vivaki

So whats the difference then? Is it just the lenth of the car? Anyone have any details?

Also, are there 2 wheelbases or just one wheelbase?

Thanks

Nevada Jack

There are two wheelbases. The US model is 126.6 inches and the EU model I think is about 117" I don't think the EU model has the 3rd row seats but I am not on firm ground with that answer either...:-)

The option packages will be totally different also.

vivaki

Thanks for the reply jack.

Im sure there will be a 3rd row of seats but 126 to 117 is totally wrong. Whats the point in having a smaller wheelbase? The huge size of the R class comapred to competitors was probably the bigegst reason to choose this car and yet the euro ersion looses about 10 inches! Oh well, lets hope both wheelbases are offered for the europeans like 2 wheelbases are offered on the S class...

Nevada Jack

I have heard that the LWB US version is too big for garages, parking spaces, etc. in Europe. I have no idea if that is so or not. Perhaps the LWB will be made available after the intitial introduction?

vivaki

Hmmm....maybe. I just checked the press kit for the R class when it was released and the length and wheelbase for the R320 CDI and R500 seem to be the same. This probably means that the US will be getting the R320 CDI as well or the euro versions will be available in LWB form too...

Nevada Jack

The US will get the diesel but when is the question. The difference in the lenght of the LWB and SWB is in the area of the rear passenger section. The overhang on both wheel base models is the same but the rear doors on the SWB are not as wide as on the LWB. The engine compartment is the same and the diesel will fit in both models. So the fact that the diesel was shown in the R500 (LWB) does not mean that if you get the diesel you get the LWB.

My understanding from what I have read is that the initial EU R Class will be the SWB model. Whether they will later make the LWB available is a question only MB can answer and I don't think they will address the question at this point. If the LWB is a smash in the US, I am sure MB will do some market studies to see if they want to make the SWB available here. They may also consider the B Class and not sell the SWB here also.

vivaki

I noticed that too. The visible difference seems to be in the rear doors. I wonder whether the SWB will suffer from smaller 3rd row space? I certainly hope not!

Thanks for the replies. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I will ask my dealer about it too but I doubt they will have a any idea seen as though the R class doesnt arrive here in the UK till about March 2006!

Nevada Jack

This is a picture of the R320CDI. Note the size of the rear door and window and the apparent lack of space behind the 3rd row seat. Also the punch out window looks smaller than on the LWB, This to me looks like the SWB model. However, it could be due to the camera angle and compression of the image from the lens used, but I don't think so.

vivaki

Jack, (unless someone else posts them) dont forget to check GCF tomorrow for some great new pics

Nevada Jack

Thanks. The latest AutoSpies were really good. Are these from MB or some other source?

Here is something I found in my files. Comparisons on the LWB/SWB models.

Had a file # conflict so cannot post.

glojo

I have just read a review of the R-class and the journalist makes mention of the two options.

I personally think it terrible if we do not get the option of the LWB version, any excuse about garage length etc is just pure poppy****!! We have the LWB version of both the S -class and the huge Maybach.

Here is the review:

