It also feels, strangely enough, reasonably
well resolved around a tight set of corners. Driving up our favourite hill
stretch, with the dampers set to Sport+, the GL seems quite willing to dig its
heels in and turn with flourish. It appears at first that body roll will be
hard to contain, but strangely enough, the 2.6-tonnes of kerb weight and
momentum don't really upset its balance by much. Weight shifts in a more
predictable manner and it's only the ESP that’s a bit of a damp squib. Even if
you switch it off, it tends to intervene if you give the truck a bootful of
throttle—making it practically impossible to upset this truck’s balance (this
is particularly true while driving uphill). On the flatter twisty sections on a
plateau, the ESP intervenes with less alacrity, allowing for some fluid body
motions, relative to the GL’s size. A hard hour of driving around a hilly
stretch and the brakes can be more than a bit overwhelmed if you like driving
on the boil, which does necessitate a cooling-off period before pressing on.
The
interior is typical high-quality three-pointed star stuff, but the view is way
more blurred than usual because of that motor
Sport+ on well-paved sections works just
fine but try it off-road or on the rough patches and you’ll feel your dentures
coming loose. That's when you wind the knobs back to Comfort settings, raise
the air-suspension and watch how it takes on the worst stretches with the same
level of confidence. And that really is the milieu in which the GL has always
shone like the best set of Osrams in the Outback—there’s lots of traction and
the sheer brute strength of the AMG motor gives the truck an innate ability to
extract itself from the worst possible situations, even on those road-biased,
21-inch tyre-wheel combo.
Two
Bang &Olufsen audio systems are available from the options list
It's in those very conditions that you
might appreciate the car's other fine traits. Like the front AMG seats with
heated, cooled and massage elements, or the Harman Kardon sound system that has
tremendous bass to accompany the exhaust audio. The dash is pleasing to look
and touch at—the piano black finish on our test vehicle complemented the
sinister exteriors. Gizmos to play around with include personal screens for the
second row, and the start-stop button for the driver like on the G63 AMG.
There’re multiple air-con vents to cool down the young occupants (who could be
feeling the strain of not completing their homework) and the expected overall
high level of luxury. What really seals the deal is that six or seven
reasonable-sized adults can set out on a long journey, not worrying about their
knees knocking the seats in front. That is practicality that is pretty hard to
find on most seven-seater passenger cars in India!
The
mighty bi-turbo 5.5-litre V8 has been developed specifically for larger
Mercedes models
It’s unlikely that the GL 63 AMG will meet
a fate similar to the Diablos Rojos, simply because it’s rather difficult to
come to any sort of harm if you’re inside it (this doesn’t apply for people
outside the vehicle)—given the host of airbags, ABS, ESP, traction control and
the ilk. What most drivers and owners may find is that the GL 63 AMG is a more
practical way of burning up close to two big ones than they could ever imagine.
Not to forget that priceless smiles on your kids’ faces when you drop them to
school every single morning.
