Cars
- The Bad 8 Supersize V2.0 - Part Viii
MERCEDES-BENZ R-CLASS Top 3 Reasons For Avoiding: Jumpins' that's a lot of money for an uglier-than-a-minivan tall wagon. Couldn't Mercedes-Benz think of something better to do with 5,000 pounds of metal and leather? Every single dimension...
- The Good 12 Supersize V2.0 - Part Xi
SUBARU FORESTER There's something about the Subaru Forester which makes other good, solid, and capable small SUVs seem bland and uninteresting. Foresters play in a league where competition is ripe - nearly every Forester adversary is, for one reason...
- The Good 12 Supersize V2.0 - Part X
NISSAN XTERRA Superior cargo-carrying proficiency can be found elsewhere. Full-bore towing is a task best undertaken by a larger SUV. Heady acceleration can be more easily accomplished in a truly sporting crossover. The calming influences of luxury...
- The Good 12 Supersize V2.0 - Part I
AUDI Q5 The four-ringed badge of Audi has always played a special role in the life of The Good Car Guy. It's hard to escape the effect a brand can have when, from birth, the smell and feel and atmosphere of a car company is embossed on one's...
- The Good 12 Supersize - Part I
AUDI Q5 Content to let the SUV party fly by, Audi was very late adding the Q7 to its roster. Based not only on the success of that model but also on the need to expand into more niches if it's to overtake BMW and Mercedes-Benz globally, Audi now...
Cars
THE GOOD 12 SUPERSIZE - PART IX
MERCEDES-BENZÂ
GL320 BLUETEC & GL450
Every now and then, vehicles are awarded great praise for one easily definable reason: being the best at everything. Consider Mercedes-Benz's GL-Class so defined. Performing every task better than the competition is difficult enough. Doing so at a price that makes life difficult for Lexus, Land Rover, and Infiniti? Previously believed to be impossible.
Yet here we see a humongous Mercedes SUV that is capable both on-road and off. Space for you and your peeps is scarcely circumnavigatable. Power is plentiful. Fuel econony - it sounds so strange, doesn't it? - is actually tolerable..... if you choose the diesel GL320. What doesn't the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class do well?
No, it's a serious question. The GL is handsome, if not bodacious like the Infiniti FX, another Good 12 Supersize winner. Towing a luxury liner is verging on the conceivable. Impressing the neighbours? Effortless. Living life in the lap of extravagant leather-lined opulance becomes a given. What more ask ye for? One would appreciate the standard feature count to be more representative of a large Mercedes-Benz. Instead, Mercedes-Benz charges you heavily (extra leather = $2,130).That's part of the reason the GL's base price can remain under 60 large.
Still, in light of the competition and Mercedes' own ML-Class, the GL320 BlueTec and GL450 are shockingly impressive vehicles that, at the same time, offer shocking value-for-dollar.Â
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Engines: 210 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque from a turbodiesel 3.0L V6 or 335 horsepower and 339 lb-ft of torque from a 4.6L V8
City Mileage: 13-17 miles per gallon
Base USD Price: $59,075
Cargo Capacity: 83.3 cubic feet behind front row
Towing Capability: 7,500 pounds
- The Bad 8 Supersize V2.0 - Part Viii
MERCEDES-BENZ R-CLASS Top 3 Reasons For Avoiding: Jumpins' that's a lot of money for an uglier-than-a-minivan tall wagon. Couldn't Mercedes-Benz think of something better to do with 5,000 pounds of metal and leather? Every single dimension...
- The Good 12 Supersize V2.0 - Part Xi
SUBARU FORESTER There's something about the Subaru Forester which makes other good, solid, and capable small SUVs seem bland and uninteresting. Foresters play in a league where competition is ripe - nearly every Forester adversary is, for one reason...
- The Good 12 Supersize V2.0 - Part X
NISSAN XTERRA Superior cargo-carrying proficiency can be found elsewhere. Full-bore towing is a task best undertaken by a larger SUV. Heady acceleration can be more easily accomplished in a truly sporting crossover. The calming influences of luxury...
- The Good 12 Supersize V2.0 - Part I
AUDI Q5 The four-ringed badge of Audi has always played a special role in the life of The Good Car Guy. It's hard to escape the effect a brand can have when, from birth, the smell and feel and atmosphere of a car company is embossed on one's...
- The Good 12 Supersize - Part I
AUDI Q5 Content to let the SUV party fly by, Audi was very late adding the Q7 to its roster. Based not only on the success of that model but also on the need to expand into more niches if it's to overtake BMW and Mercedes-Benz globally, Audi now...