autoX - founded autoX in 2006 with little clue of what lay ahead. Driven by a passion for anything on four wheels and a stubborn will to succeed, he moulded a team as pig-headed

Two luxury diesel hatchbacks / tourers vying for the attention of a customer with a budget of 30 lakhs. So, which would you choose – the Angel or the Imp?

My school days make for some of my fondest memories. Arriving late to school the punishments endured, and this even led to some visits to the Principal’s office – seemingly harsh as this might sound, these are some of the things that defined my childhood. My sister, on the other hand, was a straight ‘A’ grader, and the only time she went to the Principal’s office was when she received her award for the best student in school.

Imagine the misery of my mother (and it’s only now that I sympathise with her), when she was called to school during parent-teacher meetings. Two minutes is what it took her to visit my sister’s class. The teacher, undoubtedly very happy with her progress, had little to say other than high praise. Mom walked out happy, while patting my sister’s back.

The smile vanished as soon as she entered my class. There wasn’t one teacher who did not want to talk to her. They never talked about my report card, rather they focussed on my behaviour and tortured my mom by bombarding her with useless information like the time I casually nudged another student in the jaw, which set two of his teeth flying, or even the time when I brought out my artistic side by painting a blue coloured tree on the back of the shirt of the person seated ahead of me.

<img alt="Mercedes B-Class Interior" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19996" src="/uploads/2013/11/driven-mercedes-b-class-n-mini-countryman-november-2013-pic3.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 375px;" />

Teachers didn’t appreciate this, and from what usually progressed at home, post such meetings, I gather my mom didn’t either. She always understood, though, that my sister and I were two different individuals. It’s a theory that I put to use when I drove the diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz B-Class and the MINI Countryman. The theory of the Angel versus the Imp.

Mercedes-Benz brought the B-Class to India last year, and though it catered to the petrol-head then (with the B180 Sport), the overall style, space, and practicality is far more suited to being a family hauler. Now it’s upped the ante (for sales), by introducing a diesel powered version of this luxury hatchback / tourer (as Mercedes likes to call it). There are certain things about Mercedes cars that you come to expect, and the B-Class carries on this tradition. It’s a sombre looking thing – not too jazzy, with just the right amount of buzz surrounding it.

Inside, the B-Class is fairly spacious. It comes with a fully powered driver’s seat, leather upholstery, seven airbags, a COMAND interface with a variety of media connectivity, and a bunch of safety tech like ABS, Brake Assist, Hill Start Assist, and many others, which Mercedes has not compromised on. But there are some things that the B-Class diesel does not get – such as the dual-sunroof setup and the 17-inch seven twin-spoke light alloy wheels. Plus, the wood trim of the interior is quite an eyesore to be honest.

<img alt="Mercedes B-Class Speedometers" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19993" src="/uploads/2013/11/driven-mercedes-b-class-n-mini-countryman-november-2013-pic6.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 375px;" />

The B gets the ubiquitous 2.2 litre diesel engine, which churns out close to 107bhp and 250Nm torque. You crank the engine, and are met with a fair amount of noise and vibration. It wasn’t clear whether this was a problem with our test car, or whether this is wider problem. Either way, refinement could be better.

The engine responds decently to your inputs though – but with only 107bhp, its never going to set the road on fire. So, while it is decent enough to use in the city, it doesn’t feel as impressive on the highway. The gearbox too is tuned less for enthusiast driving, and more for everyday duties. All that said, the ride quality cannot be questioned – it’s so smooth that you just want to sit back and enjoy it. It’s a calm and collected car – no hanky-panky. So, in my mom’s book, an Angel (just like my sister)!

I got out of the B-Class diesel, impressed by how easy it was to handle, and how smooth it was, and Ashish threw me the keys to the Mini – which, frankly, didn’t look too menacing. In fact, what it looked like can be aptly described by any teenage girl – ‘cute.’

Before I get into the nitty-gritties, there are a few facts that you ought to know about the Countryman D. It’s the first Mini to be assembled in India, and while it looks like a hatchback, it’s longer than 4-metres and is also the first Mini to get five doors. With all this at the back of my mind, I pushed the key in the slot and saw to it that it was wide awake.

