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R O A D T E S T |
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| By
Jason Ang Photos By Jason Ang |
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Weekend getaway to Tagaytay:
long stretches of highway culminating in steep mountain roads with plenty
of hairpin turns. Fresh air and
cool weather, too! The perfect venue to drive
a small convertible sports car along the lines of say, a Mazda MX-5 or a Honda
S2000, right? Well, yes, but
in our case we chose a different beast altogether: A Mercedes-Benz MB100 2.9
diesel. Mainly because nine adults
and four kids in the Honda would be a little…tight. So I climbed in, buckled up
and got ready to play weekend Bus Driver. The first time I entered
the MB100, I was surprised at how high the seating position is.
The grab handle on the A-pillar isn’t just for convenience—it’s a
necessity to clamber a big step up and through the narrow door opening to the
driver’s chair. Once I
climbed up, we faced a carlike instrument panel, with the four basic gauges.
The steering wheel is pure G-Liner, though (well, perhaps a little more
vertical), and my knees actually straddled the steering column as it plunged
down between the clutch and brake pedal.
No left-foot braking for me in this conveyance.
Switches and controls were logically placed, except for the manual right
hand mirror, which is quite impossible to reach from the driver’s chair. |
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