Let's face it - if you are spending nearly $100k on a vehicle, fuel economy is not going to be a deal breaker for you. Performance is by far your primary consideration. I love the power in my ML-550 and can never go back now. My only option to replace the vehicle in 3 years will be either an AMG or a gas/electric hybrid that offers arounf 500 or more HP. I will never be able to buy in to the "lower power for better fuel economy" ideal. Otherwise, I'd be driving a Prius.

Having said that, the new Tesla SUV looks intriguing! It will be loaded with an adjustable air suspension, etc. just no massage seats (sob!)

 

I respectfully disagree. Perhaps that's the case on the ML, but there are limited luxury SUVs that truly fit 7 passengers.

 

This.

If I truly only wanted silly 0-60 "performance" I would not buy a ML, GL, or any SUV for that matter.

 

By performance, I also meant ride quality, agility, smoothness of operation and quality of experience. After driving Escalades for >10 years, I was astonished at the quality of the ML550 when I first drove one. Were Escalades fuel efficient? They transported more people and stuff than 2 vehicles, so it is a matter of perspective. I suppose that one could say the same of the GL. One could use MPG, but more accurate would be "APG" or accomplishments per gallon. Fuel efficiency is unfortunately arbitrarily defined and not connected to reality as much as to special interest lobby group expediency.

 

I would argue that today fuel economy is part of performance. Yes if you spend over 100k on a vehicle then saving a few dollars on fuel is not the goal. But you do want a vehicle that 'performs' in the broader sense and fuel economy, or at least fuel efficiency, is today an important ingredient of performance.

 

I agree. There is no good reason to NOT waste fuel. Granted, I have no intention of driving a smaller vehicle, and I believe I should enjoy the wonderful suite of features brought forth in the GL. I would not be adverse to not wasting money on excessive fuel bills. Personally, I do believe that they could do better with fuel economy, but I do understand the complexities of doing so.

By the way, about 50% of the time I ride my bicycle to work doing about 35 miles. When averaging out the cycling with driving, I do pretty well in my level of fuel efficiency. :-)

I just corrected this post due to me not proofing it before. So, sorry about that...

 

The main downside of the current trend to better mileage/lighter vehicles is they tend to do worse in crashes. Studies show (and basic physics) that heavier vehicles are better for survivability. That's one of the reasons I wanted a heavy SUV and also even chose to add certain options like the offroad pkg that add an extra few hundred lbs. Hopefully the next gen GL won't lose too much weight. In this price range of vehicle I significantly prefer greater safety vs. a couple of extra mpg.

 

Weight (mass) is nice, but so is engineering.

Here's a classic youtube video of two vehicles that weigh approximately the same ---but engineered to extremely different standards--- in a frontal collision:


I'm confident that MB can take some significant weight out of the next-gen GL but retain (or improve upon) the current GL's safety capabilities using advanced materials and judicious engineering.

 

I absolutely agree. Many manufactures base much of their credibility on crash protection. Volvo for one. Even the SMART car has a crash cage. Though I would not want to run it into a GL at any speed. ;-)

 

AMEN! Smart car....maybe...person who buys one? Unless they are are a complete urbanite OR live in Rome!

 

Great video....feally shows what the engineering boys have been able to do!!

 

The upcoming face lift version of the GL is the one implementation of the tablet-like Nav screen that I like.

 

Is it different from the recent photos we're seeing?

 

I do have to add that is sooooo sad to see them do that with a highly collectable car....the 59 Chevy was one of the icons of the "fins era!"

 

Well, my dad just took delivery of a 2015i Escalade ESV. It's got the HUD, LCD DIC, wireless cell charging, hands free lift gate, and 4G LTE. It just made my 2015 GL550 look bad.


Question, when are they going to change the image of the 350/450 from the DIC to a 550 image? Just looking at that every time I start my car or when my lane keeping assist activates is weird and doesn't fit the 550. Does anyone with 550s think the same?

 

You wanna know what is hilarious?

I own a 2014 GL 550 and a 2013 SMART passion!

I drive both cars, and they are for different needs. When I need to go into different neighborhoods or meet different people, I drive different cars. I have multiple businesses and they are in different socio-economical zones of the city. The GL is usually when I need to go meet up with people who are affluent or value good vehicles or golf clubs or high-end malls and such where they stare at you from head to toe before deciding how to engage with you. Or, big grocery runs at costco and the alike.

