Mercedes has arrived in the booming global mid-sized pick-up market. With the new Mercedes X-Class it says it’s looking to redefine the sector, bringing premium passenger car levels of comfort, quality and tech to a party that has historically been populated by tough workhorses.
We’ll drive the new X-Class in October and the first UK customers will get their cars before the end of the year but to whet our appetites, Mercedes has given us a passenger ride around a test track and over some challenging off-road terrain in its first ever pick-up truck.
Equipped with the 2.3-litre twin-turbo diesel engine that will top the range from launch (a V6 diesel will arrive as flagship later in 2018), our X-Class X250d model idled quietly with the trademark diesel pick-up rumble consigned to the background. Even on the move, refinement seemed a particular strength, despite the Mercedes development engineer in the driver’s seat working the engine hard.
The X-Class shares its platform with the Nissan Navara so it’s a case of tough ladder frame chassis with independent front suspension and a multi link set-up at the rear. This is more than a mere rebadging job, however, and the X-Class has gained a wider track front and rear to aid stability as well as a 10mm lower ride height, a sharper steering ratio and completely reworked suspension settings.
From the passenger seat, all the effort appears to have paid off. The X-Class seems impressively composed - for a pick-up truck being hurried around a race circuit. It pitches into corners with quite a bit of body roll but it shifts its considerable weight around in a gradual and controlled manner. Sharp direction changes don’t unsettle it and with the selectable 4x4 system in rear-wheel drive mode, there’s only the occasional chirp from the tyres to indicate that traction might be in short supply.
With the 4x4 system engaged via the dash-mounted rotary knob that will be one of the few aspects of the X-Class cabin familiar to Nissan Navara owners, we headed onto the specially prepared off-road course. Unsurprisingly, given that they were specially prepared by Mercedes, the pick-up took the obstacles in its stride - showcasing its low range gearbox, hill descent control and 360 degree camera system (for getting a clearer look at rocks or parking bays) at various opportune moments.
More revealing was the faster dirt road section where the X-Class gave us a ride of impressive quality. Firm but supple, the suspension avoided tipping the truck into the kind of bouncing motions that can afflict pick-ups driven quickly over uneven surfaces. Big impacts delivered the expected jolt but the X-Class didn’t crash the kind of craters that might have you wincing in less well sorted rivals.
The impression of relative serenity the X-Class gives you on the move might well be enhanced in your subconscious by the level of its interior. For a pick-up truck, it really does hit the high notes in terms of the quality of the materials, the technology and the design. ‘Car-like’ is a term bandied around too much in commercial vehicle circles but the cabin in the X-Class really could serve in one of the brand’s SUV passenger cars. The central 8-inch touchscreen sits above a bank of sculpted air vents on a dash that’s dominated by a single sweep of metallic plastic running from door to door. Below, the familiar and futuristic Mercedes COMMAND controller gives access to the infotainment system and other menus.
Space is generous too, both in the front and for a couple of adults in the rear. The 70mm in extra the width that the X-Class gains over the Navara is not just to accommodate the wider track it’s contributed to 25mm of extra shoulder room on each side of the vehicle. Bringing up the rear is a lined load area that can carry a Europallet lengthways between its wheelarches and 1.1 tonnes of weight. If that’s not enough, a 3.5 tonne towing weight should be.
- Model: Mercedes X-Class X250d Power
- Engine: 2.3-litre 4cyl twin-turbo diesel
- Transmission: 7-speed automatic, selectable all-wheel drive
- Power/torque: 188bhp/450Nm
- 0-62mph/top speed: 11s/120mph (est)
- Economy/CO2: 40mpg/185g/km (est)
- On sale: November 2017
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