Volkswagen Touareg HIGH, WIDE AND HANDSOME Land Rover

26
MERCURY & CITIZEN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2007
WWW.NORTHAMPTONCHRON.CO.UK
Mercedes GL-Class Range
SUPERSIZE ME
For Those Who Want A Really Large 4x4, Mercedes Can Offer Something To Suit
In The Bluff Shape Of The GL Class.
Those of you who keep a watch on the car industry won't have failed to spot what's
happening to the market for luxury 4x4s. Some car makers twigged quicker than others
and started to diversify their brands into these sub niches. Mercedes were one of those
quicker on the draw and the GL-Class of luxury 4x4s has caught all of their German rivals
on the back foot.
Mercedes isn't messing about with any modest engines slotted in to provide an eyecatching entry-level price either. The engine line-up in all GL-Class models kicks off with
the hugely impressive 224bhp GL320 CDI diesel, an engine that has already seen
Volkswagen Touareg
HIGH, WIDE AND HANDSOME
Volkswagen Touareg Range HIGH, WIDE AND
HANDSOME Volkswagen’s heaviest hitter is now even
better looking.
The Touareg is now a good deal better looking, adopting the
latest Volkswagen family face with the bold grille and also
adding some rather sleek headlamp units that are fluted along
the bottom edge. This means new front wings and bumper
assemblies to make everything fit. Revised door mirrors also
feature as do new lower profile rear light clusters, with a
beefier spoiler and exhaust pipes also evident if you know
what you’re looking for.
Additional features have been added to the ESP, including
Active Rollover Protection (ARP), rain brake support, fading
brake support and understeer control logic, which improves the
turning behaviour in the event of understeer.
It’s off-road that the Touareg plays its trump card, especially
when equipped with air suspension. Permanent four wheel
drive and a low ratio gearbox are taken for granted, but factor
in selectable front and rear differential locks, hill start with
descent assist and very short overhangs and the Touareg
becomes an awesomely capable tool. With low range engaged,
the Touareg can drag itself up a 45-degree slope with 35
degrees of sideways lean. The V10’s torque is always a bonus,
but the light weight of the V6 petrol engines makes them
particularly nimble on downhill stretches. The Touareg was very
good before and it’s better now.
Mercedes ML63 AMG
MUD AND THUNDER
IF You Want A 4x4 With The Power To Spare, Look No Further Than The
Mercedes ML63 AMG.
It's not your normal kind of luxury 4x4. 510bhp sees to that. Yes, you did read that last
figure right. What's more, that power output is achieved without recourse to anything as
simple as turbocharging, Mercedes claiming that at the time of launch, this was the most
powerful normally aspirated V8 engine in any production car. The ML63 wears its
superlatives comfortably. It outguns the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and the BMW X5 4.8iS in
terms of sheer power and due to the fact that its chassis is comfortably lighter, it's
crushingly quicker as well.
The fact that this engine reaches its peak power output at a heady 6,800rpm should
Land Rover Discovery3 Range
ROCK THE DISCO TECH
No Nip And Tuck Job Here. Land Rover's Latest
Discovery Is New From The Ground Up.
Unambiguously a Land Rover product, the Discovery looks
like a Range Rover from the front and a Freelander on growth
hormone from the side - no bad combination. "Everything you
see has been done for a reason. The priority was to give the
passengers and driver a superb cabin environment with more
headroom and greater comfort. It has big, deep glazing because
that provides greater airiness and a better view." Most
importantly, it does a good job of refreshing the brand's styling
widespread service across much of the Mercedes Range. Less well known will be its
bigger brother the GL420 CDI which, instead of being a V6, is a beefy V8 good for no less
than 306bhp.
As with any such car, much of its appeal will hinge on practical aspects and Mercedes
have worked hard to endow the GL with family-friendly features. It's far more spacious
inside than their R-Class sports tourer and features a centre-row bench seat with fourway backrest adjustment which is claimed to provide far better seating comfort for up to
three passengers.
Autohaus Volkswagen
Fortune Close
Riverside Park
Northampton NN3 9HZ 01604 405225
speak volumes. If, on the other hand, you'd like to experience the somewhat unlikely
scenario of a full-sized 4x4 that thinks it's a hot hatch, the Mercedes will paint a huge
grin on your face.
Like many series production Mercedes models, the top speed of the ML63 AMG is
limited to 155mph. Paparazzi will need handy motorbikes to stay with the ML 63 AMG's
sprint to 60mph of just 4.9 seconds. If they're trying to keep pace in a Porsche 911
Carrera, they'll be treated to the sight of the Mercedes' quad tail pipes pulling away from
them.
without diluting the look and feel. "An absolute priority was
that nobody could mistake this vehicle for anything else. The
Discovery 3 certainly ticks those boxes. The rear tailgate is
styled in this way and there's an air intake on one side of the
car but not on the other. With typical economy, Land Rover
claim that's all that was needed. An optional third row of seats
is available with fold flat functionality in both the second and
third rows giving the Discovery some serious load lugging
abilities.
"This was a true no expense spared bid to build the best
possible family 4x4"
Hartwell (Northampton) Landrover
Ferris Row, Riverside Business Park,
Northampton. NN3 9HX
0870 904 9054