The Smart car is used to zip through the city where parking is scarce and where people won't be intimidated by the presence of a large GL, or when I go on regular checkups of what my employees are doing in the lesser economic zones. Or for people who are perceived as to value being Green.

But, preference wise, I would try my best to convince myself to drive a GL on the freeway/highway and smart car when I'm only driving in local roads no more than 40mph. It has been more GL than smart, but hope that starts to change soon as even the oil prices are telling me to drive the GL more. LMAO

 

Sure, your dads Timex will keep good time but wouldn't you rather be wearing your Rolex?

 

I drove the ESV as well as the corporate cousins. As a 4 time owner of Escalades I can say it doesn't hold a candle next to the GL. It's really a shame. They had so much time to come up with a better product. I'm guessing they never even sat in a GL or RR. The GM SUVs drive like bricks. I also drove the GMC Sierra pickup and I couldn't believe it drove so much smoother than the new slades.

 

Well that depends. One day I can use a Timex, then another day I will use a Rolex. I don't know about the watch that is like a Hummer, but when I feel like I need something heavy duty, I will go with the Hummer watch.

Comparing the GL550 and the ESV, the GL550 is like a rocket with those turbos. The ESV is just a family hauler/ limo.


Not sure if I got it right.


What year ESV did you drive?

Yeah Escalades have some issues. Keep in mind though, the Escalade are body on frame, truck based SUVs.

The new 2015i have surround cameras like the GL550, but camera on the Escalade has bad resolution even though it was just introduced. The GL550 give clearer images. The GL refresh should have some HUD, Full LCD DIC, and wireless charging. I would mostly use the HUD and LCD DIC. Also it would be nice to have some captain seats in the middle row rather than bench so that the middle passenger can recline like in the S-Class.

The Escalade suspension is a Magnetic suspension which is cool, but still need some updates because it got some vibration issues. GL Airmatic suspension makes it very smooth to drive and works well with the 21 inch rims.

The issue with Escalade is that there only one engine option, where as the GL has 4 engine options that go well with the 4 trims. They introduced the Platinum, but to be real, there is no difference between the Platinum and the Premium, except interior wise. Cadillac should have tune the HP up on the Platinum, which they didn't. The GL63 is like the platinum, at least MB got that right and I will give them credit for that.

So far, my GL550 is great and convenient for me to drive. Even park way easier than the ESV, even though I like the ESV.


Anyways, Merry Christmas everyone!

 

I fully agree with the way the navigation display screen is positioned in the top photo. Firstly, it raises the screen as high as it can go without obstructing driver's view to the outside and the screen is set a little closer to the user. Secondly, I think it looks great that way even if it could be mistaken for an aftermarket setup.


I very much dislike the more common setup where the instrument cluster binnacle is stretched to the centre of the car to position the display high enough yet integrated.

 

Didn't realise this post was 5 pages long! I did my Quick reply at the end of the first page so it is misplaced.


Anyway, having read page 5 now I'd remark that based on styling alone the Escalade holds absolutely NO attraction for me and imo the next really big advance in motoring technology is the autonomous driving vehicle and GM has achieved very little so far in this respect. If possible, I'd like to get a diesel GLE (new ML?) two or three years from now.

 

You can see the new Nav display in this spy photo:

 

I had an '05 EXT, '08 ESV, '10 Regular and a '10 ESV Platinum. I had the regular one for 9 months and got rid of it. I couldn't believe how much worse it drove, got the same gas mileage and had so much less storage. Traded it in on the 2010 ESV. I've also had various Denalis, Tahoes and Avalanches.

I test drove a 15 Yukon XL, a 15 Denali XL, 15 Sierra and 15 ESV.

The 15 Sierra drove the best out of all of them. GM has not adapted the magnetic suspension well to these trucks. My 2008 ESV was certainly a smoother riding truck.

I couldn't get the wireless charging to work with my iPhone 6- and the dealer was of no help.

I also couldn't believe how much they killed the storage area by raising the floor for the third row. GM needs to get out of the 80's and dump the rear solid axle. Ford did and proved an independent can take the weight.

I really wish they still made the Avalanche. It was the most versatile truck I've ever had- I'd get one in a heartbeat just to have around...

 

A stock iphone 6 doesn't have wireless charging ability......

 

Yeah, I had a feeling it wouldn't work but I figured I would try it out...