Mercedes M Class review (12/09/12)

FAMILIARITY didn’t breed contempt for the new M-Class Mercedes. I had the car for longer than a test, and had that not been the case my opinion of the car might have been different.

Some cars take more getting used to than others and the M-Class is one. Even for experienced drivers, it takes time to assimilate a machine’s characteristics and learn what it is capable of. There are more technological variables today, particularly at the luxury end of the market. The M-Class is a case in point.

Famously, the late Ronnie Peterson, Swedish Formula 1 driver, was, unusually for a top-line racer, unable to set up a car for different circuits and his engineers teased him by changing his settings from one practice session to another, and watched in awe as ‘Mad Ronald’ lapped the car at the same pace as on more favourable settings.