2013 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class: Up Close

More 2012 New York Auto Show Coverage

The GL retains its predecessor’s hefty profile, but the new LED headlight lines add some character without going SL-roadster whimsical. Cabin materials are good, with comfortable seats and a vinyl-stitched upper dash on the show car. A 4.5-inch color screen sits between the instrument gauges, and Mercedes moved the Comand system from the dashboard controls to the more familiar console knob. The automaker still needs to upgrade the GL’s chintzy door-lock stems, however. They’d look cheap in a Scion, and they populate too many Benzes.

Cargo volume behind the third row expands to 16 cubic feet – it was 14.3 cubic feet in the last GL-Class – with maximum volume at 93.8 cubic feet. That’s a vast improvement (10.5 cubic feet!) over the last GL, and it puts the Benz in the cargo-hauling realm of the Infiniti QX56, which has 95.1 cubic feet of room. The Cadillac Escalade still has nearly 110 cubic feet of volume, though.

Mercedes expects noise levels on par with the library-quiet S-Class. The automaker’s excellent Airmatic suspension should deliver similar ride comfort, and optional active stabilizer bars could match that with agility beyond top-heavy competitors like the Escalade and Land Rover Range Rover.

The GL could use all the fuel economy help it can get. The outgoing car ranged from 12/17 mpg city/highway in the GL550 to 17/21 mpg in the diesel GL350 Bluetec, thanks to turbocharged V-8s in the GL450 and GL550 that replace last year’s normally aspirated engines. Full EPA figures are forthcoming.