Test drive: Mercedes-Benz GLS
Overview
A chuffing massive Mercedes, is what it is. Longer and wider than ever, the “S-Class of SUVs” (Merc’s words) is quite possibly one of the biggest cars on sale in Britain. So long you can almost fit a whole Fiat 500 just in its wheelbase, not to mention the contents of several C-Class Estates in its interior.
It is truly gargantuan and, we suspect, verging on just too enormous for British towns and cities. Certainly won’t fit through a 6ft 6in width restrictor, or in your local NCP. Drive it through the Eurotunnel and you’ll need to ride with the coaches and caravanists instead of the other cars.
Now in its third generation, Mercedes says the GLS competes with the Range Rover and Tesla Model X. Most directly, though, with the new BMW X7 - the creation of which the GLS no doubt very much inspired. We reckon it’ll also appeal to people looking at pricier versions of the Land Rover Discovery, Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90.
The trade-off for this massiveness is interior space - like its rivals, the GLS is as enormous inside as it is outside, with space for seven fully-grown adults and all their things.
Wasn’t always called the GLS. Back in the noughties Merc’s biggest SUV was just the GL - then the company played around with its naming structure, adding the extra letter to reflect this is the S-Class to the GLE’s E-Class, GLC’s C-Class and so-on.
Since the model’s introduction in 2006 more than half a million have been sold, mostly in the United States. Which, as it happens, is where it’s built (alongside the GLE in Alabama) and where we’re driving it. And, amusingly, where it feels no less compact and wieldy than a Ford Fiesta does in West London.
Driving
Big old bus, the GLS. But doesn’t really feel it in the States, where it’s dwarfed by Chevy Suburbans and Ford F-150s.
Much like the S-Class, the focus here is on comfort and refinement, though obviously much effort has been put into masking the GLS’s true size and weight. For example the ‘E-Active Body Control’ suspension, which made its debut on the GLE, keeps the car eerily flat in the bends (or even tilts it in, like the S-Class Coupe) and scans the road ahead so it can prepare itself for upcoming bumps. It can even effectively bounce the car out of trouble off-road (where the GLS is impressively capable), and gives individual control of the car’s ride height at each corner with sliders. It’s an impressive bit of kit, no doubt. And we’re told it will make it to the UK at some point.
Till then, all GLSs destined for British roads get normal air suspension. No bad thing - it’s as good a setup as you’ll find anywhere, albeit lacking the adaptability and body control of the expensive 48-volt E-ABC. For the kind of driving most GLS owners will do it does the job just fine.
This is always a very comfortable car - whatever the suspension, and however big the alloys (they go up to 23-inches), the GLS flows down the road like a big SUV ought to, with a little heave, pitch and roll, but a reassuring weight, solidity and stability. It’s relaxed and unstressed, and a truly superb car in which to do distance, too - very slippy for a big SUV so wind-noise is kept to a minimum, the seats are tremendous and the engines lusty, long-legged and all-but silent.
On engines - Brits only get one. It’s the 3.0-litre straight-six diesel from, well, pretty much every other big Benz you care to mention. We’ve tried it the S-Class, E-Class, G-Class, GLE and probably a few others we’ve forgotten about. And it’s great - powerful, brawny, and even sounds pretty nice when you lean into it. A near-perfect fit. Of course it isn’t a massively fast car, the GLS 400d, but it isn’t bad - 0-62mph takes 6.3 seconds and the top speed is 148mph thanks to 325bhp and 516lb ft.
Those wanting more speed can wait for the straight-six petrol GLS 450, which deploys Merc’s ‘EQ’ mild-hybrid tech’ (362bhp, 369lb ft, 0-62mph in 6.2 seconds, 153mph). No V8 just yet, as we Brits don’t (and won’t) get America’s lovely GLS 580, which uses the familiar 4.0-litre V8 from all AMGs ever, but with the same 48-volt mild-hybrid gubbins as the 450.
Inevitably there will be a proper AMG at some point, which will no doubt have a whopping-great V8 with upwards of 600bhp. A Maybach-badged posh(er) GLS ought to arrive at some point too, though we don’t know what engine that might get.
All engines come with the nine-speed automatic gearbox, which 95 per cent of the time is smooth and quick-reacting, but has a tendency to get a little flustered and out of sync if you demand a sudden birth of acceleration.
On the inside
The GLE and GLB may also have seven seats, but the GLS is the only Mercedes SUV that can comfortably accommodate seven adults. Mercedes rates the rearmost two seats for adults up to 1.94 metres tall (provided the second-row is slid as far forwards as it’ll go), which is very tall indeed. Said seats can also be heated, and benefit from their own climate controls and zone. Getting into them is pretty straightforward, too - all the seats move about electrically, but they take their sweet time.
A clever microphone setup pipes the driver’s voice through the rear speakers and the rear passengers’ through the fronts, so you can have a conversation without having to shout. Don’t tell your kids about it, though, because once they find the microphones there’s no knowing what they may do.
American GLSs get six-seats as standard, because apparently they like being able to effectively walk between rows two and three. British cars will get a more conventional seven-seat setup. Space is ample in any of the three rows, however you’ve configured the seats. Screens and electrically-operated massage seats with pillowy headrests are available, and do a decent job of making you think you’re in a taller, more airy S-Class. But we can’t help but think if this thing is really trying to be the “S-Class of SUVs”, it should be plusher still. We know there’s a posher GLS coming, mind…
The dashboard is basically the same as the GLE’s, meaning it’s dominated by two vast screens - one for the driver’s instrumentation, the other for controlling the new MBUX infotainment system, which arrived last year with the A-Class and has since made its way into bigger cars like the GLE and S.
On first meeting the software, and all the various means of controlling it, can feel a bit daunting. Two touch pads on the wheel control left- and right-side screens respectively, The central screen is also touch sensitive, or can be controlled with another touchpad on the centre console, where you used to find a click-wheel.
Get it set up the way you want it, though, and it’s great - superb quality graphics and an attractive UI, and clever voice control that actually works a treat. Unless, I’m told, you have a particularly thick regional accent. In America it’s nearing Siri levels of cleverness, in that it can answer general knowledge questions like “who’s the President of the US?”, convert between units and so-on. Pity UK cars can’t do that just yet.
The vast majority of the switchgear and materials feel on-point, though perhaps not quite as nice as the ones you get in an actual S-Class. As ever, the more you spend, the better it gets, with fancier leathers, better headlining and posher trim.
USB ports aplenty will keep the kids happy, but remember your adapters because they’re all of the little USB-C variety.
Verdict
Surprise, Surprise - big Mercedes is excellent. The GLS is a massive car inside and out - families will love it for its practicality. The fact you can fit adults comfortably in the third row, and a decent amount of luggage behind them, is a real plus. A tremendous long-distance cruiser, with comfy seats and great engines. Also isn’t anything like as obnoxious to look at as its closest competitor, the BMW X7. Assuming you get on with the infotainment and aren’t intending on driving this thing quickly, our only real criticism is that it should be posher still. Pillowy headrests and Android tablets notwithstanding, as the “S-Class of SUVs” is should be available with full-on first-class seating back there.
