New Mercedes-Benz hotel on wheels

The sophisticated R-Class offers all the luxury bells and whistles.

Mercedes-Benz argues that it has combined the good things about a sedan, station wagon, people-mover and four-wheel-drive to make a vehicle with a character all of its own, the all-wheel-drive R-Class.

It was launched in Auckland this week, priced from $102,900.

The luxury carmaker says the R-Class has the dimensions and dynamics of a luxury sedan but is considerably more spacious inside.

There are two models for New Zealand: the short-wheelbase (2980mm) was developed for Europe and other markets, the long-wheelbase (3215mm) mostly for the United States. The longer variant costs $3000 more.

The R-Class seats six down each side of the vehicle. The body of the short-wheelbase is 4922mm from nose to tail, the long-wheelbase measures 5157mm overall.

The four seats behind driver and passenger each fold flat into the floor to expand load capacity to a maximum 2385 litres.

There is a choice of three engines: 3.5-litre V6 and 5-litre V8 petrol units and a 3.2-litre V6 turbodiesel, each mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission with manual mode.

Mercedes-Benz claims improved fuel economy figures for each engine, the diesel and its massive 510Nm of torque offering combined usage of 9.3 litres/100km (30mpg).

The R-Class comes equipped with all the bells and whistles and safety equipment expected in a luxury car.