IT’S decision time; do you really want a muscular full-on macho vehicle to impress the lads or do you want to drive something that does most of what the lads can do but exudes a quality and class they cannot aspire to? At least now with the GL class Mercedes you have a real choice.
The GL class sits between the midsize Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUVs and the hugely proportioned and similarly priced Mercedes-Benz G-Class. It is the company’s first full size SUV. Facing tough competition from the GM group in terms of power and utility, it has the feel of quality and that special: “Yes sir, ALL the nuts and bolts are done up tight. Herr Dr Daimler checked it himself” quality about it. I for one like that.
This all-new GL Class features three rows of seating and can accommodate up to seven passengers. The GL is designed to appeal to Mercedes-Benz sedan owners who want the off-road, four-wheel-drive, seven-passenger and 3,400kg towing ability that come with a full-size SUV along with the luxury and safety features they expect from Mercedes.
The GL showed useful capability off-road yet felt surprisingly car-like on the road. That feeling comes in part because this is the first full-size SUV built around unibody architecture instead of traditional body-on-frame construction. Mercedes says the GL is strong enough to tow a 30-foot boat or a trailer carrying three horses.
The GL is built using unibody or ‘unitized’ construction rather than the body-on-frame design that full-size pickups and SUVs traditionally use. Mercedes says that because of this design that the GL-Class weighs from 136 kg to 262 kg less than its full-size competitors. It also incorporates a rigid passenger safety ‘cell.’To ensure that the GL class is strong enough, 60 percent of the vehicle structure is made from special high-strength steel.
The ride matches that of an S class sedan — but with a longer view of the road ahead. With the suspension set on ‘comfort’ and with seven adults on board, the GL can cruise effortlessly at 160kph while the statutory teenager interpreted the instructions for the sophisticated video — in the headrests of the passenger and driver’s seats — and hi-fi systems in row two of the three in the vehicle.
The tested GL 450 had the 335hp 4.6-liter V8 engine, seven-speed automatic transmission, the 4MATIC four-wheel drive system, and the Airmatic air suspension system. In practical terms, that kind of power delivered through a turbine-smooth transmission was quite sufficient for all but the steepest climbs. Even on the Taif escarpment, a particularly steep and tortuous 2000 meter plus climb near Jeddah, the only hint that the engine was breaking sweat was that it stayed in the lower gears rather longer than on the flat. But who would want to break the speed limit going up that? It could though.
Safety features that come as standard include eight airbags, featuring side airbags for all four outboard first and second-row seating positions as well as side curtain airbags that protect occupants in all three rows. It comes with active front head restraints, LATCH tethers for child safety seats, and three-point safety belts for all seating positions.
Active safety features (to help you avoid a crash) include an Electronic Stability Program, (ESP) anti-lock brakes with Brake Assist Plus, and four-wheel electronic traction control (ETC).
The ESP feature combined with the four-wheel ETC provided interesting moments. The Taif escarpment road is notorious for its sweeping and deceptively tightening curves; these fool a lot of drivers into under-steering and misjudging them. The GL positively swooped down the escarpment with the body dead level and with nary a hint of a squeal from the tires. There was plenty however from the assorted females in the second row.
The teenager was amazed. “Look, the water in this bottle,” he observed, “Must be at 30 degrees off the horizontal,” he said as we rounded a particularly long curve. It was; don’t you just love ‘em?
Because he stands at over two meters and weighs close on 100 kg, one listens closely to the lad’s observations; not one was a complaint about leg room or head clearance; there is lots.
Off road, the GL was up to trekking on moderately soft sand and negotiating quite substantial rocks. Raising the suspension a few centimeters with the button on the dashboard gave extra clearance. Designed as a family luxury SUV, its full off-road capability in the difficult conditions in Saudi Arabia remains to be seen. However, the electronic differential lock and manual option — selected from the central console an operated from the steering wheel gear shift buttons — allowed the crossing of some surprisingly challenging bits of desert terrain; and this with seven people on board.
This quality vehicle is going to capture the high end SUV market in the Kingdom. However there are one or two niggles that presented themselves during the test.
Humidity in August is high. The air conditioning was superbly effective front and rear of the vehicle. So effective was the blast that condensation formed over large parts of the windscreen outside at night and stayed even at 80kph! That made negotiating Jeddah traffic an interesting experience.
With all seven seats up — and more so when occupied — rear vision from the interior mirror was poor. The side mounted mirrors — like those on the R class — are small, partially obscured from the driving position by the bodywork and to my mind, inadequate for local conditions. From the driver’s position, there is a blind spot in the drive-side mirror. Constant head-turning to check is NOT a good idea given the cavalier approach of local motorists to lane discipline. Much larger, panoramic or curved glass mirrors would add a useful extra element of driver information.
A personal dislike is the two button gear change on the steering wheel. In practice, it will be used rarely, the automatic transmission being more than adequate for most situations. Paddles are for me, if you must have a manual option, the way to go. However the major, and as far as I can judge insoluble, problem with this splendid SUV is that I don’t have one.