Mercedes-Benz R-Class Review

Mercedes-Benz R320

All of the seats are individual and everyone gets a window seat. Starting with the third row on the LWB version, the occupants of the full-sized seats have a maximum of 920mm of legroom. When they aren’t needed, a pull on the lever and the squab, which is hinged at the front, pings upwards. It can then be folded along with the backrest to extend the luggage area.

The second row of seats have a sliding function to extend the legroom from 920mm to a maximum of 990mm, which is enough room to hold a dance. The Easy Entry system seats spring forward when a lever is pulled, allowing passengers to get into the back without too much difficulty. Normally, the second row seats have their own in-board armrests but on the test car these had been replaced with a (£320) central storage unit that doubles as a large, padded armrest. This unit can also be used to house the optional CD/DVD player that comes as part of the Rear Entertainment System, together with two 7-inch screens set into the backs of the front headrests.

Again, for extra load-lugging, these seats can be folded by removing the headrests and placing them on the seat squab. The operation is then completed by tilting the backrests and pushing the seat downwards.

With a full complement of passengers, there is 393-litres of luggage space available. Folding the third row increases this to 1,048-litres and flattening the second row gives a capacity of 2,366-litres, measured to the roof.

The R-Class comes in three equipment levels; Standard, SE and Sport. The tests car was an SE, which means that the seats are leather-covered. The Standard version has fabric and Artico (man-made leather) seat covers and the Sport has Alcantara and Artico. Furthermore, the front seats on the Standard and SE are so-called ‘executive chairs’, while the Sport, naturally, has sports seats. On all but the Standard, the seats are electrically, fully adjustable.

Mercedes Benz R-Class