2022 Mercedes Benz GLS Review
2022 Mercedes Benz GLS580
4.0 Liter V8 Twin Turbo with Hybrid Assist
504 (combined HP) / 700 (combined TQ)
15 mpg as observed
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Guy who did stuff: Yousef Alvi
I’m going to make this simple for you. If you’re in the market for 3 Row Luxury SUV, this 2022 Mercedes Benz GLS is your choice. There is no cross shopping or internet due diligence to be had, this GLS is it. It’s competitors range from the Escalade to the Navigator to the X7 and while all of those vehicles are great in their own ways…this GLS absolutely dominates them.
So instead of doing my standard Great, Good, Bad and Ugly. I’m going to give you some more detail on what makes this GLS so Great along with what makes it so Good. There is no Ugly to be found.
Now let’s go ahead and break it down:
The Great
The drivetrain, build quality (shockingly enough), seats and packaging.
Drivetrain
Drivetrain: Our tester was blessed in the GLS580 guise, which gives you a 4.0 Liter Twin Turbo V8 with Electric Assist. That Electric Motor gives you up to 21 HP and a staggering 181 ft/lbs of TQ! Add that to the already abundant 516 ft/lbs in the gasser, gives you 700 ft/lbs of TQ! All of that torque gives this GLS580 a dual personality not found in anything else on the road today. It will go from a 7 passenger luxury cruiser to a rip roaring beast of a thing in an instant!
Build Quality
This is the best Tuscaloosa built Mercedes I have ever driven. It’s no secret, most of the vehicles built in the Vance, Alabama plant tends to….errr….feel completely different compared to their Euro built counterparts. From poor fitting trim pieces, rattle plagued interiors to just an overall feeling of ‘meh’, I’m usually underwhelmed and disappointed by all of them…until now.
This GLS feels like it’s been built by a completely different factory. It (finally) has the feeling of solidity, refinement and execution that has been missing from it’s stateside built brethren. The interior is put together brilliantly with no squeaks, rattles or ill-fitting pieces to be found! Everything inside and out just feels like what a Mercedes Benz should…and that is excellent.
Packaging
Now, chances are, if you are looking at a GLS…you are doing so for a reason. That reason is children and fitting child-seats in a vehicle tends to be a special type of hell.
This GLS swaps hell for heaven! Our Britax Click Tight seats slid in perfectly the first time with no adjustments needed. Along with easy to reach latch anchors and enough room fore and aft, the GLS is one the easiest vehicles on the road today to put a child seat in.
Bravo Mercedes Benz!!!
Seats
It’s another not-so-secret, most Mercedes Benz seats are woefully uncomfortable to me.
These on other hand are bleeding excellent! Comfortable, supportive, squishy and divine.
You just sink in, relax and decompress. All the while being held firmly and securely. Just plain excellent!
The Good
The transmission and ride quality
Transmission
Paired to that spectacular engine is a transmission that doesn’t get enough love…the 9 speed 9G-Tronic.
Yes the ubiquitous and stellar ZF 8HP transmission that is found in everything from Aston Martin to Dodge is a wonder in and of itself but this 9G-Tronic offers dual clutch levels of engagement that is missing from the ZF unit.
Driven with gusto, the 9G-Tronic can deliver an almost Porsche PDK level of crisp shift quality while adding a buttery smooth engagement when bumming about.
Ride Quality
The GLS is enormous…so enormous that these 23 (!) inch wheels look ‘normal’ under it’s wheel wells. Since the wheels are so ginormous, the sidewall is a sliver of a thing at 35mm and you would be forgiven to assume the ride quality would be catastrophic…but it ain’t.
Somehow Mercedes Benz’s engineers tuned the suspension to such a degree rubber band attached to the wheel is inconsequential to the ride quality. The GLS can flow down the road in a way that no other luxury 3 row SUV can match.
Soaking up bumps and indulations without a care in the world and taking corners like a champ to boot!
The Bad
The MB(S)UX infotainment system, as ever, is frustratingly complicated to use, operate and look at. Pair that with a loathsome trackpad…is a recipe for frustration.
Overall:
As I said up top…this Mercedes GLS is the best luxury 3 row SUV you can buy today. So do it.
