2011 Mercedes-Benz GL350 BlueTec 4MATIC - Short Take Road Test - Car and Driver
Although the GL-class is sold worldwide, it’s clearly made to target our country’s love of extra-large and extra-in-charge trucks. Plus, the GL is manufactured in the good old U. S. of A. , down in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Since we said goodbye to our long-term 2008 GL320 CDI 4MATIC , the GL has undergone a number of running changes. The badge change from GL320 to GL350 is purely semantic—the oil-burning powertrain remains unchanged—and the drop in the highway fuel-economy rating from 23 mpg to 21 is merely a result of new EPA test procedures required for all 2011 models. At the test track, we found skidpad grip increased to 0. 75 g from the 0. 71 our long-termer posted when new, and 70-to-0-mph braking is down to a commendable 176 feet. The GL350’s figures are probably due to a switch from tires with a slight off-road bent to more-pavement-friendly Goodyear Eagle LS2s. Acceleration to 60 mph is the same, at 8. 6 seconds, but this truck trailed the long-termer by 0. 2 second in the quarter-mile and by a full second to 100 mph. Our observed fuel economy matched the EPA highway number at 21 mpg, 1 mpg lower than our 40,000-mile average in the GL320. How Does It Stack Up. A GL won its first (and only) comparison test in 2006—in V-8–powered GL450 guise—and we’re still fans. Source: www.caranddriver.com
