When you’re living on the fast lane and your life is all about adventure, the word luxury slowly starts to disappear from your dictionary of lifestyle and is often replaced with nomad alikes.

That said, one can imagine my surprise and excitement when I received a call from the infamous Mercedes Benz to attend their “Discover 2014” event. Yet the moment I read the invitation, and saw Zero Gravity SkyDive Dubai, I was sure I was in for the time of my life!

The event started at 8am, with a soft breakfast after registering our driving licenses. A short “meet-and-greet” and it was time we all gathered for the briefing on a day full of immerse experiences that included the legendary G-Class, the versatile GLK-Class, the powerful ML-Class, and the unequaled flagship 7-seater GL-Class.

 

Located at Zero Gravity and surrounded by the luxury of Dubai International Boat Show Event from one end and the 5-star luxury hotels from the other end, Dirk Fetzer Director of Sales & Marketing at Mercedes Benz was kind enough to guide us through the day’s schedule with some tips and safety procedures necessary for everyone to enjoy an exciting day.

“Our range of unrivaled luxury off-roaders offer a stable of powerful, attractive, capable, versatile and intelligent SUVs that appeal to the lifestyles of a new generation of regional customers: Customers who question convention and seek only the very best. With so much to experience and enjoy in the Middle East, Mercedes-Benz resolutely delivers on its promise to live the life.” – Dirk Fetzer, Director, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars, Middle East & Levant

My first activity started with Group Luxury. Each 3 guests were given a Mercedes Benz SUV to drive to the One and Only Arabian Royal Mirage.

There we met with the man behind the luxury designs who took us through the interesting history of Mercedes Benz from the first ever built automobile till the latest models driven today.

After the briefing we had the chance to discover the latest option Mercedes Benz has to offer: the Self Car Park. We were all very impressed by this technology and everyone wanted to try what it feels like to sit and relax while your luxury automobile parks itself.

Watch Video: http://instagram.com/p/lHKST_tW6B/

As if that was not enough, we headed back to Zero Gravity for a coffee break and a second briefing. This time it was my kind of action: OFFROAD!

Let’s face it: when you think offroad, Mercedes isn’t the first brand that pops into your mind. Damn was I wrong excluding it from the list! We hit the desert dunes, all V8 AMG SUVs ML Class, GLK Class, GL Class and G Class. Tires were deflated, as a brief was provided about the different handling of each SUV in the desert. The M, GLK Class & GL Class were the easiest to manage when setting up for offroad.

The AIRMATIC air suspension automatically adjusts to suit road conditions and can be handled with an optional Active Curve System, which works to compensate for the body roll during cornering. An optional On- and Off-Road package gives AIRMATIC the ability to raise the GL-Class and provide 12 inches of ground clearance and a 23.6-inches of wading capability. The luxurious SUVs were packaged with a two-stage transfer case with reduction gearing, a skid-plate and a longitudinal differential lock.

The G Class, on the other hand, has three sequentially lockable differentials that offer increasingly masterful capability. Each differential can be locked in sequence (center, Rear< then front) via a set of buttons on the dashboard to help maintain the ideal balance of torque and traction for the situation. In addition to all that, the standard G-class permanent all-wheel-drive system continually sends power to all four wheels. It’s 4 wheel Electronic Traction System (4-ETS) instantly apportions the torque to the wheels that can use it best, for maximum grip on snow or wet roads. In offroad , its locking differentials help you conquer muddy, sandy, loose or uneven terrain. All this is largely attributable to the AMG 5.5-litre V8 bi-turbo engine delivering 544 hp and the AMG SPEED SHIFT PLUS 7G-TRONIC automatic transmission system. Even more exclusive is the new G 65 AMG with its 6.0-litre bi-turbo engine that delivers 612 hp and reaches a maximum torque of 1000 newton metres – a record in the off-road segment.

The Mega SUVs handled the sand like they were moving on a paved highway. Easy descends and powerful ascends were crossed very smooth that you could hardly feel you’re offroading. Even in the toughest areas where sand was thick and soft, the SUV would use its 4 ETS capability to dig its way out of trouble, something that’s of big use if you’re into offroading every weekend. Most 4x4s, when stuck, have their wheels spin in vain trying to get out of the stuck position when they only manage to sink deeper into the sand having one wheel spinning in the air while the others dig deeper.  This experience was one of the best experiences for me as an offfroad enthusiast where i had the opportunity to see luxury style, capability and performance come in hand in one automobile.  That been said, I must admit taking a luxury and expensive 4×4 offroading doesn’t come cheap if you’re not a practiced offroader. If you do not yet understand the route you are driving on, one might end up bashing their bumpers and those don’t come for free!

Soon after we had inflated the tires we headed back to Zero Gravity for a quick bite excited to discover what the third experiment has to offer. As if offroad wasn’t exciting enough, we soon realized we were heading towards Dubai Autodrome to Drag race the fastest 7-seater SUV in the market: the world’s fastest production 7-seater GL 63 AMG – which rockets occupants from 0-100km/h in just 4.9 seconds. In addition to ML 63 AMG.

A few minutes of safety and general information about the SUVs performance and handling in high speed and we all had our hearts pumping to get behind the wheel and test drive what was the highlight of the event. Fast check of the track. Helmets on. Engines started and the sound of AMG was drawing smiles on our faces. Every two guests were to compete against each other then switching around to try all SUV classes from M Class to GL Class.

Wither we won or lost didn’t really matter much. On that day, we all came out happy winners just by living that overwhelming experience!

The line up of Mercedes Nights that stood up to the reputation.

In short, Discover 2014 activities took us across the emirate in the epitome of Mercedes-Benz SUV comfort and luxury. Venturing into the desert, participants tested the off-road capability of the range as they tackled rolling sands, pitted the endurance of race track tarmac against the surging torque of tires in drag races, and took in the sublime five star surrounds of one of Dubai’s most prestigious hotels, enjoying a Mercedes-Benz art gallery and a glimpse into the design of the cars delivered by the very men that created them.

The Mercedes-Benz SUV range: Live the Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At5jOvEy9wQ