When we think green, Mercedes would like us to see blue
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Five bucks a gallon. Who would launch a diesel-powered vehicle right now? Mercedes-Benz wouldn’t. It’s launching three of them. All SUVs. Either someone in the company knows something we don’t, or they should take that nerve to Vegas.
It turns out someone in M-B does know something we (as a general population) don’t: how to make a clean diesel engine that is legal in all 50 states (the first of its kind laying claim to this status). And how to make a premium SUV running pricey fuel look like a good idea.
The three vehicles are the 2009 Mercedes-Benz ML320 CDI Bluetec, the GL 320 CDI and the R320 CDI, both of those wearing the Bluetec name as well. The sharper-eyed will note that it’s the same engine in each car -- a 3.2-liter, turbocharged, diesel V-6.
It’s the Bluetec technology that emboldens Mercedes-Benz to call it the cleanest production diesel engine in the world. This involves particulate filters and catalytic converters, breaking down noxious nitrogen oxides into nice nitrogen and water.
Even though diesel is markedly more expensive than gasoline, Mercedes feels this to be a blip in the grand scheme of fuel prices and there will be less of a disparity at some point down the road. And these vehicles emit so little nastiness that they qualify for the same income tax credits as hybrid vehicles. The company also claims that Bluetec-equipped SUVs not only use significantly less fuel than similar vehicles with comparable petrol-powered engines (by about 25 to 33%), but they’re also thriftier than the current crop of hybrid SUVs.
So, some relief for the environment as well as our pockets. But is this Bluetec engine any good? Yes, especially in the ML-Class, the lightest of the three. There’s hardly any noise making it into the cabin anyway, while the car feels smooth and even a little fleet for something so substantial. Plus, it’s quite a joy to cover 60 miles and see the needle on the fuel gauge move by the merest fraction of an inch.
With a light right foot and favorable traffic conditions, all three can hit mpg figures in the mid to high 20s. Because, like the vast majority of diesel motors, this engine generates a more impressive amount of torque compared to its horsepower output (398 pound-feet to 210 hp), it’s also a good thing to have in the stop/go traffic which is so much a feature of contemporary car life. And don’t forget, these vehicles are Benzes: pretty classy stuff.
Classy stuff starts at around $43,000 for the R-Class, about $45,000 for the ML and something in the region of $53,000 for the GL. All of them will be available from this October as 2009 models.
Is the SUV really dead? On the evidence of these Bluetec models, the answer would have to be: no. It just needs a new heart and a new kind of blood running through its veins. In this case, blue blood.