In case you missed it, Mercedes-Benz is organizing all sorts of driving events throughout the year, both on and off the road and during summer or winter. This one here is the winter off-road driving experience which happened in Kitzbühel between the 27th of December 2014 and 22nd of February 2015.
An SUV that lives its entire life on paved roads is a sad SUV. It’s like a border collie dog that never gets out of the apartment – it’s not doing what it’s supposed to be doing, the thing it was created for. Yeah, I know, modern SUVs aren’t really built for off-roading, but that’s a bit of a misconception: it’s not their main role, but most of them are perfectly capable of mild to moderate off-road action.
But don’t just take my word for it, ask someone who’s actually been to Kitzbühel for one of these events. For example, someone like… me.
It was quite a few years ago when the current M-Class was being launched for the first time. We got into the cars and started driving, enjoying the comfort and on road poise of the large SUV. The destination, though, was a fiendish off-road track made specifically for that event. It comprised of everything you could imagine, from deep water crossings to extremely steep inclines and a 90% (almost 45 degrees) descent. The M-Class behaved superbly, its abilities only limited by those of the person behind the wheel. Then it was time for a more hardcore course, one that called for reinforcements.
These came in the form of the almighty G-Class, a car that laughs in the face of almost any obstacle. After all the mud splashing and rock climbing, we cooled off with a short demonstration of the GLK’s mud taming abilities, dashing effortlessly through a sea of brown with no modifications apart from the special tires.
It’s this kind of events that give you a full idea about the whole spectre of the car’s abilities. If you’re curious, you can have a look at the Mercedes-Benz events calendar over here and start planning. It’s really worth it, but don’t just take my word for it.
