bhnyc:
Does anyone have the GL on the Forum? I am curious to understand how it rides. I lost my X5M in the hurricane and need to replace it. My wife wants a larger car for two kids (and inevitable friends). That is reality for us, so a big car makes sense. Personally, I am glad they are putting an AMG engine in it. I need to have some entertainment while driving on four hour drives. We would not consider the G. I have driven it, this car is interesting and unique but not for me for a number of reasons. The GL actually has much better performance (straight line for all of this of course) b/c of its lower center of gravity.
Anyway, the point of the post is to ask if there are any owners of the new GL on the website. I drove the GL450 today and it was soft and the steering was incredibly light. I assume the 63AMG will be upgraded in this perspective. But any insight (or insight to driving an ML63 AMG would be appreciated). We are also looking at the new Range Rover - for some reason they will not put a third row of seats into Range Rover which is a problem for me as explained above. We are also looking at the land cruiser and some other big SUVs.
We had a GL450 as a loaner during our stay in Miami and you are right, the chassis is soft and the steering is light but considering the difference between a regular ML model and the ML63 AMG, I suppose the GL63 AMG should have a much firmer ride.
Sorry to hear about your X5M loss during the Hurricane but cars can be replaced and this is when insurances come in. Human life is a different thing...
My wife went the other way around now: We returned the X5M to the lease company and got her a smaller BMW X3 35d instead. German AMS magazine clocked this little puppy at 5.5 seconds from 0-62 mph, so this would probably mean 5.2 or 5.3 seconds from 0-60 mph. Not bad for a Diesel SUV. The parking lots over here in Germany are usually small and a smaller SUV is just perfect. Also, fuel (Diesel) consumption is aprox. 32-35 mpg...she loves her X3.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche Panamera Turbo S, BMW X5M, Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe PP/DP, Mini Cooper S Countryman All4