Mercedes GL-Class Estate 2006 - Present

If the Porsche Cayenne, or Audi Q7 are not big enough for you then maybe you should get down to the nearest Mercedes Garage, they’ll have something for you, the GL-Class.  It offers comfort and style with ample room for seven passengers.  Based on the Mercedes M-Class the GL builds on the nimble chassis of the smaller motor, but its sheer size makes driving a challenge on smaller streets.

GL-Class is a huge vehicle.  At more than five metres long it does prompt the question of whether there should be a new driving qualification introduced in order to be able to drive one.  Five metres is longer than the length of a Fort Transit van, that’s longer than your old school minibus, you know the one you had a bring and buy sale in order for the school to purchase.  Now I’m sure that your teachers, and mine for the matter, didn’t hold a psv license, but they weren’t driving them as their primary means of transport.  Their school run featured the whole netball team!  Size and driving skills aside, the GL-Class is a magnificently well made vehicle.  It’s got incredible off road abilities, certainly much more than you’d expect possible for a car of this size.  It has been it’s designed to be a serious off-roader, and as a result is more than able to deal with terrains ranging from muddy tracks to steep inclines.  It uses Mercedes 4MATIC permanent four-wheel drive system which ensures that grip is delivered where required.  The OFF-ROAD PRO package is standard providing off-road ABS, downhill speed regulator, a low-range gearbox, differential lock and adjustable suspension, which can add up to 307mm of extra ground clearance. 

On the road (lets be fair that’s where it’s going to spend most of it’s times), the GL-Class is a competent performer.  It’s great on the open road and as all models come supplied with great engines you’re never short of power.  The engine options are a choice between two diesels and a petrol unit. The GL500 gets a 5.5-litre 388bhp V8 petrol, while there’s a 3.0-litre 224bhp V6 turbodiesel for the GL320 CDI. The 4.0-litre 306bhp V8 diesel in the GL420 CDI is all new and offers plenty of pulling power while remaining refined when cruising.  As you’d expect none of these is especially cheap to run.  The best performer is the GL500 which can get to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds, but it does so at 21 mpg.  The small oil burner will return 28 mpg, while the bigger one returns 24 mpg.  They all offer good performance, but the running costs are expensive, and they don’t end with the fuel bills.  Road and Company car tax are both the top level so owning the big Merc isn’t going to come cheap, but that’s not it’s appeal.  If you want a competent off roader with luxury room for seven people then form an orderly queue.

Inside the GL-Class is a tale of comfort and space, for the occupants.  Mercedes have made sure that all seven on board get a comfortable trip with excellent head and shoulder room and enough legroom to take the pain out of longer tips. The Second row of seats provides good room for all, while the rearmost row is great for kids but bigger adults will want to use them for short journeys if possible. All models get climate control, which is available in the rear of the GL420 and GL500 models.  Boot space is limited if you’ve got the rear seats in use.  This can present luggage issues if there are a few of you travelling, though this isn’t uncommon for cars in this class. Its rear seats are impressive, though in that all five can fold flat in a matter of seconds, creating a large load bay that should cope with everything that family life has to throw at it. Inside there are numerous storage boxes and a well sized glove box.

The GL-Class is a well made and very focused car.  It will appeal to the current crop of ‘mines bigger than yours’ one up manship, and offer good driving to boot.  Green campaigners may well start to protest you if you buy one.  Decent runner though.

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