What range has the ML63? (highway mpg)
EPA highway suggests 400 miles, is that right?
How about if you're pushing it around a city on random short trips without regard for gas consumption?


I get around 250 miles on a tank of gas...but then again, I didn't buy this vehicle for fuel economy. Gotta pay to play!
I get around 250 miles on a tank of gas...but then again, I didn't buy this vehicle for fuel economy. Gotta pay to play!
It would be the same way if I owned an ML63, it must be a blast to drive.
I don't think anyone has any difficulty achieving the EPA rated consumption of a Prius if they aim to, in fact it is possible to do better if you drive especially gingerly.
But the official figures of these MLs (not picking on the AMG here) seem impossible to replicate.
For instance the highway cycle consumption of the 350 diesel is 6.8l highway 8.3l urban. No way no how can I get 6.8 on highway trip even if I hypermile, and urban would be more like 12 or 13. Even using the optimistic dash readout.
So how does an "official" test presumably on a new tight engine spit out 6.8 ?
Are official tests missing something dramatic like they are done on rollers and are missing the weight of the car, or the aerodynamics?


Trending Topics
I'll have to experiment some more with mine. The gulf between claimed highway consumption of 34.5mpg and a long trip where I didn't go above 55mph but only achieved 25mpg seems too big to ever be reconciled.
The Best of Mercedes & AMG


6.8l/100km highway
8.3l/100km urban
7.3l/100km "combined"
In addition the Australian MB brochure lists the "combined" consumption as 7.3l/100km "ADR 81/02"
So I get 34.5 US MPG by using google.
And just going by my undoubtably optimistic dash readout:
lazy highway trips (but not dead flat): 9.0l/100km
lazy short urban trips (slow average speed, hills): 13 to 15l/100km


What you are getting on your car seems to be much closer to the US specs also for a 350BT


The extra-urban driving cycle or EUDC lasts 400 seconds (6 minutes 40 seconds) at an average speed 62.6 km/h (39 mph) and a top speed of 120 km/h (74.6 mph).[21]
EU fuel consumption numbers tend to be considerably lower than corresponding US EPA test results for the same vehicle. For example, the 2011 Honda CR-Z with a six-speed manual transmission is rated 6.1/4.4 L/100 km in Europe and 7.6/6.4 L/100 km in the United States
So the UK/Euro ratings for the ML350 (and other cars) are unrealistically high. I checked a Prius as well, and the Euro highway rating for the prius is 30% higher than the US EPA rating, and I hasten to add, at 3.7, is probably unachievable unless the prius owner slipstreams a truck.
I honestly had no idea. It makes considering fuel economy figures in australia/UK by comparing the published ratings to what your current older car actually reports, completely ridiculous.
When I weighed up the pro/con of the 350 diesel I actually thought that I was buying a car that could realistically manage ~7 liter / 100km on a long trip at the speed limit because I thought while Urban figures were going to be optimistic, how could they get highway really wrong?
The take away for me is to ignore manufacturers figures in Australia/Europe and pay closer attention to the EPA figures.
Why? - To minimise the weight for the economy and performance testing.
And you can bet your bottom dollar they had the tyre pressures so high that if you ran over a sixpence, you could tell if it was heads or tails.
I don't think it is even possible on a flat road to do less then 8.3 (the city rating) for a trip over 20 minutes long. maybe if you drove at 40mph?
I think it is outrageous. If the euro cycle is more accurate for lighter smaller cars then it is overselling the SUV economy ratings. if the euro ratings are open to manufacturer cheating then they are useless for car to car comparo. Didn't Hyundai get nicked for overstating their figures by only a bit?
I think it s the same with the hp of engine advertised not fair to us, the buyers
Today I drove 250km from near Melbourne to Bairnsdale, flat Highway 1. The panel showed 9.0l/100km. Then took B500 to Dinner Plain, watching the figure drop to 9.8 as we climbed the mountain.
I got 6.6 l / 100km by reset during cruising and watching it for 30 minutes (all cruising at 110) but if the trip includes starting and stopping, hills, traffic, wind, etc this very quickly rises so most highway trips are 9
in cities, with traffic, things are much worse. last night an hour return trip at a terrible average speed of 18kmh showed 16.5l/100km !
so the euro/aus ratings are a pipe dream fantasy
Last edited by jellies; Mar 1, 2013 at 07:55 AM.
Just calculated the mountain climb averaged 11.0l/100km which pleases me.


http://green.autoblog.com/2013/03/14...-by-taping-up/
of course the thing is that the tricks are going to vary the results depending on the ability of the engineers to cheat the system, and the style of the car, and the value of recording a good headline combined figure.



