It’s about the feel behind the wheel

 

 

By Justus Visagie

Reaction to the X-Class and its unfolding story is either “take my money!” or “it’s an overpriced Navara”. Armchair experts are falling over one another to peddle their assumptions. We travelled to Chile to (actually) drive the production model of the X250d.

Long-distance flights present the traveller with lots of time for thinking. For example, will there be an AMG version of the X-Class? (They’ll be stupid not to.) Or, how different is the X from the Navara and Renault Alaskan, that it shares so many components with?

The issue of a shared DNA reminded me of the rare 2004 Mercedes CLK DTM AMG, of which there’s an example in the Franschhoek Motor Museum. It’s similar to the 2004 CLK 55 AMG. Both have V8 engines, displacing 5.4-litres. But swop “55” for “DTM” and you have a supercharged 428 kW and 800 Nm, instead of an already formidable 270 kW and 510 Nm. The same, but different. Like the X-Class and its stable mates? We’ll have to see.

Shut up and drive

The evening before the first drive, we have dinner with a senior engineer who works on Project X. A journalist interrogates him about the notion that the X-Class is “a Navara with mascara”. The engineer becomes animated as he explains, probably for the 100th time, that the X-Class has a wider track, a strengthened chassis and modified suspension. He keeps his professional cool, but what he really wants to say is “just drive it — then we’ll talk”.

The Mercedes-Benz of pickups

The next morning my co-driver beats me to the driver’s seat of our metallic-blue X250d auto. We leave Santiago and join the highway going south, travelling at 100 km/h. Tyre roar and air-resistance noise are noticeable by their absence. The auto transmission changes gently between its seven forward gears.

After 60km we leave the Accesso Sur highway. The road transitions from polished freeway to patchy rural, but still tarred. The X-Class is wide, at almost two metres, but the engine’s almost instant 450 Nm of torque makes it easy to outflank pedestrians, animals and a donkey cart. It’s ride quality impresses, but I am reminded of its inescapable bakkie origins. After 120km of riding shotgun, and coffee at a road-side diner, this dog finally has his day.

The soft leather driver’s seat feels like a tailored biker’s jacket, but the steering can only adjust for height. The ignition is keyless and I press the obscured start button. The four-cylinder turbo-diesel thrums to life and settles into an almost silent purr. I click the gear lever into Drive and we’re off. The 140kW-engine and transmission feel pleasantly responsive. It’s Nissans 2 298 cc Navara mill and it gives the X250d a 0-100km/h sprint time of 11.4 seconds and a top speed of 180 km/h.

Get your kicks

We’re on Chile’s Route 66, which feels apt, since the X will devour a route as long as this route’s 4 000 km namesake in North America. It’s my yardstick when judging a car’s long-range ability: would I be eager to drive it for 1 000 km in a day? Hell, yes.

We leave R66 and turn onto the H-76. It throws some twists and turns at us, but the X-Class counters with a towering level of road grip. The steering is perfectly weighted, relatively fast and more precise than that of most pickups. We swop tar for gravel before reaching our lunch stop.

Easy manual shifts

There’s just one X-Class with a manual gearbox available at the event and we’re lucky enough to land it for the drive back to Santiago. The manual has six forward gears and the same engine and output as the automatic X250d.

The gear lever has a light and easy shift action. It feels as if I’m changing gears in a Jetta or Astra. The clutch is light and takes up gradually. It matches the throttle well and there was no sign of the common turbo-diesel tendency to stall on pull-away, when coupled to a manual transmission.

Pickup meets lifestyle

It’s day 2 of the launch event. A Sprinter shuttles us to a scenic, hilly place that’s a 45-minute drive to the north of Santiago. We’re here to drive the X250d 4Motion on a 4x4 track and go for a chauffeur ride in the X350d.

First up is the off-road track. As I slowly manoeuvre the X250d into position at the start of the track, the infotainment screen displays different “video feeds” from the exterior cameras. This is a huge help when negotiating the kind of terrain that can damage a wheel or other parts of the vehicle.

X-Class pickups equipped with four-wheel drive can be shifted between 4x2 and 4x4 while on the go. Selecting low range or changing back to High from Low requires a halt and a shift from Drive to Neutral and back to Drive. Plain and easy. The hill-descent control also works well.

The X-Class range bound for South Africa has a ground clearance of 222mm and it can handle a fording depth of 600mm. Its angular design and the placement of its wheels give it excellent approach, departure and break-over angles. It conquers the off-road track with ease and the extensive tuning of the suspension by Mercedes-Benz engineers becomes evident.

Should you trade in your GLE?

Although the X genuinely handles and rides better than any other bakkie, it’s still built on a ladder frame. So it won’t ride as comfortably as a Benz GLE or GLS — that’s shod with sensible tyres. But it gets close.

Is it the new king of the double-cabs? For now, yes. It also sets class benchmarks for refinement and safety. To answer the “by-how-much?” question, we’ll have to do a bakkie shootout. Let us know which bakkies you think should be in it.

The X-Class goes on sale in South Africa in autumn 2018. Prices to be announced.