[speedy]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

As far as i remember the red plate cars were directly from the company factory from pune. The dealer cars had regular number plates.

Hopefully, the company doesn't sell them off.

Tejas only the R class and the GL 500 were sent by the company, the rest were dealership cars.

[scooby05]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

As far as i remember the red plate cars were directly from the company factory from pune. The dealer cars had regular number plates.

Hopefully, the company doesn't sell them off.

Surrely the Company will sell these cars as Capitalised cars! They will offcourse redo the suspension etc as they offer a 6 month warranty on these capitalised cars too!!

[SunChaser]

Originally Posted by scooby05

Surrely the Company will sell these cars as Capitalised cars! They will offcourse redo the suspension etc as they offer a 6 month warranty on these capitalised cars too!!

Surprisingly, even after so much off road abuse that we put these cars through none of them even made squeak!! Change of suspension is way too far. Even the silver ML which came with a faulty airmatic suspension did the entire event without any problem. All we had to do is change the set up to the highest point.

[NetfreakBombay]

Trade plates were issued from Andheri RTO (MH 02). So it was acquired by some dealer in Mumbai.

Do hope Merc does the right thing and acquires it back or makes dealer to convert these to TD cars.

[scooby05]

Originally Posted by SunChaser

Surprisingly, even after so much off road abuse that we put these cars through none of them even made squeak!! Change of suspension is way too far. Even the silver ML which came with a faulty airmatic suspension did the entire event without any problem. All we had to do is change the set up to the highest point.

Sunchaser, I've used a ML350 for 5 years, and agree that the car is very well made and strong. But, was always very unhappy with the ride/roll and the torque response. To top it mine was a Guzzler so finally sold her in 2009. In the 5 years I researched on tires and suspension set up but found no real solution so gave up hope. To add to this the interior plastics[Biodegradable as Mercedes call it] started giving way!!
The next gen cars are better on these fronts, but still lack the normal requirements.
As far as capitalised cars are concerned from MBIL, now invariably their dealers end up picking these up due to the procedural hassles and to please the bosses, and finding buyers for them.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Prospective owners were also called to the event and they could drive their own cars on the track. Some pics:

[gautamkhadse]

PLease post some videos if you have any ,I just love watching the SUVs taking a dip in all that slush .

[Warhound]

You definately need a strong gut to put these machines under this kind of stress . if it was me, id be crying myself to get out of this :P

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by gautamkhadse

PLease post some videos if you have any ,I just love watching the SUVs taking a dip in all that slush .

We'll soon have the videos from the dealership. As soon as i get them, i'll put them up.

Originally Posted by Warhound

You definately need a strong gut to put these machines under this kind of stress . if it was me, id be crying myself to get out of this :P

Trust me, except for the tyre failures, nothing happened to the cars. No errors, nothing.

[svasants]

This is definitely an interesting thread, it's not everyday that you get to see Mercs slushing out

[Ricky_63]

Curious to know how the Freelander2 fared vs the GL's . Did the Freelander run the whole course thru slush etc ?




Cheers

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

Curious to know how the Freelander2 fared vs the GL's . Did the Freelander run the whole course thru slush etc ?

The freelancer 2 just did the inner track and not the entire course. So can't comment.


Here's one video, courtesy Automission:

Mercedes Offroad Event - YouTube

[Ricky_63]

Thanks for sharing the brilliant video. So the GL can do whatever my Pajero can, at 1/4th the price !! LOL

Quite honestly I do not see many people who spend a Crore take the vehicles anywhere close to such off road trails.

Another thing I noticed was that the course was pretty flat. No water fording & the like. Obviously, no Merc GL would want to embarrass itself in that situation (totally understandable)

Wish the Freelander did the whole run, it would be a good comparison.

Thanks again for the video.



cheers

[novice_alto]

thanks for sharing these pictures and the video.

If I try and further the last post a little, these can do what a pajero can at 1/4 the price and a Jeep and gypsy (as per our OTR threads) can do this and much more at a miniscule fraction of the price.

Did this track really need four-wheel drive at any point. I hope they do some real stuff. I am sure these vehicles are capable of much more.

regards

[RGK]

This is the first time I am seeing ML/GL offroading. Thanks for sharing.

Even though the wipers are powerful, is it enough to clean the windshield without scratches.

@novice - The driveability and the powerful grip matters the most.