By: Stuart Johnston
Kitzbühel, Austria - The Mercedes GLE is described by Mercedes-Benz itself as “an extensive face-lift” so the good men and women from Stuttgart aren’t pretending that this ML series replacement, which arrives here in October-November, is an all-new car.
Its predecessors set a new trend for luxury SUVs way back in 1997, with the first ML examples arriving here a year later, and since then there have been two redesigns – in 2005 and in 2011. The biggest visual changes on the current design, to justify the new nomenclature, are to the front end, with new lights (now incorporating day-time running lights) integrated into a new bumper on all models, while the bonnet has the power-domes that Mercedes stylists are currently taken with, these features dating back to the old SL sportscars in the 1950s.
The re-contoured wings also give the face-lifted car a wider stance, while at the rear there is a chrome insert into the bumper, and thicker glass has been inserted into the tailgate. New wheel stylings complete the make-over when viewed from outside.
Inside there is a new look with various eye-catching upholstery designs looking much sportier and more overtly luxurious than before. There’s a re-designed steering wheel, and a large, centrally-positioned media display.
ADAPTABLE ROAD MANNERS
Visual and comfort changes apart, the new GLE now incorporates Dynamic Select, which offers up to six driving modes, and as in the GLE Coupé reported on recently, the international launch drive in the Austrian Alps revealed a real difference when the modes are switched from “Comfort” to “Sport”. Engine response gets crisper, and the suspension firms up appreciably.
You can also order-up Airmatic suspension, which can handily raise ride height to 285mm, with attendant hardcore offroad ability, and indeed we tried this in a tricky-by-Euro standard offroad course, which showed the GLE’s remarkable ability to provide slip-free forward motion from all four wheels.
COOL GIZMOS FOR THE BUSH
This model had the optional Off Road Engineering package, and for those South Africans who would like to tackle places like Namibia or Botswana in serious comfort, it is highly recommended. This package features low-range and centre-diff locking, which was impressive as there was little tendency to scrub wide on tight turns with the diff locked, as there often is on offroaders when this setting is applied.
The offroad course also show-cased a special feature of the forward-facing camera-monitor for off-road applications that can show the road ahead when one is about to descend over a sharp ledge down a steep slope. In other words, it looks over the cliff! It provides real peace of mind once you learn to trust it.
PLUG-IN HYBRID
On the road, we were also fortunate to try the new plug-in hybrid model, the GLE 500 e 4Matic. This marries a V6 direct-injection turbo petrol engine, good for 245kW, with an 85kW electric motor. Impressively, it can offer all-electric driving at speeds of up to 130km/h, which is quite remarkable for a car weighing close to 2500kg.
The power units drive all four-wheels through a 7G-Tronic conventional automatic gearbox. Electrical energy is stored in a lithium-ion battery located low down in the boot area, and can be charged using a wall-box charger, or a 220-volt outlet at home. Using the wall-box, re-charging takes about two hours.
Drivers can select the normal hybrid setting, when the computer controller selects optimum power sources for acceleration, or it can be driven in pure electric mode, or in an e-save mode which is suited to stop-start conditions and promotes extra charging of the battery on-the-go.
Our test route in the 500 e incorporated a rather flattering down-hill section followed by a shorter up-hill section and many journos en-route to our vehicle change-point achieved petrol consumption figures below the 4-litres/100km range. I returned a figure of 5.3 litres, but this included deliberately passing some trucks and the like at full throttle, to achieve a more real-world consumption. Mercedes-Benz claims a consumption figure for the car of just 3.3 to 3.7 litres/100 km, and a CO2 figure of 78 to 84g/km. Quite incredible for a massive car that will accelerate to 100km/h in 5.3 seconds.
I was conscious of the extra weight in the 500 e, thanks to that battery pack in the rear. The handling and braking seemed a little more ponderous than on the conventionally-powered cars.
SHARPER FEEL
In general driving, as far as the other models are concerned, the GLE felt sharper than I remember the ML feeling, good and solid though that car is.
When they debut in South Africa towards the end of the year, there will be no 500 e plug-in hybrid as yet. But nevertheless Mercedes-Benz SA has announced a strong six-derivative line up.
These are the GLE 250d at R863 000, the GLE 350 d at R964 000, the GLE 400 (with the awesome new V6 turbopetrol engine) at R959 000, the GLE 500 (with a 4.7-litre V8 petrol engine) at R1 166 000, and two AMG models.
These will be the AMG GLE 63 at R1 710 000 and the 63 S at R1 839 000. These will use a 5.5-litre turbo V8 producing 410kW (430kW for the S). None of these prices include the dreaded CO2 tax.
Star Motoring