Category: Large MPV 
Price Range: £36,970 to £53,630
Passenger space, refinement, easy to drive, high power and equipment levels, Mercedes badge
Not much luggage space six-up, looks like an MPV, very expensive
It's essentially a very posh MPV with four-wheel drive, but as yet, it's the only one of its kind
There's no stinting on the equipment front, with all the usual Mercedes mod cons.
The R also rides very well, even over rough surfaces, though it can wallow if pushed hard - rear seat passengers with delicate stomachs could get a bit queasy when driven flat-out. Self-levelling rear air suspension is standard, with adaptive dampening optional.
All external noise is generally well-suppressed - though there is the odd roar from the wind around the (optional) glass roof - and refinement overall is excellent. The first two rows have soft, sumptuous armchair-like seats, multi-adjustable and beautifully bolstered. The third rear-most row isn't quite so generously endowed - the flat seatbacks are very upright and the bases short under-thigh - but they're more than adequate for most adults and a league beyond most third-row offerings.
Access to the third row is a bit awkward unless the front seats are pushed well forward (allowing for full tipping of the middle-row seats) but relatively easy for most averagely-agile passengers. Having just two seats per row, rather than three, also means plenty of elbowroom and space to each side, as well as everyone getting a window seat.
If the full six-seat capacity is regularly used, however, we'd strongly recommend shelling out the extra £1,500 for a long-wheelbase model - the extra 235mm of rear legroom really makes a difference. That's the difference between a rear-seat passenger sitting reasonably comfortably, or being able to really stretch out. If you're spending this much anyway, you might as well go the full distance.
Where the R-Class falls down is luggage space: the four-wheel drive layout means a high floor and, although the floor is flat and wide, the load bay is shallow. With all six seats in use, there's barely enough room for a couple of overnight bags out the back; to carry anything more substantial, the third row of seats must be folded.
A Grand Espace has more carrying capacity - but it's not a Mercedes, is it?
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mercedes R-Class
wrote on 01 05 2007