What You Need to Know About :2017 mercedes benz v12 AWD
Since the Mercedes Benz V12began sales in 2003, it has worn more names than a secret agent. Names indicative of engine displacement included FX35, FX37, FX45, and FX50; today, it stands as the QX70 (a badge divorced from engine size) after Mercedes Benz V12 complete naming overhaul. Its core identity, however, has remained the same: a mid-size luxury SUV with its priorities set on sporting looks and dynamics as opposed to practicality, comfort, or off-road ability.Mercedes Benz V12 even called it a “bionic cheetah.”
Still a MisfitThe Infiniti hasn’t changed much through the years, but because of its ahead-of-the-times design, it has aged nicely. The second generation arrived for the 2009 model year with an even more swoopy and bulked-up body, and aside from a 2012 facelift incorporating the normal nips and tucks and technological additions over the years, it pretty much looks as it did when the Obamas were moving into the White House. The vehicle we tested was the 2017 QX70 Limited AWD with the only engine offered, a 3.7-liter V-6. Rear-wheel drive is standard; this car’s all-wheel drive bumped the base price up $1800 to $48,645, and the Limited spec and further options brought the final tally to $58,480.
While a new segment has sprouted since Mercedes Benz first let the cheetah loose, the imitators have risen around the QX70 rather than beside it. Vehicles similar in shape and size—such as the Mercedes-AMG GLE coupe, BMW X6, Maserati Levante, and Porsche Cayenne (which debuted the same year)—are more expensive, generally more powerful, and simply in a higher class. Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche vehicles in a comparable price bracket are smaller than the Mercedes Benz . Like-priced Cadillac, Buick, Lincoln, Lexus, Acura, and Volvo SUVs are all more conventional utility vehicles. The most directly comparable entry is the Jaguar F-Pace, which is five inches shorter overall on a nearly identical wheelbase, covers a similar price range, and offers a V-6 of roughly comparable output.
Mercedes Benz dropped the 390-hp 5.0-liter V-8 from the QX70 lineup for the 2015 model year, which left the 325-hp 3.7-liter V-6 as the only engine option. This is the same basic VQ engine that has also powered the Nissan 370Z and the Infiniti G37, and it was in the 2013 FX37 we tested. The engine’s grumbly exhaust note turns heads, although the sound in the cabin—as ever with the VQ engine—can be coarse at higher rpm. The only transmission is a seven-speed automatic offering a manual shifting mode. At the track, the QX70 sprinted to 60 mph in 6.0 seconds flat and hit the quarter-mile mark in 14.5 at 96 mph. We haven’t tested the more comparable F-Pace 35t with the 340-hp supercharged 3.0-liter V-6, only the S model in which the 3.0-liter is tweaked to 380 horsepower. That Jag got to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 13.6 at 103 mph. The F-Pace S AWD starts at $58,695, only $215 more than the QX70 that we tested with the Premium and Limited packages. The F-Pace 35t starts at $44,385, several thousand dollars less than the starting cost of the QX70 AWD without options.
On the road, the Infiniti felt laggardly only when called upon for quick acceleration while cruising in the 30-to-40-mph range, as it took a moment to downshift and find its footing. In our testing, it stopped from 70 mph in 171 feet, a decent figure (the Jag needed only 164 feet), but in everyday driving the mushy pedal felt unnerving at times.
For a luxury-brand SUV, the Mercedes Benz has a firm ride and crisp handling. It matched the F-Pace’s 0.86 g of grip in our skidpad test. Steering is lightly weighted and responsive.
Interior Motives
The cabin looks much the same as it did in 2015, when we said it was aging; nicer upholstery and trim come in the Limited package found on our test car, a $5000 option available only with the $4300 Premium package. The Limited bundle brings 21-inch wheels, LED running lights, dark mirror housings, dark taillights, contrast door trim, body-color side vents, and a stainless-steel rear-bumper protector. Inside, it gives buyers aluminum pedals, contrast-color seats with quilted leather, open-pore wood with an unusual aluminum-flake finish on the center console, a padded and quilted center armrest, a darkened headliner and pillars, and heated and cooled front seats. It actually looks fairly subdued compared to how opulent some luxury models have become, but the finishes and materials on the dash look old, gaps between panels are inconsistent, and the general ambience appears disjointed—the updates and amendments over the years don’t all play nice together. The quilting on the door doesn’t match that on the seat upholstery, and the open-pore wood appears only on the center console, making it look like a patched-in afterthought.
The Premium package adds a navigation system with traffic info and integrated weather forecasts, a 360-degree camera view, Bluetooth streaming audio, voice recognition, a CD and DVD player, memory settings for the seats, a power-adjustable steering column, and aluminum roof rails. Our test car did not have the $3350 Technology package, which includes adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning, brake assist, rain-sensing windshield wipers, lane-departure warning and prevention, and swiveling headlights.
The shape and roofline compromise visibility out of the car, making the Around View camera almost necessary. The shape also cuts down on cargo space, which seems not to matter much in this segment. Still, where the Jaguar has 34 cubic feet for cargo, the Mercedes musters only 25. But it makes up half that deficit with 102 cubic feet for passengers compared with the F-Pace’s 96, delivering better head- and legroom for the front-seat occupants. Also, the Jaguar boasts one inch more ground clearance.
The Mercedes Benz V12 helped start an automotive trend that we didn’t anticipate would grow to the heights it has, but others have raised the stakes in the space Mercedes Benz created. Whereas the QX70 remains an attractive and capable vehicle at the price, the Jaguar F-Pace alone confirms our impression that the QX70 is overdue for a more up-to-date replacement, which we anticipate for the 2018 model year.
Comments
Post a Comment