GLS 580 on Safari: Taking the Long Way Home in the S-Class of Sport Utes

GLS shouts confidence and intelligence like little else can

The new Mercedes-Benz GLS 580 shouts confidence and intelligence like little else on the road. That striking, upright Mercedes grille and distinctive headlamp design leads to an imposing is slab-sided profile. Maybe it should be a little more differentiated as more special than its minions, but it’s sheer size clearly sets GLS apart anyway. It gets a little busier further back thanks to a powerful haunch muscle that extends around to caress the taillights.

All of which makes an imperious poise on the road. That much is clear by how graciously even truck traffic moves over as you approach from behind, allowing you to effortlessly power on by. Beyond those Towns of Gold, the N12 takes to the vast plains of the Western Highveld.

With the traffic all but gone, it was time to revel in GLS 580’s all-new electrified 483 hp 516 lb-ft four litre biturbo petrol V8. Benefiting an integrated 48-volt starter-generator for the first time for an additional 21 hp and 185 lb-ft ‘EQ Boost’ on demand, I was impressed to note that we could quite happily manage the 580’s claimed combined fuel consumption at around 18 mpg. Running on cruise control much of the time, it has huge grunt when you need it and I was loving the trip.

Into the Desert, GLS 580 Just Got Better and Better

We soon breached the Vaal River and headed to a different mining town. 350 miles down the road, we drove through Kimberley past the Big Hole. Neither pretty or easy to navigate, it’s still the most significant diamond town in the world today. Beyond Kimberley, the scenery started to change as we headed toward the semi-desert of the Northern Karoo.

GLS 580 showed off its 9G-Tronic automatic gearbox on those open plains. Its broad spread of ratios brings a perceptible reduction in engine speed to benefit both ride comfort and efficiency. And it’s backed up by an excellent 0.32 cd aerodynamics for its segment. Quiet and serene on the road, we were left to stream music as radio reception became, well challenged out there.

Just before Hopetown, we turned off the main road and headed onto the smooth dirt toward our first night’s accommodation on the banks of the Orange River. It’s only once you leave the asphalt that you start to appreciate the true strengths of this car. GLS 580 comes standard with Airmatic air suspension system and Adaptive Damping System Plus. It adapts to prevalent road conditions to ensure ultimate ride comfort while maintaining a level tack, regardless of the load on board.

More than Just a Little Propaganda

Now that sounds like a fine piece of propaganda, but on those often corrugated dirt roads that tend toward the sandy, the big GLS basically negates all that. It delivers a sublime ride, whatever the conditions.

Our directions brought us to a farm gate where Innocent awaited to guide us to our riverside lodgings. I knew we’d come in the right car — Innocent was armed with a Land Cruiser truck.

He needed it as much as we did the GLS 580, which once again made even that venerable Cruiser seem to struggle as we traversed some quite challenging tracks. Unlike the ‘Cruiser and most other 4x4s in which you feel like you’re falling off the earth in more extreme challenges, the GLS drives across it all just as well as it does on the freeway…

It was all well worth it though. Our little river lodge looked out west to the sunset which was soon followed by the sickle moon chasing romantic Saturn and Jupiter down over the horizon. The end of a perfect first day’s travel.