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I'm surprised to see you getting similar results around town. In our GL350 we see a minimum of 20mpg in congested LI city driving, usually it's closer to 22.
I would get 17-18 in city driving in the X164 Bluetec. I'm getting 15-16 in city driving in the X166 (450) V8 Biturbo. Your X166 Bluetec gets slightly better fuel economy with about 10% more torque than the X164 Bluetec did. You probably don't have to push it as hard as I did my X164 to stay up with traffic.
Originally Posted by emilner
I totally agree that it's a shame they downgraded to a V6 with much less usable power and charged the same price! Now there really is little reason to get a 450 over a 350.
I agree, it'll be another diesel for me or not a Mercedes. I just had a lot of issues with my diesel once I got around 50,000 miles and that left a bad taste in my mouth. I'll let you guys be the guinea pigs on this one. If the new diesels prove to be more problem free, I would be willing to go back.
I think we would all agree that the 15 has plenty of power as do the new Yukons, Infinitis, etc. The Biturbo V8 is just a special engine that set the GL apart from the competition. If Mercedes wanted to knock $7,000-$10,000 off the price for the V6 equipped GL, I would be okay with that. It's just crazy that the price stayed the same with a significant performance drop.
As for the fuel economy in your V6, if you baby it, you are going to get V6 fuel economy with V6 power. If you push it it will drink fuel just like a V8. That's the nature of turbocharging. My city fuel economy in my X164 Bluetec was just a little better than what I get in my X166 V8 Biturbo because I can baby the V8 and get the same acceleration I got from pushing the diesel. Highway mileage is a different story.
Well. I'm not trying to defense for mercedes, but after a long sequential "test-drive" of both V8 and V6. I must say there is no significant performance drop in this context. The new biturbo V6 is an impressive engine in terms of almost every aspect. You must drive it for a sufficient period of time to experience it.
Sure. MB makes more profit from this V6 for selling it as the old V8. BUT it would't make any sense for them or even for us to see a $50K GL in the market. We are not buying mercedes for its engine but the overall superior quality and seemless integration of so many cutting-edge technologies.
The most efficient engine has the most of the future.
My reason for buying the V6 GL450 is as following:
1. on/off road package
2. unpredictable diesel quality from state to state (percentage of the bio-diesel sorts of thing)
3. exhaust tips
4. better 0-60
5. acceptable gas milage 17-21? (real world is around 12-21 for my first 1000miles)
2013 GL450 (traded for 2015 Escalade), 2012 Corvette, 2014 Ford Fusion, Previous: 2007 GL450, 2011
Originally Posted by francotse
Well. I'm not trying to defense for mercedes, but after a long sequential "test-drive" of both V8 and V6. I must say there is no significant performance drop in this context. The new biturbo V6 is an impressive engine in terms of almost every aspect. You must drive it for a sufficient period of time to experience it.
Sure. MB makes more profit from this V6 for selling it as the old V8. BUT it would't make any sense for them or even for us to see a $50K GL in the market. We are not buying mercedes for its engine but the overall superior quality and seemless integration of so many cutting-edge technologies.
The most efficient engine has the most of the future.
My reason for buying the V6 GL450 is as following:
1. on/off road package
2. unpredictable diesel quality from state to state (percentage of the bio-diesel sorts of thing)
3. exhaust tips
4. better 0-60
5. acceptable gas milage 17-21? (real world is around 12-21 for my first 1000miles)
Glad to hear your review of on the V6.....and,
I agree with most all of what you are saying....particularly #'s 1 and 2...but honestly, I am getting that mileage with my 13 bi-turbo V8!
I still think that the move to the V6 did not do anything for the vehicle .... what it does do is push the V8 people to the 550 ( more money for MB) and increases the profit on the 450 ( more money for MB )......First time buyers into the GL450 world will not know the difference.....but for me, after 3 of them....its unfortunate!
Glad to hear your review of on the V6.....and,
I agree with most all of what you are saying....particularly #'s 1 and 2...but honestly, I am getting that mileage with my 13 bi-turbo V8!
I still think that the move to the V6 did not do anything for the vehicle .... what it does do is push the V8 people to the 550 ( more money for MB) and increases the profit on the 450 ( more money for MB )......First time buyers into the GL450 world will not know the difference.....but for me, after 3 of them....its unfortunate!
I know of one family where it knocked the GL out of contention. They'd be stretching to get the GL450. They were ok with stretching if the car were "perfect." Perfect for them included that torque-y V8 that the GL used to come with.
We are not buying mercedes for its engine but the overall superior quality and seemless integration of so many cutting-edge technologies.
First of all - thanks for your take on the V6 - we need more people on here with their views. Curious if you drove the 550 or 450?
The biturbo was the exact reason we got our 450. The car is my wives but the only reason I signed off was that beast of an engine. At the price point, with the superior quality you noted, and a quick chip modification away from unleashing the 550 performance - it was a lock.
IMHO, those that "need" (#firstworldproblems ) a sub six second (0-60) SUV that weights 5500lbs better grab one of the biturbo V8s while you can.
