The new 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL is a seven passenger luxury family hauler that’s built in the United States. It is one of Mercedes-Benz most popular models in the US because it combines off-road ruggedness with room for seven passengers. You can also have the new 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL with four different engine choices including a diesel and a ground ripping AMG version.
Cosmetically, the GL and ML appear to share front doors, but are otherwise pretty different. The GL has been given its own, far more aggressive style, and we have to say it’s pretty handsome. Up front, the crossover features projector lamps and some LED light signatures, as well as a simple two-slat grille. A rising rear fender flare starts ahead of the wheel arch and then curves up and around toward the rear; it’s a familiar design element common to many modern Benzes and might be most successful here. For some stylistic familiarity, the first-gen GL’s D-pillar design was reapplied to this new model.
Power for the GL comes from three sources, and they’re divvied up among GL350, GL450, and GL550 models. The GL350 features a 3.0-liter BlueTec diesel V-6 making 240 hp and 455 lb-ft of torque, hefty increases from the 210 hp and 400 lb-ft stumped up by the outgoing diesel GL. The GL450 and GL550 once again use V-8 power, but this time they get two tunes of the same engine: Benz’s widely used twin-turbo 4.7-liter V-8. It makes 362 hp and 406 lb-ft in the GL450, up from 355 hp and 339 lb-ft of its predecessor’s naturally aspirated 4.7. The GL550 now boasts 429 hp and 516 lb-ft; the outgoing model’s naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V-8 produced 382 hp and 391 lb-ft.
All three engines mate to a seven-speed automatic transmission, and all GLs come with 4MATIC all-wheel drive and Benz’s Airmatic air suspension. As was the case before, the diesel 350 and the gasoline 450 include essentially the same equipment and features. Both come standard with 19-inch wheels and offer optional 20s. MB-Tex synthetic leather is the default seating material in the GL350 and 450. Given that the 2013 GL probably will start north of $60,000, we’d expect actual leather to be included.
If you are thinking about purchasing the new 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL this TFLcar video will tell you many of the key things that you may want to know before purchasing the car, or if you just love cars you’ll like getting to know the new GL better.
