GLC PRICES • 220d 4MATIC (125 kW/400 Nm) R559 900 • 250d 4MATIC (150 kWm/500 Nm) R619 900 • 250 4MATIC (155 kW/350 Nm) R604 900 • 300 4MATIC (180 kW/370 Nm) R654 900 Disclaimer: Travel and accommodation costs were paid for by MBSA. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
• Optional - Two-year/unlimited km warranty • 80-point mechanical check • Terms and conditions apply. E & OE • Ownership guaranteed • 7-day exchange plan • Mileage certified • Full service history PRICE COLOUR MILEAGE POLO VIVO 2012 Polo Vivo 1.6 Trendline Silver 84 000 km R119 900 2014 Polo Vivo Sedan1.4 Trendline Silver 71 000 km R107 900 2014 Vivo 1.4 Trendline 5-Door White 26 000 km R132 900 2014 Polo Vivo Sedan1.4 Trendline Silver 20 000 km R129 900 2015 Vivo 1.4 Trendline 5-Door Silver 8 000 km R149 900 POLO 2012 Polo 1.6 Comfortline 5-Door Red 31 000 km R165 900 2012 Polo 1.6 TDi Comfortline 5-Door White 58 000 km R175 900 2014 Polo Sedan 1.4 Trendline White 32 000 km R154 900 2014 Polo 1.4 Trendline Sedan Silver 16 000 km R159 900 2014 Polo GP 1.2 TSi Trendline White 34 000 km R169 900 2015 Polo GP 1.2 Comfortline Red 9 000 km R224 900 GOLF 2011 Golf GTi 2.0 TSi DSG Red 69 700 km R259 900 2012 Golf GTi 2.0 TSi DSG White 122 000 km R259 900 2013 Golf 7 1.4 TSi Comfortline DSG White 73 000 km R219 900 2013 Golf 7 GTi 2.0 TSi DSG Red 70 000 km R319 900 2014 Golf 7 1.2 TSi Trendline Silver 28 000 km R208 900 2014 Golf 7 1.4 TSi Comfortline While 19 800 km R254 900 JETTA 2012 Jetta 1.4 TSi Comfortline White 60 000 km R169 900 2012 Jetta 1.2 TSi Trendine White 79 000 km R155 900 VW UP! 2015 Take UP! 1.0 55 kW White 6 000 km R119 000 2015 Take UP! 1.0 55 kW Silver 4 500 km R119 000 2015 Move UP! 1.0 55 kW Blue 5 000 km R125 000 OTHER VW 2011 VW Tiguan 1.4 TSi Trend Silver 90 000 km R189 900 2011 VW Touran 2.0 TDi Comfortline Grey 78 000 km R204 900 2011 VW Touareg 3,6 FSi V6 Brown 39 000 km R349 900 2013 VW T5 Kombi 2.0 TDi LWB White 83 000 km R349 000 2015 VW Tiguan 1.4 TSi Trend Silver 6 000 km R314 900 2015 Touareg 3.0 TDi V6 Reef Blue 14 500 km R699 000 OTHER 2010 Audi A5 2.0 Multitronic Sportback Grey 79 000 km R199 900 2012 Hyundai i20 1.4 White 85 000 km R109 000 2015 Isuzu D/Cab KB300 D-teq Auto White 16 000 km R389 900 Mastercars warranty not included in advertised price.
Barons Pietermaritzburg
MercedesBenz SA CEO Fioran Seidler sets the GPS in one of the G class models, which he says now offer a better combination of dynamic efficiencies than any other SUV range.
This is not sprayon mud, but silent testimony to the ability of the new Mercedes GLC sport ute to go anywhere.
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