More toe for towing: Benz's 450 GL CDI

There's been a gap in the Mercedes-Benz GL range. The big, burly offroader with the white-glove manners on the road has lacked a diesel that can really haul stuff -- but that problem is now resolved.

Mercedes-Benz Australia has unveiled the GL 450 CDI for the local market. Trimmed to a specification identical to that of the petrol GL 500, the V8 diesel variant is priced at $169,800 -- $3400 less than the petrol variant. Other than the badging, the one identifying feature to distinguish the diesel V8 from the petrol V8 is the two-bar grille versus the three-bar grille for the GL 500.

The GL 450 CDI's introduction here has been driven by "demand from customers with specific towing requirements," according to Mercedes-Benz spokesman, John Vasilj.

To that end, the GL 450 CDI will tow 3405kg, with a towball download rating of 273kg. In part, the new GL's towing ability can be traced back to the twin-turbo common-rail diesel V8, displacing 4.0 litres. Peak power is 225kW and the torque figure tops 700Nm. Fuel consumption in combined-cycle testing is 11.8L/100km and the CO2 emissions rating is 313g/km.

We've driven the new variant and can report that diesel V8 power makes the GL 450 CDI a very composed tourer. There's a danger that speed will nudge up 10km/h over the limit at typical open-road speeds, because that's the big offroader's sweet spot for cruising. It may even be higher... the luxury SUV certainly felt reined in at 100km/h.

Our time with the GL 450 CDI was necessarily limited and not especially illuminating, given the traffic and the drive route up Melbourne's Eastern Freeway, but the V8 engine delivered rapid response and head-snapping performance -- even without using full throttle. Once the traffic freed up a little, the GL was well equipped to thread its way through the cut and thrust of the peak-hour vehicular quagmire. Caught at red lights the GL 450 CDI would idle with a noticeable rumble, but with eight whole cylinders to smooth out any diesel rawness it's a trait that petrol SUV owners would find quite acceptable.

The transmission matched to the engine is a very smooth-shifting device. Even shifting down with the paddles, the downchanges were undetectable by the two passengers in the vehicle.

During the media briefing for the GL 450 CDI, Vasilj also advised that the GL 350 CDI will be upgraded from June with a higher-output version of its diesel V6. Torque is improved from 540 to 620Nm.

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