Test Drive: Mercedes X250d 4MATIC has a lot to learn

The QnA session turned from smoke to fire as the unmentionable question disregarded all political correctness and went directly to what has become the standard retort to all X-Class articles. “What percentage of the X250d is a Navara?” Journalists around the room chuckled into their smartphones as those on stage evaded the question with a rehearsed nous for controversy.

Quick interlude here; parts sharing is anything but unique to X-Class and Navara. In this case not only does it advance R&D which in turn brings X250d to get to market sooner but it streamlines production, beefs up economies of scale and gleans sought-after expertise. The Renault Alaskan is based on a Navara but for some the association with Mercedes is a harder pill to swallow.

The answer to the above was ‘every part has been checked and tweaked to produce a tangible quality that is 100 per cent Mercedes’ We all know that taking the same bolt but adjusting its tension or modifying certain rates can have a profound effect. But is the Navara the benchmark platform to underpin what’s been touted as the first premium bakkie? Apart from coilover rear suspension versus heavy-duty leaf springs, Mercedes would need to do comprehensive finessing to rival VW’s Amarok.

What set of circumstances have led Mercedes here in the first place, competing in a market diametrically opposed to the three-pointed star’s stately bread and butter? On the surface the X250d has three things going for it: Bakkie sales are erupting, spurred on by influential markets such as the USA where the notion of a compact truck is catching on. Two: Their own design and fitment of accessories and, lastly, with sedan sales hitting the backspace key, the two intersecting graphs (shaped like an X) brings us to this very point where my collarbone is bruising against the inertia belts, as we descend the aptly named “Duiwel’s Kop Pass” to the east of George.  But first, conspicuous Navara key meets twist ignition barrel of our X250d 4MATIC Power Auto (a Mercedes-style key would have apparently required costly redesign of the ignition – money they decided would be better spent elsewhere) and efforts to get comfortable hit an early snag when I realise the steering’s adjustment is limited to height only. Refer to earlier promise of money reallocation.

After all, X-Class seems to show little interest in getting involved in a price war so it’s quite baffling why these antiquated bugbears of every workhorse pre-dating the 1990s seem to have been ignored by a brand’s credentials synonymous with comfort.

The range is priced on the very outer edges of the paradigm, starting at R646 071 for the X220d 4X2 manual, in Progressive trim. That’s more expensive than any fully loaded Hilux or Ranger 4×4 auto double-cab, in either 2.8- or 3.2-litre configuration.  Pricing disparity becomes an avalanche of confusion as Navara and X-Class share similar engines, gearboxes and a chassis, yet its fully specced 4×4 double-cabs are more than R200 000 cheaper than X250d 4×4 Power and even if you move mid-range with a Progressive X-Class 4×4, that gap is still more than R100 000.

The Ford Mustang of the bakkie segment.

Mountain passes previously forged by ox-wagon in the 1800s and now specially re-opened for this event make for a warped assessment of premium bakkies’ ride quality and preventing me from savouring the view is all the rattling half-opened snacks in the badly planned storage space, which a traditional Mercedes column-mounted shifter would have solved. Again, cost-cutting.

The situation worsens when we give the transmission an anti-clockwise turn from 4L and reach the smooth asphalt that typically characterise the way any Mercedes should drive. Yet the claimed tinkering has not eradicated the persistent jiggle…the sort of perpetual busyness in the dampers that corrupts the steering ever so slightly. That erstwhile belief that X-Class would reinvent bakkie law is now competing for third best.

And from the current bunch of models in South Africa, we couldn’t recommend less power than the X250d 140kW/450Nm we have here. It’s anything but premium. Copy and paste Nissan Navara stuff, but now with unfortunate expectation on its shoulders that Merc’s engineers would be able to jazz-up the dozy gearbox or at the very least provided some evidence that X-Class would make a good tow vehicle.

Other than a surfeit of bespoke set of accessories from wheels, nudgebars and tonneau covers, the X-Class 250d fails to land one clear advantage compared to its contemporaries but in an irrational world, brand cachet counts for a lot which is going to be X-Class’s mitigating feature.  ANDREW LEOPOLD

SPECIFICATION

• R824 205
• 2298cc, 4cyl turbo diesel, 4WD, 140kW, 450Nm
• 7.7l/100km, 209g/km CO2
• 0-100km/h in 11.6secs, 175km/h
• 2234kg
• VERDICT: Other bakkie brands can rest easy, X-Class is wide of the mark