Yesterday, I spent the entire day up in the north Georgia mountains revisiting some favorite spots of mine on the Appalachian Trail. Left the house about 7:00 and didn't get back till 5:00. Pretty much driving in my 99 ML430 (MiLlie) for the entire day, except for a couple of of short hikes on the Appalachian Trail in the Three Forks area and the Benton MacKaye trail in the Toccoa river basin.
ML performed flawlessly! No need for the A/C, and temperature gauge hovered between 80 and 85 the entire day. Finally got my coolant leak corrected by having the hose on the rear of the engine replaced. A small cut at one of the clamps was causing some leakage under pressure.
Most of the roads I was on were gravel service roads in the National Forests and they can be a challenge. No need to use the creeper gearing but on occasion the yellow triangle on the dash would flash indicating traction control was kicking it. Quite a few deep puddles from recent rains (got to be careful...you never know how deep they are !), and you do have to straddle rocks/boulders to protect the undercarriage.
It still amazes me how civilized the W163 is on roads of this type. Sure there are a few rattles but she handles this terrain superbly ! Steep downhills with plenty of ruts, rocks and puddles and you just slip her down into first and she goes into a slow hill descent with no brakes required.....
To top it all off, the last two hours was some spirited driving back to Atlanta on some of the best designed mountain roads in all of north Georgia. Excellent condition, gently banked curves and every now and then, a lane dedicated for passing slower traffic. The ML, for a heavy SUV, handles this with no problem, and is loads of fun !
All in all, if you have never had your W163 offroad, you are truly missing out on some its most amazing capabilities. And low range is just waiting for you if it really gets gnarly.
Damn .....I would have a hard time replacing the old girl but a well-maintained W163 would be at the top of the list !! I'll try to post a few pictures later today.
ML performed flawlessly! No need for the A/C, and temperature gauge hovered between 80 and 85 the entire day. Finally got my coolant leak corrected by having the hose on the rear of the engine replaced. A small cut at one of the clamps was causing some leakage under pressure.
Most of the roads I was on were gravel service roads in the National Forests and they can be a challenge. No need to use the creeper gearing but on occasion the yellow triangle on the dash would flash indicating traction control was kicking it. Quite a few deep puddles from recent rains (got to be careful...you never know how deep they are !), and you do have to straddle rocks/boulders to protect the undercarriage.
It still amazes me how civilized the W163 is on roads of this type. Sure there are a few rattles but she handles this terrain superbly ! Steep downhills with plenty of ruts, rocks and puddles and you just slip her down into first and she goes into a slow hill descent with no brakes required.....
To top it all off, the last two hours was some spirited driving back to Atlanta on some of the best designed mountain roads in all of north Georgia. Excellent condition, gently banked curves and every now and then, a lane dedicated for passing slower traffic. The ML, for a heavy SUV, handles this with no problem, and is loads of fun !
All in all, if you have never had your W163 offroad, you are truly missing out on some its most amazing capabilities. And low range is just waiting for you if it really gets gnarly.
Damn .....I would have a hard time replacing the old girl but a well-maintained W163 would be at the top of the list !! I'll try to post a few pictures later today.