That’s already proven for the petrol variant, but is the diesel E any better?
Story Bunny Punia Photography Sanjay Raikar
Mercedes-Benz calls the all-new E a car that is perceptive, sophisticated, intelligent and intuitive. I call it the best car in its segment, as apparent in my last month’s premium saloon comparison where the petrol E not only turned out to be better than the rest (the other three petrol cars being the Audi A6, the BMW 5 Series and the Volvo S80 to be precise) on almost every parameter but also made them look passé. Perfection, however, comes at a price and the E, even after being a CKD (complete knocked down) import in this case, demands Rs 48 lakh (ex-showroom) for its environmentally friendly green diesel avatar.
The E (as explained last month) looks grander from the outside, having been given a complete makeover, the result of which makes it easily stand out from the crop of the usual premium saloons. On the inside as well, this Avantgarde edition E is polished, in fact very polished. The design of the clocks is classy and the soft touch buttons feel and look great. However, there is a lot of clutter with over 40 buttons on the front fascia! Comfort is a word always associated with a Mercedes-Benz and the new E seems to take it to a different level all together. A testimony to this comes from the fact that while in the co-driver’s seat after the test and photo shoot, I almost dozed off with my legs completely stretched out, the soft leather soaking me in perfectly and the intelligent suspension chewing up the minor of imperfections on the road. That is till the time we hit the expressway. Shockingly, I could see mine and my colleague’s thighs shaking due to the cement slab joints. The E’s suspension it seemed had bowed down in front of these imperfections. However a switch to the rear seat, which is the best in the business, took care of this little problem to an extent. I just wish the central transmission tunnel wasn’t so high.
The biggest and the only difference between the one we drove last month and this is the powerplant. Mercedes-Benz has often created hype about their BlueEfficiency technology and the diesel E too adorns this badge proudly. The efficiency tag is not limited to how green the engine is, but is in fact a combination of fuel and emission saving techniques encompassing the engine, aerodynamics, weight saving, et al. It also includes environmentally friendly production techniques, lower rolling resistance from the tyres (recommended tyre pressure stands at 38 psi!), et al. Whoever thought green engines are boring needs to experience the rush when you go pedal to metal in this car. Naught to a hundred comes up quicker than its petrol sibling, a testimony to the fact that today’s diesel engines are superior to their petrol siblings on almost all accounts. Top speed, of course is limited to 250km/h, a figure most owners will never see in the car’s life. However, what impresses us
is the torquey nature of the car and its ability to sit close to the 150km/h mark all day without any stress while at the same time delivering impressive fuel economy. Drive the big Merc between 100-110km/h and it stretches a litre of diesel to 12.5km which means the huge 80 litre tank offers a sedate highway driving range of almost a thousand kilometers! Handling though isn’t as sharp as its other German rivals. The steering wheel, being over assisted, is a boon at parking speeds but spoils the fun at triple digit figures. One welcome change is the extension of the horn pad across the entire steering wheel including the corners of all four spokes.
Apart from the engine, what also impresses us is the extra step the German marque has taken in terms of safety – both passive as well as active. Apart from its renowned NECK-PRO and PRE-SAFE, on offer are various technological marvels like Attention Assist, Intelligent light system, adaptive brake, PERFORM-SAFE to name a few. In short, there are fewer chances of you suffering a serious injury in case of an accident when in the E.
So, is the all-new E diesel a good buy? An ex-showroom price of Rs 48 lakh isn’t really steep and you do get Mercedes’ Star Care package, wherein the car is taken care of even into its third year without a cap on mileage and even a full size alloy wheel spare tyre – finally! The competition’s offerings too are in the same range more or less, but one particular company dropped its diesel offering’s price by a huge margin, making it more than ten lakh cheaper than the E. Can you ignore the huge price difference for a car that’s more modern, sophisticated and safer? It’s a hard decision.
