Time for a new family car.

[IMSMRT]

Oh ok thats an average size load for that size vehicle. My MPV is good for 3500 lbs with the "tow package" which is a transmission cooler and oil cooler...I am somewhat intrigued by the MB statement regarding its near future line up and its dependency ...or lack of dependency on fossil fuels. I hope that my next "family" vehicle will not rely solely on gas or diesel.

[MikeT]

Me too, but that's by 2018, which means we have a decade to wait.....

[MikeT]

Well we just got back from a family road trip to the southern USA in the B 200.6000 km in 8 days:-left the night of the track event at Pitt Meadows, drove down I-5 then branched off to Fairfiield CA where we stayed overnight.-next day in San Francisco (cold and foggy), then onto Santa Cruz to visit my relatives-next day spent visiting and at Santa Cruz Boardwalk-final visit at lunchtime and then drove past Big Sur and the hideous Kane (err Hearst) "castle", then inland, past the Hwy 46/41 junction where James Dean died; bought wine and nuts-on to Las Vegas via Bakersfield and Barstow that same day, passing through west Mojave at midnight with the car indicating 38 degrees C outside, arrived 1 AM-Gambled $0.50 and lost, then quit.-on to Hoover Dam (44 degrees C outside), then Kingman, had a rendez-vous with Cora Napple and Mr. Cora Napple at their fabulous mountaintop home-on to Williams AZ that night for the hotel-next day to Grand Canyon (a CDN died an hour before we got there by doing an involuntary dive off a 100 m cliff), SPECTACULAR place-drove through Arizona, our favourite state to our surprise, the Navajo territory is AMAZING, to Provo Utah (we didn't like what we saw of Utah, other than the 3020 m pass we drove over).-then to Kenniwick WA, then home SundayYes it was a good road trip.the B 200 proved itself to have air conditioning that will keep up with 44 degree heat, it is comfortable, although the centre rear seat is not ideal for comfort, and the luggage capacity is HUGE. No problems, no worries....good car.75 MPH with five up and luggage, average fuel consumption over the whole trip, the track event at Pitt Meadows and city driving in California included, was 7.34 L/100 km. That's actually stunningly good in my eyes.

Edited August 12, 2008 by Mike T

[Nextourer]

sweet! I'd say a lot more comfortable too (esp. since I didn't have cruise control during my cross-canada trek!)Didja get any onlookers? They don't get the B-Class in the States, right?

[MikeT]

Not a lot, but a few, mostly from other Mercedes drivers and Audi/BMW/Volvo drivers too.....I brought two brochures to give out if anyone asked, but no-one did. Let's face it, it's not as disctinctive as a smart! Mind you, we hardly ever stopped

[Nextourer]

haha.... well we always get the good stuff and I think manufacturers are starting to see that Canadians desire different vehicles from the US ... although MB did lump the 451 with the American specs (i.e. the transmission and the rear taillights/indicators)

[Duck]

Sounds like a great trip. What happened to the person at the Grand Canyon? Did they drive off or fall off the edge?-Iain

[MikeT]

The fellow who died was from Ontario and he got too close to the edge, lost his footing and went over. It's not possible to drive over the edge, really. It is a very raw place, with little in the way of safety equipment to prevent people from being stupid. We saw two young women sitting on a precipice dangling their legs over a sheer 150 m drop....wearing flip-flops!

[Duck]

We saw two young women sitting on a precipice dangling their legs over a sheer 150 m drop....wearing flip-flops!

That's actually pretty cool -Iain

[SCHMART]

sounds like a fun trip, but your obvious gambling addiction concerns me.......

[deezle]

6000 km in 8 days:

Mind you, we hardly ever stopped

So---- I guess the brakes aren't quite what they could be?Sounds like an excellent road trip! I was certainly impressed with the Grand Canyon, expecting it to be just another over-rated tourist trap. Did you happen to drive through Monument Valley, as well? To me, it was like the flip-side of the Canyon---- and just as impressive.That is excellent fuel mileage, considering the full load, cranked air-conditioning, and quick pace. It wouldn't have been as good in a turbo version.

[MikeT]

We drove through the area between the Grand Canyon and Utah and it was just like that, a fantastic place. Not sure if it was Monument Valley, but it was pretty much the same. Unreal and highly recommended!

[NJV]

Very cool Mike. I wish my wife was more favourable towards wagon style hatchbacks. They are so practical. I recently saw a 2008 Mazda 5 GT in white. I found quite attractive actually. With LED taillights, projector low beam headlights (possibly HID?), moonroof. I think for 4 ppl it would be a great vehicle, for 5 or 6 maybe not as much, the rear seat looked small.Did you consider the Mazda 5 or Mazda 3 sport when doing your purchase? I'd like to know what you thought of them compared to the B.

[MikeT]

Mazda 3 is too small for us and the 5 is poorly named, as it only has 4 proper seats. For a 5th seat, you put the person in one of the kiddy jumpseats in the vehicle's rear crush zone, eliminating half of the trunk too. Not an option for a family of 5.In Europe that car has a bench rear seat instead of two individual ones, so had that been available here, we would have at least test driven one to compare it.

[2play]

I know everyone has an opinion on cars... here's mine. I bought a 2008 Honda Civic after driving the Altima and the Accord. It was just by chance I sat in one and realized how big it is inside. Back seat/trunk etc are much larger than the car looks. Full loaded, 5 spd, Alloy wheels, etc was only $21000. getting 42 mPG in combined driving..... I was always a VW fan but not now!Cheers

[MikeT]

The new Jetta TDI should smoke that Honda's 42 MPG Pun sort of intended. I'm not far behind the FE of that car of yours in my massive B 200, closing in on 39 MPG lifetime.

[Pingu]

We know you like your car, but "massive B200" ????

[MikeT]

It's a real bus, a nighmare to reverse in! Huge!

[Pingu]

There is no reality, only perception.

You're right, it is massive! L.O.L.

[deezle]

It's a real bus, a nighmare to reverse in! Huge!

Maybe you need one of those tiny cameras that mount at the rear?

[MikeT]

No, it's not that bad. Just a nightmare compared to the smart and 405!

[MikeT]

Latest fill gave us 6.34 L/100 km. I only drove 642 km, and probably could have done another 350, but I decided to top it off.The fuel economy icon in my signature should be going to 7.3 L/100 km in a few weeks, or less, if all goes well. I drove it out to Tofino this weekend, what a beautiful drive. We had the sunroof open most of the time. That is such a gorgeous place.

[MikeT]

The Bee's lifetime FE is under 7.35 now....7.34 and dropping still. The lifetime carbon dioxide output is 171 g/km. My hope before I bought this car was ~7.2 L/100 km overall and <170 g/km, so it's living up to expectations. I just have to reduce the amount it is driven. I'm using it twice as much as I thought I would be, so far, though I think it's trailing off now.I think going below 7.2 L/100 km would be unlikely given how and where it is driven, though I wouldn't mind hitting 7.16, to become #1 among the B 200s in spritmonitor. I've been #2 for a while now.....

[Nextourer]

oooh very nice!

[MikeT]

Monday is the first anniversary.....33,000 km in a year, about double what I had expected!