Mercedes looks to blue to make diesel green

The Korea Herald, in cooperation with carmakers, offers a test-driving experience to executive officials at Korean or multinational companies here. The opinion below is the author’s own. For inquiries, please contact jylee@heraldcorp.com. ― Ed.


Visually similar to the vehicle Jang Dong-gun called “Betty” in the drama “A Gentleman’s Dignity,” the Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTEC that I had the pleasure of driving for a weekend is what you might call Betty’s less wild, economically minded, environmentally friendly sister. On the surface, Mercedes-Benz’s third-generation SUV is fairly mainstream ― four doors, five passengers, 3.0-liter V6 diesel ― but this is no ordinary six-cylinder diesel engine. It’s turbocharged and it uses urea (called “AdBlue” which needs to be refilled at every oil change) to make this one of the cleanest diesel engines on the planet.

Not only is this engine clean, it’s powerful but still quiet. I haven’t driven a diesel car in almost 30 years but back then, diesels were noisy, smelly, dirty and severely underpowered. The engine in the ML350 BlueTEC is so quiet it’s impossible to tell that it’s not gasoline. Did I mention that it’s powerful? Diesels inherently deliver high torque (which translates into quicker starts from stops) but this diesel also comes turbocharged which means you can stomp the accelerator on the highway and there’s still plenty of power to spare.

With a wife and third-grader in tow I didn’t have too many opportunities for pedal-stomping, but in my 191-kilometer experience, I did manage to take the Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTEC through both city and highway driving and it passed with flying colors. But with 80 percent of my driving in stop-and-go traffic (is there any other kind in Seoul?), the ML350 only managed to average 10.8 liters per 100 kilometers, which, while better than a gasoline engine, isn’t as good as a hybrid in heavy city traffic.

But there’s more to this story. Being that ML350 BlueTEC is an environmentally conscious vehicle, it comes with something called “ECO” mode which shuts the engine off when stopped and automatically starts up again when the brake pedal is released. While I was pleased that the car wasn’t contributing to global warming at stoplights, it’s disconcerting to hear the car start up for a few seconds just so you can creep forward another meter. So in congested city driving, I recommend ECO mode be turned off.

Design-wise, Mercedes-Benz didn’t stray too far from what has worked for them since jumping into the SUV category 15 years ago. The ML350’s exterior is attractive but not overly luxurious. It’s less aggressive-looking than Porsche Cayenne but more svelte than the Audi Q7 and the Volkswagen Touareg. With the exception of their distinctive grills, the ML350 and the BMW X5 could pass as cousins, which is not a bad thing. Although this is classified as only a mid-sized SUV, here in Korea, it felt pretty big. On more than one occasion I had to pass up available parking spots because while the ML350 would fit, I wouldn’t be able to get out. Getting in and out of the driver’s seat required that I step up on the running board, which only reminded me how height-challenged I was.

The best part of this SUV is the interior. The LCD display is surrounded by authentic-looking wood trim and quality leather and plastic. The navigation system and Bluetooth connectivity were finicky ― they worked fine sometimes and other times simply wouldn’t respond. Time to read the manual again. There are easy-to-use separate climate controls for both driver and passenger as well as the kid in the back. The most surprising part of the interior was the shifter on the steering column. Now, the last car I drove with a column-mounted shifter was a ’70s used mustard-yellow Chevrolet Nova, my first car. I’m happy to say, I actually liked the ML350’s version of the column shifter, which only required one finger to operate, not my whole arm like my Nova did. F1-style paddles to upshift and downshift the automatic transmission made driving more interesting although the amount of manual control is limited by the vehicle’s computer.

Retailing for 91.3 million won (or $84,300) here in Korea, the Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTEC is a well-balanced premium SUV that delivers both performance and comfort without leaving a huge carbon footprint. And that’s one formula we can all use more of.

By Kenneth Hong, Global communications director of LG Electronics