High praise for luxury limo
Mercedes-Benz calls the GLS the S-Class of SUVs. But is it really? Damien O’Carroll finds out.
If traditional cars are being drastically displaced by SUVs, what does that mean to the luxury limo market? Things like the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class are still our traditional idea of a luxury limo, but both manufacturers have challenged that concept with their current XL-sized luxury SUVs – BMW’s new X7 and the latest incarnation of MercedesBenz’s long-running GLS. And after spending a week in the GLS, I would have to say it is Mercedes’ most convincing argument yet for ditching a limo for a higher-riding alternative.
Are you really saying an SUV is a match for a long wheelbase sedan in terms of luxury?
Oh hell yes – we traditionally associate length (and therefore leg room) with being a big part of the luxury equation, hence the long wheelbase versions of pretty much every luxo-barge currently available.
So here’s your first hint that Mercedes is serious about the GLS being a credible S-Class alternative – the GLS is almost as long as a LWB S-Class.
The S-Class has a 50mm longer wheelbase and a total length that is just 43mm longer than the GLS, but the GLS is much taller, towering over the S-Class by more than 340mm. So not only does the GLS have more vertical space, it could easily have virtually as much leg room as well. However, it doesn’t, because there is also a third row of seats, as well as an impressive load space of 470 litres.
That’s with the third row up, by the way. Drop all the seats and you have a thoroughly remarkable 2400 litres of cargo space.
All of this room means you have an incredible amount of space around you, regardless of which of the seven seats you sit in. The seats are, of course, brilliantly comfortable and supportive, making the serene feeling of luxury and space allpervading as the GLS wafts silently and effortlessly along. That’s proper luxury in anyone’s book.
So it’s big then?
Make no mistake; the GLS is not just big – it is enormous.
While it is not quite as huge as a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, it is a massive 200mm longer than both a full-size Range Rover and the
Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series, both considered fairly sizeable SUVs.
But the real telling indicator of the GLS’ sheer size is the fact that it is a mere 3mm shorter than a Mitsubishi Triton, but with a 135mm longer wheelbase. It’s 50mm taller as well.
That is a freakin’ huge SUV by any standard.
While that sheer size makes a positive impression on the interior, it does make the GLS somewhat of a challenge to live with on a daily basis.
Parking, in particular is something you have to be careful about, lest you end up branded a ‘‘typical Mercedes driver’’ for inadvertently parking like an entitled jerk over several spaces.
Or scraping the massive 23-inch wheels that were an option on our test car . . .
Fortunately, the GLS is bristling with cameras and parkjing aides, reducing the likelihood of either. You would think.
You seem to be working up to something here. What did you do?
OK, I will admit that the reason for banging on so much about how size equals luxury and the sheer enormity of the GLS is a long and convoluted way of justifying that fact that I did indeed manage to grind one of those massive 23-inch wheels on a kerb.
Mercedes-Benz GLS 400d Base price: $166,700
Powertrain and performance: 2.9-litre turbodiesel inline six, 243kW/ 700Nm, 9-speed automatic, AWD, Combined economy 7.7 litres per 100km, 202g/km CO2, 0-100kmh 6.3 seconds.
Vital statistics: 5207mm long, 1838mm high, 3135mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 470 to 2400 litres, 21-inch alloy wheels with 275/45 front tyres, 315/40 rear.
We like: Supreme comfort and luxury, bristling with technology, that brilliant engine.
We don’t like: It’s just so big...
At the entrance to my own driveway, in fact.
It was all due to the fact that I am very familiar with my own driveway, as most people tend to be. But the fact that the GLS had that super-long wheelbase and such huge wheels made it almost inevitable.
After all, pretty much everything else I drive that is that long is a ute, so you just bounce over the kerb. . . So essentially what I am saying is that it is all
Mercedes-Benz’s fault.
But personal responsibility aside, it does highlight the challenges of living with such an immense vehicle, but then the limousine-like opulence does go a long way to make up for that.
But what is it like to drive?
At the start of this article I said that the latest GLS is Mercedes’ most convincing argument yet for ditching a limo for a higher-riding alternative. And that is very true.
But while it is the most convincing argument, it is still some way from being a definitive one, because a big, tall SUV still won’t drive as well as a big, low sedan.
This shows through most in terms of the GLS’ ride – while it is still pleasantly plush, it can’t match the effortless waft of a wellsorted sedan like the S-Class.
There is a degree of jiggliness to the GLS’ ride at open road speeds that pitches your head from side to side on rougher surfaces – most likely due to the massive tyres and stiffer anti-roll bars to keep the hefty 2.5-tonne body in check – that is far from terrible, but is a contrast to the big fella’s nicely sorted low-speed ride.
It is also something that would never happen in an S-Class.
This small niggle aside, the GLS 400d packs that most magnificent of diesel engines: Mercedes-Benz’s superb 2.9-litre inline six in 243kW/700Nm guise that is a silky-smooth delight.
Impressively powerful and with a wonderfully strong and progressive power delivery, it effortlessly propels the big GLS to 100kmh in a frankly silly
6.3 seconds.
Any other cars I should consider?
The most obvious competitor is the equally massive BMW X7. Equally luxurious and packed with the latest tech, the X7 steers and rides slightly better than the GLS, but also looks the way it does and has an oddly conservative interior.
And that’s about it really . . .