First Drive: Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain

So it is with many things in life, and so it also is with car design. One good idea means another company will attempt the same thing. that's how the world ends up with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain. Fitting into a segment that began with another German firm (Audi) and is now found on every manufacturer's menu.

You know the drill by now, take a large estate car (like our long-term Passat Alltrack) hoof a reasonable amount of extra height into the suspension, supplement that with chunkier tyres and hey presto you've got it: An Estate that will go virtually anywhere, or at least anywhere that anyone is likely to ever point it. To some, they seem a little odd, but to many, they make perfect sense. Families do want to go everywhere, and many really don't want an SUV. So Merc would be potty not to try and exploit. 

Specifically, the E-Class All-Terrain is 29mm higher than the normal estate (14mm through the tyres, 15 through the suspension), which means the £58,800 machine can in some modes clear 156mm in ride height. Impressive stuff. There's only one engine option for now, a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6, good for 258PS and 620Nm of torque. That'll waft you (and this is a wafter, not a fighter) to 62mph in just 6.2 seconds thanks to Mercedes' mind-blowingly smooth 9G-TRONIC nine-speed dual-clutch 'box.

As with all these off-roading estates, the looks have been beefed up with extra plastic bumper trim and wheel arches as well as brushed silver guards on the front and rear bumpers. As a large amount of the new ride height has been achieved with the 20-inch wheels and higher-profile tyres, the change in stance isn't an overly striking one. It manages to look comfortable in its new height, with arches fully filled rather than leaving gaping chasms above, thus disavowing any ideas of it appearing as if an E-Class on stilts. 

Step inside and you're met with Mercedes' full-width infotainment screen, which stretches from the driver's right all the way across the centre console and the refined interior that is now standard across the range, dotted with copious circular vents and touches of silver. The silver is nice but perhaps a teeny bit over-emphasised while the rugged rubber mats (an optional extra) will be a welcome addition for those actually planning to take it near some mud. Front and back the seats, swathed in soft leather, are some of the most comfortable around, with plenty of leg and headroom all round even for those of us north of 6-foot. 

We drove the All-Terrain in the rugged surroundings of North Yorkshire, both on the winding roads of the Dales and on some of its trickier gravel (or mostly rock) tracks through the heathery heaths. On the road, it is the machine you would expect a big German estate to be. Easily able to dispatch the miles with minimum fuss with a reasonably tasty hump of torque from low down to remove you from any stickier situations.

It is off road that the car's abilities seem more striking. Sure we knew a car like this could handle some rough stuff, but Mercedes hooked us up to a two-tonne horse trailer and then allowed us to point the car up a muddy 30-degree incline. Far from struggling the E-Class seemed completely unphased by these new circumstances. With just a small hint of scrabble, the All-Terrain hauled its load up and back down this challenge, even pausing to hold all that weight without movement before setting off again up the track.

Stick the E-Class into All-Terrain mode and the big Merc will push itself even higher into the sky, increasing its ride height to up to 156mm at speeds below 20mph. As we discovered this is useful for heavy rocky tracks across the moors, although the biggest rocks will still introduce themselves to the base of the car in an almost alarming fashion. 

So who will buy this kind of car? Plenty of people. Got a caravan? Tick. Got kids who quite like a trip to the park or a camping holiday? Tick. Got a horsebox to get somewhere? Tick. Like to get out onto the moors? Tick. These are cars aimed not at the person to has apices and racing lines on their mind, this is for the person who in reality could do with an SUV but just can't bring themselves to get one. And who blames them? GRR rule number one: Estates are cool.