Once that was done, I was greeted by an extrovert of a dashboard. A centrally mounted oversized speedometer, and the graphic display that it incorporates within it, blows your mind.&nbsp; I was especially intrigued by the toggle switches mounted both on the roof, and below the speedometer. Even the handbrake resembles the thrust lever of a fighter jet. All I needed now was a pair of headphones, and an affirmative that the runway was cleared for take-off.

All the funkiness that’s missing in the B-Class, well, the MINI Countryman D compensates for it. It’s quite well equipped too, and comes with Bluetooth connectivity, climate control, a sunroof, paddle shifters, and a driver interface system that’s similar to BMW’s iDrive. It gets a Harman/ Kardon sound system that makes you want to turn up the sound and bounce to the music.

After the toggle ogle, it was time to get down to business and see for myself what this 1,995cc, four-cylinder common-rail diesel was all about. It was a different approach when it came to this one. It was eager to go, and I had about 112bhp to deal with. There is a rush of power too when you press the throttle initially, and that might be an issue when it comes to slow-moving traffic – but once you’re out on an empty road, you have nothing to complain about.

<img alt="Mini Countryman Climate control" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19990" src="/uploads/2013/11/driven-mercedes-b-class-n-mini-countryman-november-2013-pic9.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 375px;" />

There is no hesitation, it does what you expect a Mini to do – just go. It takes a while to get used to the way the Countryman handles – but it is, what I can only describe as, entertaining. The steering is sharp, quick, and feels heavy at low speeds. The engine is responsive, and it keeps you on your toes because sometimes it feels as though it has a mind of its own.

The ride quality is quite offbeat though. Considering that Indian roads are never flat, or flattened out, it thumps and tosses you around due to the stiff suspension and low-profile 18-inch tyres. The ride quality improves as you go faster, but essentially it’s not the most comfortable car around. So, technically, you have to drive it fast to enjoy it – and what else could you ask for in a car?

As mom explained to many of my teachers, “You have to really get used to the mischief he creates, and only then can you fully understand him.” And this is why the Mini Countryman D becomes the Imp.

I admit, I loved both cars, and, unlike my mother (who couldn’t show favouritism then), I can choose my favourite. The B-Class is sincere, it’s comfortable and angelic, but I will give the Devil his due – as I can fully understand the charisma and the mischief that the Countryman brings to the table. Everyone loves the Angel of course, but waits for the Imp to arrive for the party to begin. In short, Imp trumps Angel. I’m sure my sister disagrees though!

<img alt="Mercedes B-Class vs mini Countryman" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19992" src="/uploads/2013/11/driven-mercedes-b-class-n-mini-countryman-november-2013-pic7.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 375px;" />

[tabs] 
[tab title="Mercedes B-Class"]

Engine: 2,143cc / 4 cylinders / common-rail direct-injection / turbo diesel

Fuel: Diesel

Transmission: 7 gear dual-clutch automatic / Front-wheel drive

Power: 107bhp @ 3,200rpm

Torque: 250Nm@1400-2800 rpm

Price: Rs. 22.60 lakhs&nbsp;(ex-showroom, Mumbai)

[/tab]

[tab title="MINI Countryman D"]

Engine: 1,995cc / 4 cylinders / common-rail direct-injection / turbo diesel

Fuel: Diesel

Transmission: 6-speed Automatic / Front-wheel drive

Power: 112bhp @ 3,200-4,400

Torque: 270Nm @ 1,750rpm

Price: Rs. 29.40 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi)

[/tab]

[/tabs]

Mercedes B-Class vs MINI Countryman Comparison

The Mercedes-Benz B-Class and Mini Cooper Countryman cannot be more distinguished from one another. But let's not forget these are priced roughly the same. So, naturally, we took them out for a comparison.

An icon makes it way back to India, as Jeep re-enters this massively competitive market. The Grand Cherokee and Wrangler will be the first to enter the ring. We wring their necks to find out more.

