blittle

Well....after 800 miles ( some of it in rain, dark, snow, and , one lane mud road as well as interstate ) here's what I have learned: no rattles, squeaks or unusual noises, intelligent headlight system is fantastic, distronic plus is fantastic, the crosswind stablization program really does work! Upon acceleration.... the shift points on the transmission are sooner and more "obvious" on this model as compared to the previous gen. but I like that.....you feel and hear the beast accelerating, it "growls!" The performance on a one lane spring thaw mud road for 3 miles was great....the traction system did its thing flawlessly. Did not get a chance to really use the "snow" program on the Off Road Pack. Fuel consumption: I played with this for quite a while ( using the onboard computer )..... trying to determine the "optimum" point given the practical and sensible driving conditions here in the Northeast ( no speed limits higher than 65 ) What I found was: you can easily get 23 plus if you cruise consistently at 55, (not practical or sensible ) I was trying to find the highest speed attainable and still be able to hold at 20mpg or better. What I found was ( using the distrionic to maintain a set speed ) that 73mph is the sweet spot...able to average 20.3 mpg and not exceed 2000rpm. Once you move above 2000 rpm ( move the speed up to 80 and you are at 2200 rpm ) the consumption begins to rise considerably and brings your trip average down 18-19. 65mph brings the rpms down to 1800 and the mileage runs a nice 21 but at 65 on the northeast interstates puts you "in the way" as most are running 70 or 75 so thats not real practical. By the way, the ride at 80 is very nice and control is great.....highly conducive to a ticket however in the state of NY.... ( $700 fine and points!) Thats the story......

JoeMa

Thanks for the info, very informative. It is true that slowing down a little saves fuel. I use to travel the PA Turn Pike regularly and found the same was true in my case. If slowed to 60 or 65 (which is slow on the Turn Pike), my fuel economy increased.

We're all in too big of a hurry these days.

JoeMa

I just noticed this is your 3rd GL. How does the new GL compare to the previous model? Is there anything you miss that was part of previous design that wasn't brought forward?

blittle

Well....there are two things that were on the original 2007 model that I liked: specific cornering lights and ( included in the original off-road package ) the ability to lock both the center and rear differentials. The cornering lights were gone from the 2011 but you could still lock the diffs. (only ever had to do that once ). Everything else is a leap ahead.....and well worth giving up the two items that i did.

JimBarnhart

I also miss the 12V charge plug under the front passenger seat, and the button to push to clean the headlights.

blittle

YES! forgot those guys! Really ..... why did they take away the "do it yourself" headlight wash????

JimBarnhart

I'm not sure, but I know it was fun to scare the heck out of someone when they walked in front of your car.

Joyride

That's funny

ssp997

I have a 2012 gl350 and it doesn't have the button to do it yourself headlight wash. it does it automatically after activating the windshield wash 5 times, and if the headlights are on (sucks). but the 12v plug is still there. its a hybrid!!!