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Question for those of you who use your GLS as more than pavement princesses. Nothing wrong with that, but this question isn't for you guys:
I live about 20 miles from the nearest paved road, and to those of you who drive your GLSs on other than pavement, how would you rate the car's ability to deal with say, unpaved dirt roads, muddy roads, snow, etc? I'm coming from an L405 Range Rover and an L663 Defender which are great for that task, but I'm starting to get tired of them. I realize the GLS is not even close to the off-roaders the Land Rovers are (no locking diffs, no two speed transfer case, etc), but I'm not looking at climbing Mt. Everest with it. Just using it to get home on unpaved roads. Yes, I know, I could look a the Gs, and while they're nice, they're just not my cup of tea. If I wanted another square SUV, I'd go with the OCTA.
I spend a lot of time traveling back roads in Colorado, especially during fall color times, and I have with two MLs, a GLE 450, a week in a GLE 350 loaner, and now my GLE 53.
For the most part this has been on all season tires.
I find them to be quite capable.
I use the Comfort setting most of the time, unless ground clearance will be an issue. If I'm worried about ground clearance, I use the trail setting, which gives another 2 or 3 in.
We participated in one and traveled several legendary passes around Ouray, Colorado.
I was so impressed with the performance off-road, that I sold my Land Cruiser.
It doesn't have locking differentials per se; instead it uses brake intervention, and does so seamlessly and unobtrusively.
It was fun to come across a group of Jeepers, studying the best way to approach an obstacle, and just ask him if we could "play through." And watch their snickers turn to looks of amazement.
Sometimes, just for fun, I travel to the nearby Range Rover dealer and drive their obstacle course. You know - the one where they they drive their cars to show off their capabilities. No problem there, either.
You will be fine. Passes covered at Star Trails
Edit: the GLS is longer, but it shouldn't affect back road driving.
And I don't know what packages have the "Trail" option.
I suppose that's long enough for the pavement princess Land Rover owners to say they've been off-road in their vehicles.
Only pass I've crossed in CO was Ptarmigan, in early March. Went from Camp Hale side all the way to the Vail I-70 rest area side of the pass and back. A bit of snow, but we made it. Didn't even have to put it in 4x4.
It's long enough for cross-camber, wheel-in-the-air demos. 100 yards in each direction. It has some extreme angles and is an impressive intro for passengers.
Ptarmigan Pass. I'll bet it was beautiful.
In March - I'd be checking the weather for sure.
Just did 80 miles on the Gold Belt Tour to Cripple Creek and back today. 5,000 ft up, 5,000 ft down, 5 1/2 hours. Some gnarly stretches, with all the flooding and rockslides this month.
Don't know if it's still an option, but our GLS has the optional off road package which includes a 2 speed transfer case and multiple off road drive programs. One thing I did notice and have used on wet boat ramps is the offroad+ mode to keep the center differential clutch engaged.
Don't know if it's still an option, but our GLS has the optional off road package which includes a 2 speed transfer case and multiple off road drive programs. One thing I did notice and have used on wet boat ramps is the offroad+ mode to keep the center differential clutch engaged.
We have it...I get mad at it every time I change the oil.....
Have you had SUV's that weren't up to the task with dirt roads? Are you testing the limits of the rovers? In my experience, doing a few miles of dirt roads at a time, the GLS suspension is comfy, the ride is quiet and I don't have issues getting where I'm going as fast as it makes sense to drive. Pretty cool if you get to drive something nastier than I'm driving.
I will note this, my old CLS63 picked up lots of rock chips on the rocker panels and behind the fronts wheels. I had PPF installed on most of the GLS and it turns out, it doesn't catch nearly as many rocks in the same areas.
Not testing the limits of my Rovers, I know when to quit. I live about 20 miles from the closest paved road. The Rovers are more than adequate for the job even in most of the winter except when we get some serious storms here. I'm just growing tired of the JLR brand.
I checked the weather, made sure there was lots and lots of snow. Wouldn't be as fun otherwise.
Beautiful. Jealous.
Since I went from a nine car garage to two, I don't have a set of mounted winters. (I used to keep 6 mounted sets of winters/summers for 3 cars, and M&S year-round on the pickup.