I'm gonna bet that the next GL redesign (X168 in 2018?) will lose several hundred pounds of weight, lose true off-road capability, and include smaller more efficient engines all around. (All three go hand-in-hand.) And that's assuming that MB is even able to offer the V8 in 2016.
The fuel economy regulations in the USA are about to get much more stringent, and with the US as the largest market for the GL, there are gonna be major changes in the market. And this is not just a Mercedes issue, either.
Companies will still be able to offer monster fuel guzzling engines in very limited quantities, in theory, but they will have to be sold alongside "volume" versions with SIGNIFICANTLY improved economy to meet the minimum average.
Last edited by cadetdrivr; 11-23-2014 at 10:59 AM.
IMHO, those that "need" (#firstworldproblems ) a sub six second (0-60) SUV ...
Considering this is a Mercedes forum, I don't think there is a single person here that makes car purchasing decisions based on need. We would all be over on a Honda forum looking at posts regarding 10+ year old minivans if need was our MO.
Considering this is a Mercedes forum, I don't think there is a single person here that makes car purchasing decisions based on need. We would all be over on a Honda forum looking at posts regarding 10+ year old minivans if need was our MO.
2013 GL450 (traded for 2015 Escalade), 2012 Corvette, 2014 Ford Fusion, Previous: 2007 GL450, 2011
And then...... some of our "wants" are INCORORATED with our "needs".....such as i want the luxury, comfort, and size....but absolutely need the outstanding 4 wheel capability! .....love philosophical car talk!
MB seems to be trimming the refresh timelines a bit. 212 E-Class with 1st model year for the US market was 2010 and met with a significant refresh for 2014. The cycle was shortened a year for the CLS. I'm currently considering an SL550, and if MB follows the CLS timeline, the SL will be refreshed for the 2016 MY (US). Relative to this thread, the refresh schedules are a little less predictable than they once were.
The E facelift came as it usually would, after the 4th model year most MB sedans get a facelift, the E is no different. The CLS is more of a specialty car so it got a refresh after 3 model years. The SL is usually a 10 year car so I wouldn't look for a refresh for 2016 MY. If anything the SLK will get a facelift since test cars have been spotted for the SLK. The SL facelift hasn't even been spied yet.
I loooooove big block engines. I grew up on big V8s. My old man was a huge car buff. But let's face it... smaller engines are more potent than ever before. The V6 biturbo in the '15 GL450 is no wimp. I've test driven a '14 GL450. I do my homework and do an extensive test drive before I sink money on any car. If you can get past the sound of the V6 biturbo (I love the sound of V8s), one can appreciate the capability of this V6. The slight lack in torque is barely noticeable but it has plenty of power for what we (my wife mostly) use it for. 0-60 in 5.4 vs. 6.6 seconds is a nice feature to have but is it worth the extra $15k+? I suppose if you have $$$ just falling out of your pockets, it's no big deal. If the GL's optional adaptive suspension was more superior and made it a much better cornering SUV, perhaps spending extra wouldn't hurt as much. This feature definitely helps but it's not enough to make a GL550 or a GL63 into a very sporty SUV by any standards; it's just too BIG and heavy. We all buy the GL for different reason and for us, it is the best true 7 seat luxury SUV out there, combined with a nice balance of power, torque, and MPG.
I haven't driven a GL450 with the new V6 BiTurbo but the review that luv2sleep just gave is what I would expect from a MB engine. MB really has little choice but to explore such engines due to stricter fuel economy regulations going into effect in the US market. And since the GL450 represents the bulk of the sales for the GL line-up it makes sense MB would start there to explore more fuel-efficient engine choices. When they tackle a full refresh of the GLS in few more years, we may be surprised with all of the engine choices up and down the GL line-up.
IMHO, it looks like somebody quickly cobbled together a few different photos in photoshop to check a box so they would have an illustration for an article.
FWIW, MB released a "teaser" this week for future AMG models. Here's what appears to be the AMG version of the upcoming GLE 'Coupe' (or whatever it will be called):
This new model shares the platform with the ML and GL and will be built alongside them in Alabama and certainly looks more consistent with current MB design "language." It also appears fairly close to the concept version shown earlier.
Last edited by cadetdrivr; 11-29-2014 at 08:23 AM.
FWIW, MB released a "teaser" this week for future AMG models. Here's what appears to be the AMG version of the upcoming GLE 'Coupe' (or whatever it will be called):
This new model shares the platform with the ML and GL and will be built alongside them in Alabama and certainly looks more consistent with current MB design "language." It also appears fairly close to the concept version shown earlier.
Can you post the link to this picture? That is a very nice looking design.
Based upon that photo, there sure doesn't look to be a decent 3rd row. You can see the headrest of row 2. The gap from there to the back looks like storage, or a very small 3rd row. I'm with the photoshop theories with no basis to reality.
It has to be photoshop'd because there is no way MB would be driving around in a fully-exposed next-gen GLS. I removed the photo from my original post.
11-22-2014, 09:30 AM
) a sub six second (0-60) SUV that weights 5500lbs better grab one of the biturbo V8s while you can.