Every week I get on a plane, fly somewhere, drive a car, fly home, sit down and write this column. And while that car may be great, ghastly or any shade between the two, hardly ever is it genuinely ground-breaking.
We should not be surprised: the car has been with us for 120 years and you’d have thought every viable permutation would have been found by now. Well, we missed one and this, the Mercedes-Benz R-class, is it.
It won’t change the way millions drive in the way that the VW Beetle or the Golf GTI did because, priced between £42,000 and £55,000 when sales start in the spring, it is out of reach of too many.
Nevertheless, the R-class is an entirely new concept. Too stylish ever to be thought of as an MPV, too spacious and luxurious to fall within the confines of what anyone would recognize as an estate, yet sleek and low enough never to be confused with an off-roader, it takes ingredients from all these genres and blends them into a new class of car.
It is as beautifully styled as it is cleverly conceived. If the anti-SUV lobby grows, those who feel pressured into looking for another way of carting around their family will fall gratefully into its lap. It has the space and the seats (all six of them) but carries none of the stigma, even though it’s four-wheel drive.
There will be two versions when it arrives early next year: this long-wheelbase model and a shorter version for those who either don’t need or can’t afford the extra space. I won’t drive the shorter car for some months but I can tell you it looks less elegant than its longer brother and will be more cramped, too. For an extra £1,500 the long R-class will give six 6ft passengers a window seat each and space to spare. And if you fold the rear-most row flat and push the middle row as far back as it will go, four can be transported in extravagant, almost vulgar, comfort.
Access to the third row of seats is as dignified as you could expect without sliding doors, and if you fold all four rear seats forward the boot is a quarter as big again as the E-class estate, itself already one of the most capacious estates out there.
With no centre seat in the middle row, the view down the cabin and to the outside world is unimpeded and gives an airy interior feel that’s rare in any car. There will be no seven-seat version for, as one Mercedes man put it to me, “we already make a van”.
On the first models, power will come from a 3 litre diesel engine and two petrol motors, a 3.7 litre V6 and a 5 litre V8. Mercedes staff are coy about an AMG derivative but you can take it from me it’s a racing certainty. Expect a 6.3 litre V8 model developing more than 500bhp sometime before the end of next year.
Frustratingly, because the R-class is built and will first go on sale in America, the examples Mercedes floated across the pond were all in US specification. This meant no diesels and soggy suspension designed for the absence of curves on US highways.
Of the two petrol-powered cars I drove, the V8 is better by far. It’s quicker (0-62mph in 7sec, versus 8.4sec) and its rich, mellow note gives it character. The V6 sounds bland and needs frequent changes up and down the seven-speed gearbox to give respectable performance.
In the main, though, this is an astonishingly complete car. Even its construction quality, something that has suffered in recent years on nearly all Mercedes and US-built ones in particular, seems to be back where it belongs. Indeed, the only reason the R-class’s rating misses a fifth star is the question mark that will remain over its handling until I drive a European-specification car.
A shame, then, that Mercedes is seeking to associate the R-class with its new mid-sized MPV, the B-class. While the B is a “compact sports tourer”, the R is its big brother, a “grand sports tourer” if you will. In fact the B-class is an overpriced, underachieving mistake, the R-class an inspired piece of engineering.
The R-class is further evidence that car makers are branching out into untapped areas to secure sales at the high end of the market. BMW and Audi are hastily designing models to combat the R-class and Porsche last week confirmed plans to build a four-door coupé called the Panamera. Jaguar is rumoured to be planning a “crossover” estate *** off-roader.
But until they are all ready, Mercedes will have this newly discovered field to itself.
VITAL STATISTICS
Model Mercedes-Benz R 500L
Engine type V8, 4996cc
Power/Torque 306bhp @ 6000rpm / 339 lb ft @ 2700rpm
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Fuel/CO2 21.2mpg (combined cycle) / N/A
Performance 0-62mph: 7sec / Top speed: 155mph
Price About £55,000
Verdict Are you still sure you want that SUV?
Rating 4/5
THE OPPOSITION
Model Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 HSE £46,995
For Seven seats, fabulous ride and refinement
Against Horrendous fuel consumption, not quick enough
Model Mercedes E 55 AMG estate £65,930
For The best conventional load carrier out there
Against Interior quality, handling good rather than great

Nevada Jack

Thanks for posting John. The article is consistent with articles written in the US market. The car appears to be a hit with the media...I hope this carries over to the buyers in October.

It looks like both versions will be made available in Europe from what little is mentioned about it. It looks like Spring for England and a little earlier elsewhere over there. You have the advantage of getting the diesel early on I think where we will have to wait until late 2006. After reading this review I am really hyped for delivery!

Have you viewed my website and scanned my order? You will have different options and probably more of them is some areas. It does not come cheap...my total is just under $73,000 before discount but that is with everything they offer except for Rear Heated Seats and the AMG Appearance Pkg.

Thanks again for posting....

Wolfgang

from the trade press:


Mercedes surprised by car clinic result for new crossover

By Jens Meiners

ZURICH -- Mercedes-Benz believes it could sell more of the long version of its new R class in Europe than originally planned.

