I just had my customer test drive in Marseille today, the car was a 200hp petrol, r-sport version, automatic shifter.
The impression I had from the interior of the car are the same I had when I first saw it, everything is where it is supposed to be and the general feeling of sport luxury is well confirmed. The only thing I do not really go crazy for is the leather used for the steering wheel, I was told is top quality but the feeling is very different from the one on my ML; it feels like artificial leather but it is possible that it take time to get used to.
I'm 1,80 meter tall, my wife sat behind me to test the rear seats legroom and she was very comfortable.
We left the dealer with ECO mode selected...... Have to say the car seems literally underpowered because of the very soft response to pedal input, not a nice thing when you have to handle city roundabouts. I assume I will use it only on Sunday's slow highway ride
In STANDARD mode the car is already a different animal, when needed to push it goes, engine is smooth and just audible and the gears shift gently in a comfortable way.
Then we turn to a winding road...... >
, I selected SPORT on both gear and setup and it is like they said, "a performance experience!" In the manual way the gear shift up and down very quickly without any "jump feeling", suspension end electronic work great. In a right 180 uphill turn I drove into a bump and the only thing I heard was the rear right loosing contact for a millisecond and that'it.
Steering is great in every condition but especially in sport, you have so much feeling that seems to me I had the car for months and not for minutes. The only problem I had was that sometimes in the turns you loose where the paddles are (they turn with the steering) so I realized that it is better be sure which gear you want BEFORE entering the turn!
I did not took care a lot of the infotainment, the NAV looks okay to me but I realized there is a lot to study on it and I was interested mostly in driving than in bullshitting with it.
Test drive lasted 1 hour, on downtown roads, highway and winding road, the adjectives to these section are smooth, comfortable, funny.
Really happy about having ordered the car trusting their promises