I can’t remember one instance when the film ‘Guns of Navarone’ was telecast, and my dad didn’t want to watch it. He sat for hours in front of the TV set mumbling the dialogues as if he had written them. He smiled at the same scene, and laughed for a few minutes even after the scene had passed, as if trying to digest the joke. I never had the courage (as a child) to ask him why this film was so beautiful and why he loved it so much? I never quite understood the fascination.

That 3-hour film ate into my cartoon watching time, so out of sheer frustration, with a brave face and a strong heart, I asked him the reason for his maniacal obsession and awaited the wrath I’d be sentenced to.

Thankfully, he was in a jolly mood and the only thing he said was, “It’s one of the most iconic films of all time.” The line stuck with me, and having failed to understand the meaning of the term ‘iconic’ at the age of 4, I had to turn around and ask mom for another explanation. No luck. So the question remained – what exactly qualified as an ‘icon’?

<img alt="Jeep Grand Cherokee Interior" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19654" src="/uploads/2013/11/driven-jeep-grand-nov2013-pic32.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 375px;" />

The meaning did seep into my brain eventually, and a couple of days before penning this piece down, I came face-to-face with the term itself.

Here in front of me stood a car that’s been one of the most celebrated off-roaders in the world. The setting was World War II. This iconic vehicle changed the way people looked at cars. Jeep groomed itself as a warrior of any-and-all terrain.

The name is no stranger to India, as Mahindra used to assemble these vehicles here. Years have passed, and now (through the Fiat-Chrysler Group) the brand will be revived. Jeep has got two model names already lined up for India – the Grand Cherokee, and the iconic off-roader Wrangler.

I was waiting to see which car I would get to drive first, and when Dhruv called to tell me that I would be driving the Cherokee – with some off-roading later in the Wrangler – I was too thrilled to say anything.

I was negotiating Mumbai roads in peak traffic – the perfect setting in which to see if the Grand Cherokee would attract attention. It does – a lot of it! The Cherokee looks absolutely stunning, and there was not a single person on the road who didn’t give it a second look. It’s got those bold, sharp lines that pierce through the flesh, and the square-shaped front end looks absolutely magnificent. I had people knocking on the window asking what car it was, and what it was priced at. A few kilometres in, and I was already feeling like a celebrity.

<img alt="Jeep Grand Cherokee Logo" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19649" src="/uploads/2013/11/driven-jeep-grand-nov2013-pic82.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 375px;" />

The chassis for the Cherokee is taken from the 2012 Mercedes M-Class, and it drives like a dream. It gets a 240bhp, 3.0 litre diesel engine that’s manufactured by VM Motori, which is mated to a ZF 8-speed automatic gearbox that simply blows you away. The Cherokee gains pace extremely rapidly, but is super composed at all times – so-much-so that unless you look at the speedo, you’ll never notice the soon-to-be-in-a-jail-cell speeds that you’ve managed to achieve in a very short distance. It might be a big lump of metal, but Jeep has made it very agile and very manoeuvrable.

The engineering minds at Jeep have genuinely done an awesome job with the Grand Cherokee – it’s silent, comfortable, fast, and rides absolutely beautifully over any surface. Even on absolutely annihilated roads, the Cherokee is unflustered and the potholes/ditches are dismissed into nothingness. But the one party trick it’s got up its sleeve is that 8-speed gearbox. The shifts are blinding fast, and the power delivery is phenomenal. You may, at first, think that 240bhp isn’t really a great deal for an SUV of such colossal proportions, but the gearbox makes easy work of it and the entire driving experience is elevated to a higher plane. It delivers massive torque and power at the slightest hint of the accelerator being worked by your right foot.

Inside, too, it’s plush and the quality used doesn’t disappoint – not too much anyway. It’s only when you start paying attention to the details that you notice the cheap fake-wood trim on the centre console and some of the small bits that just aren’t on the same level as the German competition. As far as the off-road systems are concerned, though, you realize just how similar they are to those found on a Land Rover – and that can’t be bad, can it? The Grand Cherokee gets something similar to LR’s Terrain Response System, which helps you choose between snow and gravel, mud and sand. You can toggle through whichever mode you want by rotating a knob. The net result is that not only have they aped Land Rover in the nature of the systems, but also – largely – in their execution, which is really very impressive indeed.

