Mercedes-Benz GL320 CDI Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Mercedes GL320 CDI
Prices: £51,675 - on the road
Insurance Group: 16
Emissions: 264g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 9.5s / Max Speed 131mph
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 29.3mpg
Safety: Twin front, side and curtain airbags / ABS / ESP
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height mm 5088/1920/1840

MAKING THE WEIGHT?

Our Rating: 7.4 / 10

Mercedes is asking a lot of its excellent 3.0-litre diesel in giving it the task of hauling the leviathan GL-Class about. Andy Enright reports

When he was at his prime, let’s say back in 1997, Naseem Hamed was an astonishing boxer. His featherweight rivals could barely lay a glove on him and he packed a punch that belied his diminutive frame. For a couple of years he was simply unbeatable. How would he have fared though if you’d have stuck him in with a mediocre heavyweight? I’ll tell you. He would have been plastered all over the ring. There’s only so far that much power can take you and one suspects Mercedes may be testing those limits with the latest GL320 CDI model.

Put this engine in a C-Class and it’ll do the Prince Nas thing, putting a sound leathering on its direct rivals. The trouble is that a C-Class tips the scales at a mere 1,550kg. A GL weighs in at over 2,600kg and that’s asking this engine to punch above its weight a little. You’ll have to give the GL320 CDI a good punt to shift at a respectable speed and in so doing, fuel economy caves in a little. It’s almost as if the benefits of this diesel engine are being negated by the sheer weight of the car.

Still, a sprint to 60mph of 9.5 seconds isn’t exactly slow, being within half a second of the entry-level petrol engine Porsche Cayenne, but with this car more than most, we need to separate performance and economy figures. Really drive the GL320 CDI hard and you won’t get anything like the claimed 29.3mpg. I doubt that in typical give and take driving conditions, there would be a lot of difference between this consumption figure and that of the V8 GL420 CDI diesel model. So what’s the appeal?

The reason is because it is by some margin the most inexpensive GL to buy. If you want seven seats and macho Mercedes styling, the £51,675 that you’ll pay for this model is the easiest way to achieve that. You certainly get a lot of car for your money. It’s fully 508cm long, making it nearly 13cm trickier to slot into a parking bay than a full size Range Rover, the overall length being the same as an Audi Q7, a vehicle that also boasts seven seat capacity. Unlike the Audi, which is a mere 173cm tall, the GL stands 184cm off the ground. It’s tall enough to put your neighbours back in the Dark Ages.

The 3.0-litre engine does a decent job of the easy things. It’s tractable and acceptably refined and steps off the line acceptably around town. For the more undemanding buyer, it won’t generate any real cause for complaint but it gives little indication as to what the GL is really capable of. Drive a GL420 CDI and you’ll see, the eight cylinder engine giving the big Mercedes the power to apparently shuck off the weight of the chassis. It feels like a completely different proposition.

Although it wears a German badge, make no mistake that the heart and soul of this car is pure stars and bars. Built in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the GL is aimed at the well-heeled buyers of New York, California, Washington and Florida, customers who demand a vehicle with the front to face down a Cadillac Escalade or a Lincoln Navigator. Make no mistake, the GL is a serious piece of real estate.

Much of the GL320 CDI’s appeal will hinge on practical aspects and Mercedes have worked hard to endow this 4x4 with family-friendly features. It’s far more spacious inside than their R-Class sports tourer and features a centre-row bench seat with four-way backrest adjustment which is claimed to provide far better seating comfort for up to three passengers. The wider section of the 1/3:2/3 split-folding seat has a folding armrest with cup holder and compartment. The backrests and the cushions can both be folded down, for transporting bulky loads while the divided seat cushion folds forwards in individual sections, then the backrests are folded forwards to create a flat surface level with the load floor at the rear.

A newly developed EASY-ENTRY system provides convenient access to the optional third-row individual seats. To use this facility, the narrower backrest section of the bench seat is released and folded forward together with the cushion. If the front passenger seat is in a further back position, it automatically slides forward. When the third-row passengers have taken their seats, the benc