2013 Mercedes-Benz ML350 Bluetec 4Matic First Test

1600 rpm. That's when you really feel it. The smooth, quiet wave of torque is akin to that of a TGV train pulling from its platform. With gusto like this, you'd think the 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 and seven-speed gearbox in this 2013 Mercedes-Benz ML350 Bluetec were meticulously assembled by Michael Kubler (Google him) in Affalterbach. The pull is immediate and addicting, and in a 5000-plus-pound all-wheel-drive SUV, it's downright bitchin'. I swiftly adapt to all 455 lb-ft at my command. When passing 87 octane-drinkers on the highway, for example, the 240-horsepower ML sails past nonchalantly as if it gained a miraculous 20 mph tailwind. The intuitive automatic transmission knocks off one, two, even three downshifts to properly exploit the all-aluminum mill's muscle. In a few seconds, I'm doing speeds that could get me points on my permanent record. And there's hardly any audible indication that I'm piloting something that requires AdBlue solution -- proof of Mercedes' mastership of diesel vehicle refinement. On our closed test track, the ML needed only 6.9 seconds to get to 60 mph, and it reached the quarter mile in 15.3 seconds at 87.8 mph. A panic stomp on the 13-inch front rotors from 60 mph brought the ML to a standstill in 121 feet. Such figures aren't that bad for the Vance, Alabama-made sport-ute. But above-average straight-line sprinting is only one arrow in this five-passenger's quiver. In Sport mode -- a calibration that quickens the throttle's responsiveness, adds weight to the steering wheel's normally light rotation, and stiffens the Agility Control variable rate shocks -- the ML carries its heft with the adeptness of an NFL offensive lineman. Its build feels sturdy, its feet agile, and its reactions confident -- in a word, solid.