2007 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class Test Drive

Mercedes-Benz takes a crack at the full-size SUV market with a vehicle that marries expected luxury with surprising off-road prowess.
MSRP: $52,400 - $54,900

The Mercedes-Benz GL450 competes directly with the Audi Q7 and is among a new breed of big SUVs that takes advantage of a more sophisticated unibody construction (meaning a superstructure, body panels and underbody platform welded together as a unit, which is how most cars are made), rather than the traditional and less refined body-on-frame arrangement (a cabin box bolted to an old-fashioned, ladder-like chassis, which is how most pickups and traditional SUVs are built).

General Motors now has similar offerings in this more car-like configuration, including the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook.

Go to the SUV Buyer's Guide to find out more about the difference between unibody construction and ladder frames, and why it matters.

The GL450 was designed for U.S. and European markets, meaning that it has to be big enough for America’s oversized needs but still be maneuverable enough to navigate Europe’s smaller roads.

Mercedes compromised by making the GL450 six inches narrower than some of its competition, limiting rear seat width. Furthermore, its seven-seat setup can’t be turned into a nine-seat configuration, as is optionally available in some other full-size SUVs, like the Suburban. But the GL450 does carry one distinct advantage: the three-pointed star. And although the logo has been tarnished by recent, broadly publicized quality-control problems, it’s still iconic enough to mean, “I’m Special.”

Don’t confuse this vehicle with the Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV, an ancient, juice-box-square, civilianized military vehicle that is still being sold to sheikhs, gentleman ranchers and people who find Range Rovers just a little too technologically advanced for their tastes. Compared to the G-Class, the GL-Class is an honest, thoroughly modern, three-row SUV.

The GL is not built in Germany, but at a Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where the midsize M-Class SUVs have been assembled for nearly a decade. On one hand, vehicle-assembling robots in Alabama are probably just as competent as the robots in Germany. But on the other hand, it’s still hard for some to accept that a company that has made German craftsmanship a part of its brand mystique for more than a century is now building vehicles in the Deep South. Draw your own conclusions.

Exterior

The GL450 looks like a beefed-up M-Class. It seems to tower over other cars, thanks to its ample size and jacked-up stance.

Another Mercedes model, the R-Class, could possibly be cross-shopped against the GL-Class. Looks-wise, the R-Class skews more toward a wagon or minivan, though Mercedes is particular about not calling it either one.

The R-Class comes with a V6 instead of a V8 and doesn’t offer the ultimate towing and off-road abilities of the burlier GL450. But for most drivers simply looking for a stylish, safe vehicle with room for up to seven plus cargo, it certainly fits the bill. And it’s less expensive, too.

Despite TV commercials from multiple manufacturers showing SUVs summiting mesas and plowing through alpine snowdrifts, many of these vehicles no longer make any pretense at being genuinely off-roadable. They typically don’t have the requisite ground clearance, low-range gearing or appropriate four-wheel drive capabilities to do anything more adventuresome than driving on well graded dirt roads. (Read more about these features in our SUV Buyer’s Guide.)

The GL450, however, can be equipped with an optional off-road package that tacks on another 1.5 inches of ground clearance to its already-best-in-class 11 inches. The package also fits a transfer case with low-range gearing and adds lockable center and rear differentials for true four-wheel drive, as opposed to the standard GL’s totally transparent, automatic, full-time all-wheel drive. Mercedes estimates that only 2 percent of GL-Class buyers will opt for the package, which they feel is probably an accurate representation of how many SUV owners in general have any interest in real off-roading.

Interior

While the GL450’s ample ground clearance may be perfect for off-road situations, it’s less than optimal for more mundane pursuits, like getting in and out of the vehicle. It’s a long step up to any of the seats; getting back down is likewise a leap of faith. To further facilitate off-road prowess, the GL450 doesn’t have running boards or assist steps, so if you’re short, this could be a deal-breaker. This is where the lower-to-the-ground R-Class is at an advantage.

The third row is accessed by manually folding the middle-row seats forward, and no contortions are needed to crawl all the way aft, which usually isn’t the case for these setups. Once back there, you’ll be amazed by the relative comfort and ample headroom of the two backseats. Deep footwells and nicely designed foot space under the middle-row seats eliminate the knees-in-your-face experience common to many third-row arrangements. Plus, the seats are actually sculpted, not just slab-like cushions designed more for stowing than seating. For reference, I’m 5 feet, 11 inches and the rear seats fit fine. There’s also a fixed glass panel in the roof over the rear seats to lighten the atmosphere back there.

The third-row seats also quickly power-fold flat into the floor at the touch of a button, creating a cargo area that betrays the GL’s narrowness: with a volume of 83 cubic feet, it’s smaller than that of most other full-size SUVs, and roughly the size of a typical midsize ute’s hold.

As far as middle-row space is concerned, I sat there comfortably behind a gorilla of a guy during the test-drive, and suffered no ill effects. And not only did Mercedes get the spacing between the seats right, the backs of the front seats are also concave, for additional knee room.

Performance

Besides making the whole vehicle lighter and stiffer, the unibody construction lowers the GL450’s center of gravity and gives it a surprisingly refined, car-like ride, without a hint of excessive leaning through turns. Its extremely long wheelbase also works to eliminate any truck-like hobby-horse movements, the back-and-forth pitching sometimes found in smaller SUVs.

A sophisticated air suspension system helps keep the car level — in place of coiled steel springs, high-pressure air bladders cushion all four corners, and electronics instantly pump up the ones that need more support to counteract body movement while cornering or hard braking. The air suspension can also be used to raise the entire vehicle three inches above its normal ride height — 4.5 inches more if you opt for the off-road package — for increased ground clearance.

Speed-sensitive, power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering is nicely weighted and precise. It completely eliminates the on-center imprecision that was characteristic of generations of earlier Benzes with recirculating-ball steering — a mechanism the Germans have since consigned to the company museum.

The GL450 has a smooth-shifting, complex, seven-speed automatic transmission controlled by a stubby, extremely simple column shifter. The only options are forward and reverse, with an electronic park-engage button on the end of the stalk. If you want to select an individual gear, there are two switches located on the back of the steering wheel which allow manual up- and downshifting.

Mercedes demonstrated the GL450’s respectable off-road capabilities to journalists on a hilly, muddy vineyard track in the Napa Valley of California. The GL450 being tested had special deep-lugged off-road tires that aren’t part of the optional off-road package, but none of us were allowed to drive ourselves. The organizers admitted that part of the course was simply “too muddy to use” after a substantial rainstorm, although I suspect a Jeep demo would have relished the challenge.

One last interesting feature that’s also part of the standard GL450: pushing the DSR (Downhill Speed Regulation) button on the dash lets you set a speed anywhere from 4 to 12 mph so that the GL450 will hold a set speed and crawl down steep descents. Certainly the GL450 showed that it has the chops to perform serious off-road work, but let’s hope there’s always a Jeep — or one of Mercedes’ own G-Class — around to pull it out if it gets stuck.
(C)Forbes