Recently took a long haul road trip in my '11 Mercedes E350 4Matic sedan so figure I would post some impressions.
Stats:
2,506 miles from 12/21 to 12.26
63 MPH Average
24.9 MPG Average (EPA rated 24 MPH hwy)
39 hours 46 minutes driving time
12/21 - Atlanta to St Louis (9.5 hours)
12/23 - St. Louis to Carlton, MN (10 hours)
12/26 - Carlton, MN to Atlanta, GA (18.5 hours)
Fuel Economy:
Glad we exceeded EPA estimates. Combining the cold weather for much of the drive (teens and 20's), the lower octane sold in northern states (91 vs 93), some of our hyper speeds (cruise at 85 MPH - some jaunts to 90 MPH for passing) and the climb up and down the mountains between Nashville and Chattanooga I have to say I was expecting far lower MPG. I didn't do any hand calculations because of so many variables between pumps so just relied on the final # from the OBC once we returned home.
Comfort:
This is by far one of the best long distance cruisers I have had to date, my Volkswagens ('03 Golf, '06 Jetta and '15 Jetta) were right up there as far as long distance comfort. No sore back or bottom the following day. Yeah after the 16 hour mark on the return I started to get a bit squirmy but I chalked that up to being expected for sitting that long in a car. Myself and my partner switched driving duties ~every 4 hours. Climate control was pretty spot on and only required 1-2 degree adjustments every hour or so to maintain comfort.
Performance:
I have a pre-facelift so have the older M272 268HP 3.5 V6 - performance has never really been an issue when it comes to passing maneuvers. There is a dead spot when you are trying to pass where 2nd is too low and 3rd is too high, I experienced this in my '09 C300 as well. Doesn't have the kick that any other passing maneuvers give you, the ratio spread is just not meant for those speeds. Will say the adaptive transmission seemed to have hard coded itself into some economy mode after cruising forever in 7th gear and was not reacting like I wanted it to during our stops (early upshifts and hesitant to downshift), just a few days back in Atlanta is was back to normal.
Driver Aids
4Matic - color me impressed. I took my other half to a frozen lake to get pictures and to say "I walked on a frozen lake" - it had snowed a day before we got there but apparently before it snowed it rained so under the snow was a sheet of ice on the secondary roads. The exit from the lake was an moderate uphill with a stop on the way up, as my ABS was rattling away going into the lake parking I was concerned I would have to call my stepfather to pull me out as I have just all season tires on my car. Car pulled up to the stop with no issue so for fun I just punched it down from the stop, naturally we did not rocket off the line but the 4Matic and TCS had us moving along a lot quicker than I expected with little lateral slip (maybe 1-2" of the back end slipping side to side).
Attention Assist (if you have ever wondered what the cofffee cup in the cluster means) - This is not just fluff that triggers you to stop after a set amount of time. Triggered once on the way up while I was driving and once on the return early in the drive while I was driving. It was only when we were getting back into the metro Atlanta area with my partner driving tired that it triggered 2x within a course of 45 minutes, after the 2nd time (20 minutes left to get home) we rolled the front windows down a bit and blasted music. It was honestly a good reminder that you may be tired and not as focused as usual.
Overall:
I was concerned before the road trip of what to expect because it was such a long haul. But after this trip I would not hesitate to do it again, 18.5 hours is a bit much no matter what car you drive but if it was lets say 16 hours I would not hesitate to tackle it in my E350.
Stats:
2,506 miles from 12/21 to 12.26
63 MPH Average
24.9 MPG Average (EPA rated 24 MPH hwy)
39 hours 46 minutes driving time
12/21 - Atlanta to St Louis (9.5 hours)
12/23 - St. Louis to Carlton, MN (10 hours)
12/26 - Carlton, MN to Atlanta, GA (18.5 hours)
Fuel Economy:
Glad we exceeded EPA estimates. Combining the cold weather for much of the drive (teens and 20's), the lower octane sold in northern states (91 vs 93), some of our hyper speeds (cruise at 85 MPH - some jaunts to 90 MPH for passing) and the climb up and down the mountains between Nashville and Chattanooga I have to say I was expecting far lower MPG. I didn't do any hand calculations because of so many variables between pumps so just relied on the final # from the OBC once we returned home.
Comfort:
This is by far one of the best long distance cruisers I have had to date, my Volkswagens ('03 Golf, '06 Jetta and '15 Jetta) were right up there as far as long distance comfort. No sore back or bottom the following day. Yeah after the 16 hour mark on the return I started to get a bit squirmy but I chalked that up to being expected for sitting that long in a car. Myself and my partner switched driving duties ~every 4 hours. Climate control was pretty spot on and only required 1-2 degree adjustments every hour or so to maintain comfort.
Performance:
I have a pre-facelift so have the older M272 268HP 3.5 V6 - performance has never really been an issue when it comes to passing maneuvers. There is a dead spot when you are trying to pass where 2nd is too low and 3rd is too high, I experienced this in my '09 C300 as well. Doesn't have the kick that any other passing maneuvers give you, the ratio spread is just not meant for those speeds. Will say the adaptive transmission seemed to have hard coded itself into some economy mode after cruising forever in 7th gear and was not reacting like I wanted it to during our stops (early upshifts and hesitant to downshift), just a few days back in Atlanta is was back to normal.
Driver Aids
4Matic - color me impressed. I took my other half to a frozen lake to get pictures and to say "I walked on a frozen lake" - it had snowed a day before we got there but apparently before it snowed it rained so under the snow was a sheet of ice on the secondary roads. The exit from the lake was an moderate uphill with a stop on the way up, as my ABS was rattling away going into the lake parking I was concerned I would have to call my stepfather to pull me out as I have just all season tires on my car. Car pulled up to the stop with no issue so for fun I just punched it down from the stop, naturally we did not rocket off the line but the 4Matic and TCS had us moving along a lot quicker than I expected with little lateral slip (maybe 1-2" of the back end slipping side to side).
Attention Assist (if you have ever wondered what the cofffee cup in the cluster means) - This is not just fluff that triggers you to stop after a set amount of time. Triggered once on the way up while I was driving and once on the return early in the drive while I was driving. It was only when we were getting back into the metro Atlanta area with my partner driving tired that it triggered 2x within a course of 45 minutes, after the 2nd time (20 minutes left to get home) we rolled the front windows down a bit and blasted music. It was honestly a good reminder that you may be tired and not as focused as usual.
Overall:
I was concerned before the road trip of what to expect because it was such a long haul. But after this trip I would not hesitate to do it again, 18.5 hours is a bit much no matter what car you drive but if it was lets say 16 hours I would not hesitate to tackle it in my E350.
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