What you need to know about Mercedes-Benz's new GL550: There are no plans for an even more powerful AMG version ofthis seven-passenger SUV. Next need-to-know: The GL550 grille's three-pointed star is Mercedes's biggest ever, saveperhaps for those on Mercedes buses and semis and Unimogs. Can't wait to see how one looks around 50 Cent's neck.
Mercedes unabashedly targets the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator with the North America-only GL550, even asCadillac tries to compete with Mercedes's passenger cars. This is that model's flagship, complementing the GL320CDIand GL450, neither of which gets the 550's dog-dish-size emblem or enlarged grille. Those are 21-inch five-spokeAMGs, just one inch shy of the 'Slade's optional wheels under fender flares unique to the 550, but infinitely moretasteful.
The GL550 also comes with chrome roof rails and beltline molding, dual-split exhausts, skidplates, chrome load-sillprotection, full-leather interior with a wood and leather steering wheel (all-leather if you choose the no-costheated-rim option), heated front seats, rearview camera, ambient lighting, and, shared with the ML550, blue glass(not shown on either photography model).
ML550
The ML550 replaces the ML500, with more subtle visual upgrades. Its exclusive features include all-season tires on 19-inch five-spoke AMG wheels, projector-beam foglights, AMG rear bumper, square dual-exhaust pipes, standardsunroof, and aluminum, rubber-studded runningboards.
As on the outgoing ML500, the 550 further distinguishes itself from the ML320 with a chrome grille instead of a black one. Mercedes says that, with the added equipment, the ML550 represents a 6.1-percent-better value than theML500.
Both ML and GL550 benefit from 382 horsepower and 391 pound-feet, the torque peaking from 2800 to 4800 rpm, with similar fuel economy to the 335-horsepower, 4.6-liter V-8 GL and defunct 306-horsepower, 5.0-liter 24-valve M-Class.This is a right-size engine for the GL. It offers strong, linear acceleration without the neck-snap of an AMG model, but also with no hesitation. It does our 2007 Sport/Utility of the Year proud.
The GL550 is much more firm and agile than any Escalade or Navigator, although the test-drive route included fairly smooth New England country roads. The 21s felt as if they could make the sport/utility just a bit too firm onrougher tarmac. Even so, this engine/trim package is just what the GL needs-a bit more presence and authoritative power, albeit with unimpressive fuel mileage. The smaller, tighter ML550 feels quick and downright spry with the newengine, while in a less-practical SUV package than the GL's. It takes a back-to-back drive to remind you that the ML is a much smaller SUV, sharing only the A-pillar and front doors as far as sheetmetal goes.
Mercedes has suffered deserved criticism for spreading its AMG line through too many models, and the ML63 is a prime example. The ML550 is all the hot rod the M-Class needs to be, and it's a good argument for paring down the AMG linejust a bit further.
LSR
Like the hardtop on the market for nearly four years, Mercedes-Benz's new SLR McLaren Roadster is capable of 207 mph. At that speed with the cloth convertible top lowered, you'll want to wear a helmet, not a hat or toupe'. Lighten up on the throttle a bit, and driver and passenger can converse at speeds well over 120 mph with the top down, Mercedes says. The Roadster, on sale in the U.S. this fall, comes with the SLR coupe's 617-horsepower, 575 pound-foot supercharged 5.5-liter AMG V-8, front-mid mounted and coupled to an AMG Speedshift R five-speed automatic.
The cloth top works this way: just unlock it from the header - there's an aluminum piece at the front of the top -- raise it briefly, and the mechanicals take over and fold it for you. It goes up or down in less than 10 seconds, Mercedes claims. The top is available in three colors and the car has two fixed rollbars.
The Roadster's goodies otherwise match that of the SLR coupe, with a carbon-fiber body styled with an arrow-shaped nose like the McLaren-Mercedes Formula One cars, lateral louvers, side pipes behind the front wheels, wide-opening gullwing doors, airbrake in the trunk lid and diffuser in the rear bumper.
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The first question always asked an automaker about a concept like this is "Will you build it?" Mercedes-Benz is calling its S600-based Ocean Drive convertible a "one-off special." But following the appearance of the ASC-developed Chrysler 300C Helios at the Detroit show two years back and the Peugeot 407 Macarena with folding steel roof by Heuliez shown at Geneva, it's surely only a question of time before someone builds a four-door convertible that recalls the grand phaetons of the 1920s or 1930s, or even the iconic 1961 to 1967 Lincoln Continental.
Chrysler's plans to market a four-door hardtop convertible based on the next-generation 300, circa 2010, have reportedly been scrubbed, and the Macarena was basically a showcase for Heuliez's engineering skills. But the Ocean Drive could be the car that kickstarts the emerging four-door convertible trend into a production reality, for the simple reason that it'd be easier to absorb the considerable engineering costs in a vehicle with an already high price tag.
Besides, with rivals BMW and VW showing new ultra-high-end two-door convertibles-the new Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe and the Bentley Continental GTC-corporate egos in Stuttgart, already bruised by the relative failure of Maybach, would demand that Germany's premier automaker go one better and build a four-door soft-top.
The Ocean Drive in detail
Based on the long-wheelbase (124.6-inch) S600, with a 510-horsepower, 5.5-liter SOHC V-12.
An "innovative" softtop mechanism designed for quick opening and closing times.
AIRSCARF neck-level heating system first offered in the current-generation SLK convertible.
No B-pillar or window frames for an old-fashioned, seamless profile.
Large bird's-eye maple trim panels inside and on the softtop compartment cover.
Special grille and headlamps and taillamp treatment, which hints at a mid-cycle S-Class facelift.
