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I lucked out on the car board and got the ML320 CDI for a weekend. This mid-size SUV has all the equipment and image you'd expect from a serious off-roader, but seems too posh inside to actually venture off-track. I was tempted to take it out to my muddy back pasture, but the prospect of soiling the fine leather interior and ice-blue paint convinced me to keep it on the pavement.
The Merc is perfectly sedate and a fine performer, and it's not over the top like the Cadillac Escalade. The diesel engine is quiet and powerful, rarely betraying its presence; you forget its a diesel until you need to make a trip to the pump. The fuel mileage was the very best part of my weekend with the ML, even though we were a bit disappointed with it when we filed a road test of the luxurious diesel a couple of years ago.
When I filled the tank on Monday morning, it asked for only 8 gallons! Granted, diesel is 50 cents more than premium gas, but I did a lot of traveling on those 8 gallons. The trip computer claims the range on a full tank is 620 miles. That's probably optimistic, but even 500 miles on a tank would be incredible for a vehicle of this size.
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