Mercedes-Benz GL320 BlueTEC beats EPA mpg

We may have saved a few mpg on our road trip, but we didn't do any favors for the insect life along I-5.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

We were recently given the opportunity to take the 2009 Mercedes-Benz GL320 BlueTEC on a long-distance road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles and back. While this seven seated behemoth was probably not the best vehicle to transport one journalist across the state of California, we figured this long trip down Interstate 5 would be a good opportunity to see how close the fuel-efficient diesel powerplant could get to its EPA estimated mileage.

The powerplant in question is a 3.0-L turbodiesel V-6 that outputs 210 horsepower and a beefy 398 pound-feet of torque. The engine sends its power through a seven-speed adaptive automatic transmission to Mercedes-Benz's 4MATIC permanent all-wheel drive system. Keeping the diesel's emissions clean is an AdBlue injection system that scrubs up to 80 percent of NOx from the exhaust gases. Greenies will be happy to know that the BlueTEC diesel is also approved for use with B5 biodiesel.

2009 Mercedes-Benz G550

Who says that prestige vehicles have to be modern, that luxury vehicles have to be refined, or that off-road vehicles have to be slow? To those people, the Mercedes-Benz G550 wags a finger and thick coat of mud, and ambles off to hurdle the nearest Jersey barrier. The anachronous G-class—orGeländewagen to purists—was introduced 30 years ago as a go-anywhere, off-road military vehicle, and today rides on essentially the same frame as the original, with the same suspension layout and nearly identical styling. It does, however, benefit from the accumulation of three decades of incremental improvements in two key areas: luxury and power.

For luxury, the G550 comes standard with everything. No option list exists. Standard equipment includes a sunroof; a windshield with embedded heating elements á la Land Rover; Mercedes’ COMAND navigation system with Bluetooth, Sirius radio, and iPod connectivity; 10-way power and heated front seats; heated rear seats; and a rear-view camera, among a host of other goodies.

Power Proportionate to its Boxiness

As for the major 2009 upgrade, the G550 is now equipped with the automaker’s ubiquitous 5.5-liter V-8. Sporting the same 382 hp and 391 lb-ft of torque as in its other applications and growling through an exhaust system that dumps out right in front of each rear wheel, the aluminum lump whips this 5700-lb packing crate to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 14.5 at 94 mph. For something shaped like a brick and weighing nearly three tons, that’s world class.

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon

PRICE AS TESTED: $101,125 (base price: $101,125)

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 333 cu in, 5461cc
Power (SAE net): 382 bhp @ 6000 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 391 lb-ft @ 2800 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 7-speed automatic with manumatic shifting

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 112.2 in Length: 185.6 in Width: 71.8 in Height: 76.0 in
Curb weight: 5665 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 5.9 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 16.7 sec
Zero to 120 mph: 34.9 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 6.1 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.5 sec @ 94 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 133 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 186 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.63 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 11/15 mpg
C/D observed: 13 mpg
*Stability-control-inhibited.

Keep Reading: 2009 Mercedes-Benz G550 - Short Take Road Test

Mercedes-Benz working on the next CLK for 2011

Even though the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe replaced the CLK nameplate, a successor to the model based on the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class could be in the works for 2011.

According to sources of a French car magazine, the next CLK will fill the gap between the 2010 E-Class Coupe (which is already built on the C-Class platform but is a little larger than the old CLK) and the CLC Coupe.

Source say that the next-generation CLK will be aimed at the BMW 3-Series Coupe and will by very similar to the new C-Class in terms of design.

The model is expected to borrow the same engine lineup from the C-Class sedan. Of course, this has us dreaming of the next CLK AMG with the C 63 AMG 450-hp V8.

2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid

Six years ago, I attended the Electric Vehicle Symposium in Long Beach, California, and at the conclusion of a riveting presentation by a major advanced-tech battery manufacturer, a questioner asked about the prospects of lithium-ion batteries for automobiles. The presenter was stony-faced for a few seconds — and then responded with a cocked head. “What do you mean by lithium batteries in cars?” Nickel metal hydride was then considered the cutting-edge in battery tech for hybrids, and this question about lithium-ion — provoked by its chief advocate, the late Dr. Paul MacCready, who was elsewhere in the hall — seemed beyond the presenter’s grasp. The questioner might as well have asked when worm holes in the fabric of space and time were going to let cars blink from one place to another.

Well, I’ve just driven the world’s first mass-production automobile that employs a lithium-ion battery (the lithium-ion-using Tesla Roadster being a low-production affair). No, it isn’t a full electric vehicle as Dr. MacCready would have preferred. But there, tucked in the corner of the Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid’s engine bay, was a 32-cell, 120 volt, 0.9 amp-hour, lithium-ion battery about the size of shoebox.

Jaguar XF Is Best Executive Car In 2009 Fleet World Honours

The Jaguar XF has won the award for Best Executive Car at the 2009 Fleet World Honours, proving the growing popularity of Jaguar’s new sports saloon amongst the business community. The trophy was presented at a special ceremony held at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall on Wednesday 20 May. The awards are judged by a [...]

BRABUS Refines the New Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe

The new Mercedes E-Class Coupe just went on sale and BRABUS already presents an extensive tuning program for the new two-door. The pinnacle of the available performance tuning is the BRABUS 6.1 displacement engine. It has a rated power output of 462 hp (456 bhp) / 340 kW and propels the E 500 (US: E550) to an impressive top speed of 315 km/h (196 mph).

Courts asked to cancel Madoff's car leases

There are many jobs in the world which we wouldn't want. Ranking high among them is Irving Picard's. He's the guy stuck with managing the liquidation of Bernie Madoff's firm. Having purportedly defrauded his clients (including numerous charitable foundations) of over $50 billion, Madoff has undoubtedly left quite a mess to untangle, and we're glad someone else is taking care of it while we write about cars for a living. But amidst that assuredly insurmountable mess is a fleet of luxury automobiles that Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities had leased for use by the firm.
Included in the Madoff garage are a Land Rover Range Rover, a Cadillac DTS, a pair of Mercedes S550s and a GL450, along with an unspecified Lexus. Several of the vehicles have already been returned to their dealerships, but Picard is petitioning the Federal Bankruptcy Court to rubber-stamp the cancellation of the leases in order to mitigate the cost of administrating the case. Considering that Picard has already delivered letters of termination to the firm's sixty employees and that Madoff himself is under house arrest in his Manhattan penthouse apartment, it's not like anyone's going to be using them, anyway. Unfortunately, since the cars are leased, there's no capital to recuperate for the reimbursement of Madoff's defrauded clients who are, themselves, still waiting to find out how much they've each lost.
[Source: The New York Times via The Car Connection]