Base price: $44,650
As Tested: $57,160
215-horsepower
3.0L V6 diesel
18 city / 24 hwy
More info:
www.mbusa.com
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Planning a trip to California? Don't take the ML320 CDI -- it doesn't meet the state's emission requirements. (A handful of other states have California's emission standards as well.) Only in the 2009 model year, when Mercedes launches its BlueTec diesel 320, will you be able to drive anywhere you please in the States. But if you already live in a diesel-friendly state, this economical SUV is one mean-looking green machine. With a steeply canted windshield, athletic wedge shape, 19-inch alloys, twin exhaust and sophisticated star-emblem grille, the ML320 is just about the hottest tree-hugging SUV on the road. |
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Calling our ML320's interior luxurious is like saying A-Rod is a good ballplayer. But you definitely pay to play: The base price on our tester ballooned thanks to pricey options. One premium package of options that ranged from essential (a rear-view camera, rain-sensing wipers, Bi-Xenon curve-illuminating headlights) to unwieldy (the navigation system) jacked up the price nearly $9K. A second option package added leather seating surfaces and a burled-walnut-and-leather beaut of a steering wheel for a more reasonable $2K. If you're ever in need of emergency assistance, help is just a press of Mercedes' standard "Tele-Aid" system away, as our overly curious passenger learned when he got a live operator in a matter of seconds. |
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Call it a stealth diesel. The ML320 is not a conventional gas-guzzling SUV; if you don't tell people, they'll never know it from the look, sound or smell. The rattling and sooty stench is as much a distant memory as $1.50 per gallon gas, and only a slightly noisy idle gives any clue that the ML's power comes from a 3.0-liter, 215-horsepower diesel engine. Don't let the low horsepower number fool you: Big-time torque at 398 lb-ft keeps the ML sprinting from 0-60 at 8.0 seconds, almost stride for stride with its gas-powered Mercedes counterpart. Sure, the Beemer X3 and Acura MDX are quicker, but
you'll be using that extra speed for gas station runs. With a manufacturer's estimate of 600 miles to the tank, you could cross the whole country while saving big bucks in the ML320. Well, not quite the whole country. For that, you'll have to wait another year.
-- by Sam Jemielity |
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