Massive Mercedes GLE will munch up the miles
Being absolutely and completely reliant on your sat nav system is, as I’m sure many readers will testify, never a completely satisfactory situation, especially when you’ve no idea whether the system is in either ‘good’ or ‘evil’ mode.
We’ve all heard horror stories here in Ireland of American tourists being sent over untravelled mountain passes by their navigation system when trying to accomplish a simple trip between, say, Kenmare and Bantry.
Or even those of sales reps trying to find a lonely rural outpost and ending up lost and baffled in a rundown farmyard and being told “you have reached your destination” when in fact they’re nowhere near it.
Anyway, it was with no little degree of concern earlier this year I set off from the legendary Kitzbuhel ski resort in the Austrian Alps heading for Munich and a flight home. I was kitted out with the new Mercedes GLE and it in turn was equipped with an excellent navigation system which had proved faultless getting us to Kitzbuhel in the first place.
Even so I left early in the morning armed with little other than trepidation, particularly so because I was driving alone, which is very unusual at car launches where you’re normally paired with a colleague for the duration of the event, on the basis that you’d want to be two right thicks to get totally lost. But as I was heading back to Cork and my colleagues were going to Dublin, a solo venture was the only answer.
The 70 or so kilometres from the resort to the motorway were the worrying ones as there was plenty of scope to find yourself alone on an Alpine goat path, but despite one or two minor and unnecessary glitches I made the motorway in just under an hour and in little under a further hour I was on the outskirts of Munich. It was all pretty much effortless and, in fairness to the GLE, an extremely comfortable, painless and pleasant spin.
Never having been a particular fan of the car’s predecessor, the ML Class, I came to the GLE with slim expectations but over the course of the two day trip to the Tirol, became rather enamoured with what is a fine car indeed.
Certainly it is not the essence of style or glamour, and in fact it is not even that distant in looks to the model which it replaces, but it is most definitely a much more focussed contender in what is becoming a viciously competitive market segment, populated by the likes of the Range Rover Discovery Sport, the BMW X5, the Audi Q7 and the new Volvo XC90.
The essence of the Mercedes, however, is practicality, economy and the sheer ease of driving over long or short distances and my Kitzbuhel to Munich trip ably demonstrated all of these characteristics.
Usually, however, such testing is specifically designed to underline the car’s good traits and you are always left wondering if the same will apply when you get to try it on Irish roads.
Well the arrival chez Colley of a GLE 250d 4Matic recently allowed us to see if the car was as good here as it was on mainland Europe and I am pleased to say that everything good I felt about the GLE back in the summer was mirrored here at home.
Visually, the external differences between the ML-Class and the GLE are largely cosmetic and while the changes have polished up the look of the car greatly, the lineage is still very clearly defined. Indeed the overall look of the car is now much more in tune with the rest of the Mercedes range, as evidence by such as the rear light cluster detailing.
On the inside the upgrading has been a lot more comprehensive and in this regard the GLE is a lot more pleasing than the ML ever was and while many of the features are now familiar to Mercedes drivers, the whole package is a lot more alluring than anything which came before.
On the technical side the engine is a familiar four cylinder turbodiesel unit from the Mercedes family and at 2,143 cc in size, it will output 150 kW (204 bhp) and show performance figures of 8.8 seconds for the 0-100 kph dash in a claimed 8.6 seconds (although it felt quicker, somehow) and a top speed of 212 kph.
A big change has happened on the gearbox front and the tester featured Mercedes’ new nine-speed G-Tronic auto unit and this, unlike many similar ones I’ve tried, was the essence of driver-friendliness.
Others tend to vault up and down the cogs with the merest application of the throttle, but this one was the essence of cool and somehow seemed to intuitively be in the right gear when you wanted or needed it to be. Then again as there were nine of them, that’s what it should do.
While exceptionally comfortable, the ride quality of the Merc has probably been tuned at the expense of the truly sharp handling which some competitors display. But this is probably well in line with the expectations of the customers the company is aiming at. That said, the handling is not bad at all and the security it offers will mean more to potential owners than any driving flair they might be missing.
With more kit levels and lower prices than went before, the GLE is a thoroughly agreeable mode of transport and one which will deliver in spades when it comes to practicality and day-to-day living.
Worth noting too is that the car’s off-road abilities have been fully enhanced and while the majority of drivers will hardly ever want to scuff its’ boots, they can rest assured that it will get down and dirty with the best of them if ever required.
This is a really good contender from Mercedes and one which will find many a happy Irish home. It has a really good balance of characteristics and while it might not be outstanding in some of them, it is good enough in all of them to make it a truly credible contender in an increasingly competitive segment.
And even if you’re on your Tobler — in Toblerone territory, it will see you right. It did for me.
Mercedes-Benz has released details of price and specifications in relation to their new GLE models.Emphasis is being placed on two models, both diesel powered and both with automatic transmission — the GLE 250d and GLE Coupe 350d. For the GLE 250d, price begins from €65,665 (ex works) with annual road tax from €280, reflecting an 8% price decrease for the new 2WD model.
Colley’s Verdict:
€71,750 — €74,721 as tested.
A very able driveable unit which will return 5.7 l/100 km (nearly 50 mpg) and with 149 g/km is good for Band C and an annual tax bill of €390.
Excellent basic kit including sat nav, park assist and a lot more.
A substantial step forward.
