Mercedes-Benz X-Class takes on Toyota country

Out beyond the mountains the red dirt runs to distant horizons and you can see the curvature of the earth. Welcome to Toyota Country.

No, you won’t find such a place listed on any maps, but if you’ve been out here you know what I am talking about.

Everywhere you look there are Toyota SUVs and utilities. Every sort of LandCruiser simply dominates the landscape; from beaten up LC70 utes to pristine V8 turbo-diesel 200 Series LandCruiser SUVs carrying grey nomads and towing massive caravans.

And innumerable HiLuxes, many of them white with signage on the side and a warning light on top. They are the civil contracting workhorses of the Outback.

Which is why we’ve bought the Mercedes-Benz X-Class utility over the mountains -- far from the decadent comforts of the coast to where the real workers hang out.

We want to find out if the three-pointed star’s first global one-tonner fits in this environment. Will it stand up to the heat, the dust, the ruts and the rocks? And what will the Toyota drivers make of it?

<a href="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/mercedes-x-class-desert-81.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-csn-inline-image wp-image-250727" src="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/mercedes-x-class-desert-81.jpg?height=427&width=640&aspect=fitWithin" alt="" width="640" height="427"></a>

The vehicle we’re out here driving is a top-spec X 250d Power dual-cab 4x4 turbo-diesel. It’s the same one that competed against the Ford Ranger Wildtrak and Volkswagen Amarok in our recent comparison test.

If you want all the detailed spec of the X-Class then you can check it there, or in one of the myriad other stories in which we’ve written about the most anticipated new vehicle of 2018.

We’ve driven X-Class overseas and locally, compared it against its technical close relation, the Nissan Navara, tow tested it and lived with two versions for a week.

But the one paragraph summary is this; the X-Class is a widened, strengthened, better handling, heavier, quieter, slower, thirstier more expensive version of the Nissan Navara, alongside which it’s built in Spain.

It’s powered by the same 2.3-litre Renault twin-turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine and funnels 140kW/450Nm via an identical seven-speed automatic transmission, part-time 4x4 system, locking rear diff and low-range gearing.

It has its own suspension and steering calibration, its own unique sheetmetal and interior design, is the first truck with autonomous emergency braking and one of the first with rear disc brakes.

<a href="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/mercedes-x-class-desert-338.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-csn-inline-image wp-image-250737" src="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/mercedes-x-class-desert-338.jpg?height=427&width=640&aspect=fitWithin" alt="" width="640" height="427"></a>

So just where are we with the X-Class.? Central South Australia is the starting point. Our 900km drive takes us from Australia’s second largest sheep station, Commonwealth Hill, to Opal mining capital Coober Pedy, then Oodnadatta via Arckaringa station and the spectacular Painted Desert, where silica-capped hills glint and gleam in the dawn sunlight.

Then it’s into the Northern Territory, through Finke and then following the Ghan Heritage Road into Alice Springs.

Our first impressions of the X-Class are a tad underwhelming. Sure, the exterior has punch with that big star embedded in the grille, but the interior lacks any special zing for the big bucks you have to pay to join the X-Class Xperience.

The materials qualities is good for the class, but not so much for the $70,000 ask. Storage could be much better and we’d like reach adjust for the steering column.

Extra weight courtesy of the stronger frame and lots of sound deadening has an effect too; progress is incremental rather than incredible.

The pay-off is in the quietness of the cabin. Engine noise is mostly kept to the background and gravel spatter is not a big issue. It’s clearly the new standard-setter in the category in this regard.

<a href="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/mercedes-x-class-desert-17.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-csn-inline-image wp-image-250722" src="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/mercedes-x-class-desert-17.jpg?height=427&width=640&aspect=fitWithin" alt="" width="640" height="427"></a>

But what does our Toyota-driving tester think?

“I found the X-Class good to drive. It sits on the road comfortably and it gets along alright,” James Barry tells us.

James is the manager of Commonwealth Hill. He is a cheery, relaxed bloke and archetypal Outback man with his battered Akubra, Toyota 70 Series LandCruiser work ute and 200 Series family wagon.

“Toyota has a very reliable name out in the bush and they have been here forever really. The LandCruiser is reigning supreme at the moment,” he says. “The Toyotas seems to take everything you throw at them.”

Commonwealth Hill measures up at an incredible 10,000 square kilometres. The Australian Capital Territory could fit into it four times over and there would still be room to spare. It would take days to lap the entire place, following its endless 4x4 tracks across flatlands inhabited by Emus, Kangaroos and more than 30,000 Merino sheep.