Up to 30 percent of R-class buyers in Europe could opt for the long-wheelbase version of the new SUV/minivan crossover, said R-class product manager Roland Folger.

"We anticipated that 10 to 15 percent of R class buyers in Europe would want the long-wheelbase model. But our R-class car clinics showed interest in that version could be twice as high," said Folger.

"We were surprised, but the car clinics may not be representative of actual demand," he said.

Mercedes will build long and short versions of the R class at its US plant in Vance, Alabama. US buyers will be offered only the longer 5157mm version, but European buyers get to choose.

The company developed the shorter, 4922mm version for the European market, where buyers often prefer smaller vehicles because of Europe's more congested roads.

One explanation for the popularity of the longer version in car clinics is that it will be priced just E1,500 more than the expected cost of E50,000 for the short-wheelbase model, say Mercedes sources.

US first

The R class will be built alongside the new M class premium SUV and forthcoming new G class premium SUV in Vance. Mercedes has invested E500,000 to upgrade and expand its only production facility in the US.

US buyers will be offered the R class first, starting in October. The model will arrive in European showrooms in February 2006.

Mercedes did not disclose production or sales targets but sources suggest that the automaker aims to build 50,000 units a year.

Half of these will be sold in the US, 40 percent in Europe and the rest in other global markets.

E-class rival?

The R class long version is bigger than the new S-class upper-premium sedan: 81mm longer, 183mm taller and 51mm wider.

The E50,000 base price means the four-wheel-drive R class will be priced nearly the same as an E class 4wd station wagon, which costs E51,736.

In Europe and in the US, the R class will get 5.0-liter V-8 or 3.5-liter V-6 gasoline engines or a 3.0-liter V-6 turbodiesel unit.

A hybrid version of the R class could arrive late 2008.

glojo

Hi Nevada,
Unfortunately the US side of Mercedes-Benz has in my humble opinion a lot of bridges to mend before I place my order. The early ML build quality was a disgrace to everything this fine marque represents. My heart tells me that the R-class will be a proud advert for MB USA, but my brain says to just wait and see.

One journalist states we will get both versions, (LWB and SWB) but another report I read states we will only get the SWB version. I will NOT be happy if this proves true? It does look though that we will get the CDI as soon as the R-class is released? (just the 320CDI though)

Like your good self I will be getting a good few of the bells and whistles when and if I place an order.

John

Nevada Jack

Hi John...the Wolfgang article should raise your spirits. Looks like the big one will be available early on...:-)

As far as quality goes, I have been watching the ML forum very closely and I also have a friend in Mississippi who took delivery on a ML350 about two weeks ago. He also owned one of the older ML's. He and others on the forum have nothing but good remarks about the quality of the new ML. My friend says the car is perfect in fit and finish and quality and the performance is so much better than his old ML The 1998 ML was a disaster from the beginning as MB tried to impact a market and produced a "cheapo" MB. The factory in Alabama has been upgraded and Quality has been stressed as the number 1 priority. I am confident that the car I take delivery in October will be what a MB should be and nothing less.

I will post pictures galore and comments after my return from my trip in early November.

Wolfgang

Hi John, correct, the OM629 (CDI V8) will not be offered in the R-Class.

glojo

Good morning Jack,
I totally endorse all your comments, I am by nature very much the optimist and everything I have read about the new M-class corroborates your post. BUT...... on such an expensive car, I'm afraid I will be very much the English gentleman and say, "After you!"

I am anxiously waiting to read your review and see the many photographs of your new pride and joy and wish you nothing but good luck.

It is interesting to read the varying comments by different UK motoring journalists, will we get the LWB, or won't we?

Heads we will, tails we will not

Take care and have a really nice day,

John

A sunny morning in Torquay

Edit:

Hi Wolfgang,
Thanks for the confirmation

Nevada Jack

"Heads we will, tails we will not."

Here's hoping for Heads John....I promise a full report.

A sunny 99 degree day but cloudy in LV...thunderstorms (30% chance)

Wolfgang

The hybrid version was put on ice.