Since I do some track work, I only have All Seasons, and I've abandoned Nokian R3 SUVs, which were good for bumper-deep traction.
So I am, alas, not as Spur of the Moment when there may be fresh snow in the mountains. Neither my Dealer nor tire store stores off-season tires anymore. It's actually a dilemma I haven't solved. Now you have me rethinking ceiling mounted tire racks.
But, Wow - a plowed mountain roadway! I'll wager that Ptarmigan wasn't plowed all the way, though.
Edit: I keep hoping that someone will make All Weather tires in my size. Like Michelin Cross Climate 3 Sport or Nokian GRW5. Have GRW3's on the GLC and it's our "questionable weather" car.
One other thing to note, there are a few on this forum who are able to program the car and unlock various features. I think the off road setting and ride heights are one of them that you can add easily and inexpensively to any model. If I recall when I programmed mine I had the option of either off road or Sport + but not both. Think it was $100-200 and nothing like ECU tuning so no dealership worries.
We’ve had ours in about 12-18 inches of snow before. Raised it up with the “off road” setting, and it was tank, no issues whatsoever. Took the kids sledding. Never have taken it “off road” though, but it’s my wife’s car, she would kill me if it came back covered in mud. That said, we do own a couple of farms in NC and have taken out into the fields a couple of times. Avoided the deep mud ruts, but on wet somewhat soft ground in the fields, it did just fine.
I do like the MB 4Matic system. Can be somewhat temperamental on the diff’s, you have to maintain them, but the system is the best I’ve ever experienced in poor weather conditions. I had a 2014 E350 sedan for 7 years, 4Matic, and that thing was ungodly good in the worst of downpours at highway speeds. It was a “fixed” system, not complicated by any means. Always 60% to the rear, 40% to the front. In the snow, it was the greatest “drifter” I’ve ever enjoyed. You could drive that thing at a 45 degree angle straight down the road for miles if you wanted to, always in complete control. I miss it a bit… replaced it with a 2024 Bronco, which now makes the wife’s GLS feel like a minivan “which pisses her off every time I say that”..
Newer ones have the "invisible hood" that shows terrain beneath the front end. That would be useful too
Edit- it might be useful, but it's shown on the center screen I think, and I'd have to take my eyes off the terrain.
2021 GLS 450 & 23 GLS 450. Have a Holden Commodore, Jeep, truck, and more
I've been off pavement several times in Colorado, Texas, etc. Nothing crazy like in my built Jeep, but it was more than capable. I would pay attention to what wheel and tire package you get. I would also consider ppf on flares and other areas likely to get abuse.
As mentioned, I would not get the 23" wheels that mine came with, and I would not get the painted fender flares that I also have. The large AMG brakes limit how small of a wheel you can use, perhaps to 22" at the smallest. I looked into custom Vossen wheels, but even then, I could not get down to 20". The staggered 23" tires also do a lot of tramlining and may not be ideal for off-road. The smaller square setup is likely better off-road.
Mud flaps are another issue. If you've got the running boards, you can't install the mud flaps unless you drill into the running boards and some other things... the dealer didn't want to do it for me.
Mine has the Off-road mode, but unfortunately, it doesn't have the full off-road package.
One of my biggest gripes has been the lack of first and third-party accessories for the 2024 GLS 580. For the first year, the MBUSA accessory list for my vehicle was empty. It's taken careful consultation with the parts department to find even a few compatible accessories.
That led me to pick up the Bronco Raptor, which has amazing customization support, but none of the luxury that my wife wants.
If you order it from the start with an off-road build (I found mine on a lot across the country), then you should be able to get everything you need to be very capable off-road.
Mud flaps are another issue. If you've got the running boards, you can't install the mud flaps unless you drill into the running boards and some other things... the dealer didn't want to do it for me.
These mud flaps were recommended in another thread and they worked perfect for my GLS63 with running boards. Installed myself without removing anything. No drilling required. Fits perfect and easy to install. I have had them on for four months without issue.
@EleBest, do you know if the additional cost OffRoad package (430??) is just software, or is there additional mechanical hardware involved?
Sorry. Did not study the hardware differences yet. But off-road coding is really works according to my customer feed back: including sands mode and trail mode:
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