James takes the X-Class out for a 20-minute strop, his progress in a large square marked by trailing red dust.

“Just driving around here, the roads aren’t too bad, so yeah, it was good,” he says.

But while he likes the Benz, he is unsure if it would fit in out here.

“You’d probably get a few funny looks,” he laughs. “Toyota just dominates the market out here, there’s just no doubt about it.

“All the work utes are LandCruisers. Everywhere you go they are all the bloody same.”

He ponders the X-Class a bit more, wanders around it, then asks: “What are they bloody worth?”

“Mid-70s as it stands here in front of you,” he is told.

“Cheaper than a 200 Series LandCruiser,” he laughs. “I couldn’t see myself in one of these, but I’d certainly pick it over the HiLux.”

That’s a pretty decent endorsement.

So, time to get another opinion, this time from a completely different perspective. We meet Roger Pratt a couple of days later over a campfire at Arckaringa station, where he’s parked up for the night with his family.

Roger’s got a neat set-up, a current-generation Toyota Prado towing a compact caravan.

He’s from Melbourne and an enthusiastic off-roader. He’s heard about the X-Class and he’s definitely interested in learning more.

Roger looks pretty mild mannered, but he is a bit of a gravel-loving Fangio behind the wheel, delivering his verdict to us after a speedy 20km early-morning drive.

“It’s very much the same as the Prado,” he says. “I was amazed. The corrugations probably feel just as bad, but it drove nice and smooth and was quite comfortable.”

He raises his eyebrows when he learns the engine size: “That surprises me. It had quite a bit of power and pick-up. That is quite a small engine. What’s the economy like?”

“Roughly 15 to 20 per cent less than your Prado,” he is told.

“Not bad,” he admits.

Roger guesses the price pretty much bang on, but would he pay that sort of money for an off-roading Benz ute?

“It comes down to reliability and a wide availability of parts because that’s so important in the Outback.

“That’s the main reason why so many people go for Toyotas because the service back-up and availability of parts is well known.”

<a href="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/mercedes-x-class-desert-342.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-csn-inline-image wp-image-250738" src="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/mercedes-x-class-desert-342.jpg?height=427&width=640&aspect=fitWithin" alt="" width="640" height="427"></a>

The good news from that perspective is that the Benz ran perfectly throughout this trip. It started, stopped and did all the things in between that were expected of it.

While the Toyota HiLux Rugged X and HSV SportsCat+ that followed the same route suffered a series of issues, it never missed a beat.

Who would have thought a Mercedes based on a Nissan would put an ‘unbreakable’ HiLux and an ‘Australia’s own’ Holden to shame?

The Benz did get a couple of punctures but that’s life in the rocky Outback if you’re rolling on road-oriented tyres.

But there was another tyre issue worth considering. Our test car was on optional 19s, which means paying more to compromise a ride already stiffened up to cope with its 2161kg kerb weight. Stick with the standard 18s, or better yet drop back to the 17s that come with the entry-level Pure.

The tyres also exposed a weird X-Class design foible. Its steel rear bumper suffered damage from debris being flicked up into it.

We ran the X-Class for a period fully laden and that also showed the coil rear-end borrowed from the Navara still has problems coping with a load. The nose pointed at the sky and the rear-end had multiple goes at settling after a big hit like a railway line crossing.

So being based on the Navara produces issues for the X-Class. But a few days of Outback driving also showed it helped Mercedes-Benz shortcut the ute learning process. We challenged it on different terrain and it coped with the lot.

It steamed along on the gravel freeway that crosses the barren yet beautiful Moon Plain east of Coober Pedy, setting up enjoyable mild drifts through fast sweepers.

It picked its way confidently along bleached tracks through stunted country north of Oodnadatta, aided by sharp steering and low-down pulling power.

It coped with rough-as-guts corrugations on the Ghan Heritage Road without collapsing to pieces (although a squeak or rattle or two might have started).

It uncomplainingly scrambled through deep sand once we lowered tyres pressures and engaged low range.

And there’s no doubt the quietness in the cabin was a winner from the start of the drive to the end. Compared to other utes, the fatigue level was reduced after a driving stint.

No, it doesn’t deliver the cutting-edge experience and the hype the badge promotes, but the longer we drove the X 250d and the more ground it quietly conquered without causing any problems, the more we respected and trusted it.

We doubt there will ever be many X-Classes in Outback Australia. But if our experience is any guide it’s actually right at home in Toyota Country.

How much is the 2018 Mercedes-Benz X 250d Power?
Price: $64,500 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 140kW/450Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 209g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star ANCAP (2017)