2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 4MATIC : The new E-Class Escalates the Automation Race скачать в хорошем качестве

2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 4MATIC : The new E-Class Escalates the Automation Race

2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 4MATIC Review : If you truly want to drive on the bleeding edge of technology, you’ve probably already bought a Tesla—or at least forked over a deposit for one. The Silicon Valley carmaker’s two-fisted embrace of electrons and autonomy is an audacious, at times even ludicrous, attempt to steer the auto industry toward the future. But what if you want a car that can drive itself using an internal-combustion engine? Well, you probably should look at the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-class, which still relies on fossil fuel to fill its tank. On premium gasoline, the E300’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder makes 241 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. That’s not a lot of power these days, but the nine-speed automatic transmission is somewhat able to compensate by keeping the engine in the meat of its powerband. Perhaps wisely, the exhaust sound of the four-cylinder turbo is always muted, even at full throttle. If there’s no sense in calling attention to the engine, there’s also no sense in letting it idle, so the auto stop/start system shuts it down when you come to a stop and does so as aggressively and smoothly as we’ve seen in any carmaker’s implementation of the technology. Power and Weight We clocked the E300 4MATIC at 6.5 seconds from zero to 60 mph. By comparison, the C300 4MATIC does it in 6.1 seconds. The mid-size E-class tips the scales at 4060 pounds, 415 pounds more than the C-class; it’s no surprise that the smaller car outruns its sibling now that they share an engine. The last comparable all-wheel-drive E-class we tested, a 2014 model powered by a 3.5-liter V-6, managed zero to 60 mph in just 5.8 seconds. Sometimes the cutting edge cuts a little deeply. This new version of the E-class is not so quick, but it is slightly larger, both in wheelbase (2.5 inches) and overall length (1.7 inches), which bumps the rear-seat space up to near the class leaders, but it’s still just shorter than the Audi A6. The new E-class also delivers a stellar automated driving experience. Mercedes’ latest iteration of semi-autonomous tech is as useful as that in any new vehicle. The Drive Pilot features come as part of a $10,400 options package that runs to 11 lines on the window sticker—on top of our test car’s $55,575 base price. We won’t list everything included in the Premium 3 package here; it makes more sense just to describe the operation of the system, which uses a stereo camera and front and rear radar to sense the world around it and guide the car. Leave the Steering to It As with Tesla’s Autosteer, you can set the cruise control in the E-class and let go of the steering wheel entirely, but only for up to 60 seconds before the car warns you to retake the wheel. Still, this far exceeds the 16 seconds of hands-free time offered by previous Mercedes models. That’s long enough to make it feel as if the car is driving itself, because there’s little reason to keep your hands off the wheel for longer. The system proved remarkably adept at finding the necessary markers to follow the lane, even on poorly maintained rural roads, although it was not perfect. The car was confused by a twisty, hilly stretch of road, requiring the driver to take over at each crest. The E-class also will pass a car in your lane when you activate the turn signal, and it can automatically adjust your cruising speed to be faster or slower when it sees a speed-limit sign. This last function proved to be the killer app of the E-class. The self-driving system was easy to grow accustomed to and hard to give up. When we turned off the auto-steering system by a push of a dashboard-mounted button, we found the E-class more engaging than we would have thought. On the same roads that flummoxed the computer, the E-class showed that it had plenty of grip. (We measured 0.90 g on our skidpad thanks to its optional staggered-width 18-inch summer performance tires.) Our test car was fitted with optional air springs ($1900), which can be adjusted via the drive-mode selector. Even when set to Sport or Sport+, body motions were considerable, especially fore and aft, yet well controlled. Fitted with these tires, at least, the E-class is almost as easy to drive quickly as it is to drive autonomously. If the gee-whiz autonomous features define the E-class approach to luxury, we wish similar attention had been paid to more traditional premium qualities. As with some other recent Mercedes products, the overall feel of the car, from its steering to the way the doors and trunk close, falls too far on the light and insubstantial end of the spectrum. The clicking of electronic relays under the dashboard could be silenced only by turning off the autonomous features—or by switching on the outstanding Burmester sound system.