<img alt="Jeep Grand Cherokee Dashboard" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19644" src="/uploads/2013/11/driven-jeep-grand-nov2013-pic132.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 375px;" /> 
It gets a full load of gizmos inside as well, like a multi purpose touch screen system, tyre tronics, and a lot more. I was so happy behind the wheel of this one that I completely forgot about the monster that Dhruv was driving. We switched cars at the off-road track, and I was transferred from a world of luxury to something more rugged and more challenging – with a manual transmission – the Wrangler Sport.

It’s nothing great to look at, the Wrangler, but it’s got a lot of character. It’s immediately imposing for starters. It’s a familiar design though – most of Mahindra’s creations draw inspiration from this. There are no dramatic, swishy lines, but a very simple design. The logic behind keeping it simple is that it is designed for one thing – off-roading.

The one we got was the 2-door version, which comes with the 3.6 litre V6 Pentastar petrol engine. The engine puts out 284bhp and 352Nm. It comes mated to a 6-speed manual transmission – and, of course, there’s the transfer case, which lets you choose between 2H, 2L, 4H, and 4L. Electronically lockable differentials front and rear, as well as a low ratio crawl gear takes things to a different level. The strong, body-on-frame chassis, and the height advantage ups the ante further, and makes this a serious off-roader. You can actually jump over boulders as if they weren’t even there.

I was driving around the track like a jack rabbit, and had absolutely no trouble getting over even the most severe obstacles, or the deepest water crossings. The ‘Wrangler’ tyres provide you with the much-needed grip you need in the dirt, and the steering is light – making this a joy from behind the wheel. The one gripe I had was the lack of torque from this petrol engine at crawling speeds. You have to go heavy on the gas at times to keep the momentum up. You will be able to get a diesel as well though.

It was an absolute delight in rocky conditions, but when I hit the tarmac, it was a whole new ball game. For the amount of poise the Wrangler demonstrates off-road, it’s a bit like a fat man doing disco on the tarmac. Ungainly that is. It’s actually not too bad at everyday speeds, but the highway is best avoided.

The Grand Cherokee, on the other hand, was at home both on the tarmac and off it. It’s not quite in the same league as the Wrangler off-road of course, but it can hold its own – and that’s impressive for a full size luxury SUV. On the road, it’s simply brilliant – exciting and playful even!

Both these SUV’s cater to a niche segment – the Wrangler for the off-road enthusiasts, and the Grand Cherokee for those who want a capable and luxurious vehicle to do it all. Both set of customers will have to shell out quite a bit to own one of these, which means that Fiat-Chrysler will have to treat prospective customers in this segment the way they’re used to being treated – extremely well that is! But they also expect (nay demand) to be looked after once they’ve put their money down – after all, it’s quite a bit of change that would be putting down to have one of these machines that wear an iconic badge.

<img alt="Jeep Grand Cherokee vs Wrangler" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19641" src="/uploads/2013/11/driven-jeep-grand-nov2013-pic162.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 375px;" />

[tabs] 
[tab title="Jeep Wrangler"]

Engine: 3.6 litres / V6 / Variable Valve Timing

Fuel: Petrol

Transmission: Six speed manual / Command-Trac Shift-on-Fly 4WD

Power: 285bhp @ 6,400rpm

Torque: 352Nm @ 4,800rpm

[/tab]

[tab title="Jeep Grand Cherokee"]

Engine: 3 litre / V6 / Common Rail Direct Injection

Fuel: Diesel

Transmission: 8-speed automatic, 4WD

Power: 240bhp @ 3,600rpm

Torque: 570Nm @ 2,000rpm

[/tab]

[/tabs]

Jeep Grand Cherokee vs Wrangler Comparison

With the brand set to be revived in the country again, we decided to take the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler for a quick spin in the mud and dirt. Here's which one you should get.

Ameya Naik

Articles By Ameya Naik

Mercedes B-Class vs MINI Countryman Comparison

Jeep Grand Cherokee vs Wrangler Comparison

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