Test drive Mercedes Benz GL-class X165 since 2012 SUV
Mercedes-Benz GL-Class. On high
Three flights, a day on the way, and I am in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here, at an altitude of 2200 meters above sea level, Mercedes-Benz introduced its largest and most sold SUV GL-Class, which passed the capital restyling.
Mercedes-Benz GL-Class. Price: from 60 900 euros*. On sale: Autumn 2012
Maxim Fedorov, 34 years old, automobile journalist, driving experience of 8 years, personal car - Ford Focus II.
According to the organizers of the presentation, the Santa Fa Mountain is one of the highest places where the Mercedes-Benz test drives have ever passed. The hint is clear: after all, here, in the USA, GL-Class is on top not only in a direct, but also figurative sense, being the best-selling car in the class of premium full-size SUV. Over the past year alone, the Americans bought about 27,000 ji-Elek! The Russians also have GL-Class in favor: being the most popular Mercedes-Benz SUV, this model takes the third place in the consolidated sales of the brand, only C- and E-Class diverge better.
Of course, the tastes of Russian and American car owners are similar, but in the case of GL-Class this similarity is superficial. So, in the United States, the target audience of the Ji Elek wealthy families with two or three children, who are a large transformable body, trunk with a volume of 680 to 2300 liters and a third row of seats are not needed for a box. We have the main motivator of the choice of this model is the desire not so much to get a spacious and comfortable SUV, but to prove their superiority on the road, which is facilitated by the gigantic sizes of the model, multiplied by luxury and dynamics. Well, the price decides. The principle of the more expensive, the better in Russia it works 100%: our customers do not trifle, preferring to take top modifications with maximum cubacy motors.
This is what Gl-Class looks without a sportpate
And here the most interesting begins: the GL 450, 500 and 550 The engine now has the same volume of 4.7 liters, and additional forces are blown out due to the turbocharger. At the same time, GL 500 is the most powerful! After modernization, it develops 435 liters. p., against 429 l. With. GL 550. However, all this race of capacities is meaningless. Buying GL 500 or 550, the client, in fact, pays for the nurses on the door of the trunk, and not for the number of mares under the hood. After all, even the 362 -horsepower GL 450 has enough dope to lay the speedometer arrow 60 miles/hour (96.5 km/h) only 6.2 seconds! And this is not a sports car, but an SUV with a high center of gravity and a large moment of inertia. It’s just scary to spill into a steep turn of the mountain serpentine, despite the finalized suspension with reduced unsharged masses (levers are now made of aluminum), active stabilizers of the transverse stability and a bunch of electronic security systems that can even take into account the strength of the side wind.
Round ducts were replaced by rectangular, and the screen of the media system moved to the very top of the torpedo
But Highvei is another matter. Here, a radar cruise control can be clung to the stern in front of the car going and relax, forgetting about the gas and brake pedals: the machine will accelerate and slow down within the selected high-speed range and distance. Similar systems are found on cars of many manufacturers, but in Mercedes-Benz, her work is debugged to the smallest detail. Management with the help of a steering wheel lever is extremely simple and intuitive, while using a cruise control can not only on the highway, but also in the city. Driving to the intersection, where the red caught fire, for the sake of the experiment, I did not press the brake, and the SUV obediently froze a meter from the bumper of another car, and when the green turned on and the car touched, our GL went with it!
New headlights are decorated with LED eyelashes
The updated Mercedes-Benz GL-Class makes it clear that already in the near future cars will be able to do without the help of the driver. After all, you can go on it not only without pressing the pedals, but also releasing the steering wheel! The video camera monitors the roadside, and when the SUV approaches the marking of the edge of the road, the automation smoothly turns the steering wheel, returning GL to the strip. If the car began to go to the left without the turnover on, its course will have to adjust the electronics itself will only turn on the vibration on the steering wheel, reporting the danger. In addition, GL knows how to park on his own. This, of course, will not surprise anyone now, but the Mercedes-Benz SUV is remarkable for not only calling for the parking lot, but also leaves him.
Leather upholstery with a rhomboid stitching looks richly
The off-road GL-Class with the ON & Offroad package can also take place almost without the participation of the driver. It is enough to choose the appropriate mode, and the rest of the car will do it yourself: it will adjust the work of the transmission, accelerator and brakes and, if necessary, increase the road light: thanks to the standard air suspension, it can reach an impressive 30 cm! However, it was not possible to check the SUV in the case: the organizers did not include a section of this Off Road on the route, limiting themselves to only rocky mountain pass. Given the tremendous attitude of the Americans to private property and the legal wearing of firearms, to experience fate, moving outside the road, there was no desire to even have an abandoned land, at first glance, there may be a master. But our colleagues nevertheless took a chance and paid for this broken wheel. No, no one began to shoot the side of the tire at them on the usual placer of the stones, spending a fairly time to seal the cut.
The right range of regulators on the central console is responsible for off -road opportunities
Our verdict
Having received a new exterior design and the richly furnished interior, Gl-Class also significantly increased its intelligence level, becoming not only more convenient, but also safer in operation. The last factor, of course, is important to the main target group of this model in its US homeland, but whether intellectual chips will come in handy for Russian customers, the new question is controversial.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
+
Good off -road potential, excellent dynamics, large trunk, spacious interior, expensive decoration materials, the presence of really useful electronic assistants.
-
Glorious gasoline engines, a tight third row of seats, an abundance of electronics does not make the car more reliable.
Driving
Excellent dynamics does not go well with the foulness and inertia of a heavy and high machine.
Salon
The finish has become richer, perhaps, GL-Class has the most luxurious interior among classmates.
Comfort
Road irregularities are well felt in the cabin. Adults on the third row will be uncomfortable.
Safety
At the highest level.
Price
It is quite adequate if you do not look at American prices.
We do not love
Nicely
The cup holders with the cooling/heating function will be helped out in the heat and in the cold.
Comfortable
The electric drive that folds the middle row seats facilitates the landing on the gallery.
SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions 5120x1934x1850mm
Base 3075 mm
Equipped mass 2455 kg
Full mass
3250 kg
Clerence 276306 mm
Trunk volume 680/2300 l
The volume of the fuel tank is 100 liters
Gasoline engine, V8, 4663cm3,
435/5250l.s./min-1, 700/18003500 Nm/min---1
The transmission is automatic, 7 -speed,
the drive is complete
Dynamics 250 km/h; 5.4cdo100km/h
Fuel consumption is 11.5 liters per 100 km in the mixture. cycle
Competitors Audi Q7, Cadillac Escalade, Infiniti QX56, Lexus LX 570
