FirstDrive: Mercedes GL ClassThe GL Class comes with serious pedigree. Michael McAleer, Motoring Editor, put it to the test among the sand dunes of northern Denmark
It's the battle royal in the motoring world at present: eco-warriors face ego-warriors. The former rail against the evils of sports utility vehicles while the latter trundle around the city streets in their sparklingly clean metal giants.
It may seem like the GL-Class is the latest entrant in the race to create the ultimate monster truck for the school run but in fairness this vehicle has some honourable off-road heritage.
That's due to Mercedes' links with the G-Wagen off-roader. This legendary vehicle was made famous by its military heritage in the 1970s and only became available to the general public in civilian guise in 1979.
It was the Land Rover Defender for those seeking a bit more luxury.
The GL-Class is a lot more refined than this, and thereby loses a great deal of the cool cache of the G-Wagen. Nevertheless, it's no slouch when it comes to conquering hills and hollows.
It features the same underpinnings as the seven-seater R-Class, but with much more ground clearance, and the ML-Class, but with more seats. It's the middle ground and over ground answer to the gap between these two.
Where the likes of the X5 and Q7 are aimed at wealthy suburbanites, the GL-Class will no doubt capture much the same audience but its ability is far in excess of the rest. During a recent test drive on the sand dunes of northern Denmark we were impressed with its off-road pedigree.
The GL features a permanent four-wheel-drive system, low ratio gears, a locked differential and a hill descent system.
Add in the full-length skid plate lining the under carriage and you start to see some G-Wagen influence. Pit it up against a steep incline and it doesn't high-tail it to the nearest Tarmac surface.
We managed to mount a rain-sodden sandbank in a €90,000 Mercedes. That's not something you can claim very often.
Yet the three-pointed star up front means the interior is not of the calibre of your typical farmyard off-roader.
As one colleague at the test drive commented: "it's like an S-Class in wellies."
The test vehicle was the 320 CDI version and featured cream interior, not the sort of carpet you would willingly step out of into a bog track.
The greatest feature, apart from off-roading potential of the GL-Class, is the fact that every single passenger - from the back row to the front - has the legroom and space normally related to a family saloon.
There's another admirable feature with the third row: while others fold flat into the floor at the tug of a cable, the GL Class does all this at the touch of a button.
Electrically folding rear seats may seem a touch excessive, but it's what you expect when you pay this sort of cash.
On main roads, the GL doesn't suffer from the same degree of wallowing in corners as some competitors and for all its bulk it copes admirably with more challenging laneways, though that should all be put in the context of its size: measuring some five metres in length.
For all these admirable traits, the GL-Class does have its flaws. While the interior has S-Class traits, they are from the previous model rather than the smarter new one.
That means the same plastic keys on the central console that feature on the A-Class. For this sort of money we'd have expected to get an interior comparable with the latest flagship S-Class.
Then there's the engine: at 2.5 tonnes, the 224bhp 3-litre V6 common-rail diesel powering the 320 CDI didn't exactly set the highways and byways alight and the 28.2 mpg official fuel figure is likely to be more of an aspiration than reality for most users.
Other engines on offer in Ireland from next month are a 4-litre 306bhp diesel GL420 and the single petrol version, the 4.6-litre V8 GL450.
However it's unlikely the petrol version will make up more than a handful of sales.
The fact that none of the three versions on offer can average even 30mpg will certainly raise the rancour of the anti-SUV lobby.
The GL - like the Q7 and upcoming seven-seat X5 - is not for the faint-hearted motorist and you'll certainly make a statement in city traffic; even if it's one that doesn't endear you to passers-by.
Though it's certain to become another surburban warrior, it's admirable for its off-road ability and taking into consideration the long wheelbase it's not unwieldy on the open road, even if the entry-level diesel lacks a little punch.
It's the prices that cause the greatest intake of breath. While equivalent 3-litre diesel versions of the Q7 and X5 start in the region of €75,000, the GL320 CDI will be priced at €96,000 when it arrives at the end of the month.
Admittedly few will drive away from a BMW or Audi showroom with much change from €80,000 after adding a few extras, but the same can be said for the GL, thereby pushing the price over €100,000.
That's a lot of money; over €20,000 more than the equivalent M-Class and €17,000 more than the seven-seat R-Class.
Buyers would need to be sure they really need a third row of seats and really do spend time off-road.
Factfile:GL-Class
ENGINE:
320 CDI: 3-litre common-rail V6 diesel engine offering 224bhp and 510Nm of torque
0-100km/h: 9.5 seconds
Fuel consumption:
9.8 L/100km (28.8 mpg)
ENGINE:
420 CDI: 4-litre common-rail V8 diesel engine offering 306bhp and 700Nm of torque
0-100km/h: 7.2 seconds
Fuel consumption:
11.6 L/100km (24.4 mpg)
ENGINE:
450: 4.6-litre V8 petrol engine offering 340bhp and 460 Nm of torque
0-100km/h: 7.6 seconds
Fuel consumption:
13.4 L/100km (21.1 mpg)
PRICES:
GL320 CDI: €€96,000
GL420 CDI: €€119,000
GL450: €€117,000