>> Humph, anything to do with the Merc being an automatic...
Not really, it has flappy paddles too so you can drive it as a manual, if you can be bothered. It also has "sports" suspension so the handling is pretty tight. It is unpowered though, noticeably so by comparison to my old 250. Great wafter in its defence, but it doesn't like to be hurried. In some ways, I prefer the old 5 speed box to the 7 speeder in the "new" one. The 7 speed box never quite seems to be sure which gear it wants, and hunts about a bit too much in that sort of situation. Popping it into "S" mode helps a bit of course, as that causes it to hang on to a lower gear a bit longer. In short, it's just not at its best being thrown down a country lane. It is though, fairly much perfect on a long cruise.
No, I think it's more that I enjoy the simplicity and rawness of a small basic car on the back roads. You have to work much harder to get the best from it, but that's sort of the fun of it I suppose.
51.7 mpg average over the last 20 odd thousand miles in the Merc mind. Not too shabby for such a big car and the use it gets. Horses for courses as they say...
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