11 Oct 06
Climbing aboard does give the game away, though. The driving position isn't quite at the nosebleed height of a Nissan Patrol or Range Rover, more on a par with that of a passing BMW X5. However, it's still high enough for you to see over the top of a standard saloon car and the occasional privet hedge. Moreover, reporting as one who likes to sit quite low behind the helm, the dashboard towers in front of me in a manner reminiscent of that very first ride in the front seat of dads car. Happily, this has no ill effect on Mercedes' traditionally peerless driving ergonomics.
Better yet, though a more recent model, the R-Class interior has not followed the lead of the S-Class in aping the dreadful ergonomics and switchgear design of the BMW 7-Series. The gear lever has also once more made the journey from transmission tunnel to steering column so that Americans can find it. But in the merciful absence of Mercedes' equivalent of the dire BMW iDrive control knob, this does at least free up the centre console for a wealth of handy storage bins.
Behind an admirable driving position we find a six-seats-in-three-tiers configuration and proof that spending an additional £1,500 for the extra 235mm of interior leg and luggage room afforded by the long-wheelbase version of the car is essential. An indication of just how laughably little luggage space there is at the rear of the standard length R-Class is a retractable luggage cover that, squashed tight between the third tier seatbacks and the tailgate, actually has no room to open even an inch.
Access to the third seat tier - smallish, but perfectly good for all manner of child seats - requires tugging a lever mounted at the base/back junction of the middle row seat, which simultaneously folds the back down and slides the base forwards to allow most mortals relatively easy passage.
These rearmost seats can be folded up in two stages. Firstly, the seat back can be folded down to increase the load space while the seat base goes to the vertical behind the middle row. Secondly, for the full Silver Van Man impression, the middle row of seats may also be folded flat, and the third row seat bases swung forward a further 90 degrees from the vertical to complete the flat floor throughout. With the impending gleam of an in-law infestation over the festive season, I have no doubt that we'll be putting the seating through a full range of gruelling, mud-slathered permutations over the next few months, so more on that to follow...
