When the Mercedes Benz m class premiered back in 1997, high-end SUVs were more of a "wait, what?" sort of matter than an idea whose time had come. Lincoln had only introduced the Navigator, while the Cadillac Escalade as well as the BMW X-5 were still incubating. Range Rovers had been around, but here in the US, they certainly were were recognized less for their swagger than for their gloomy reliability record. Extravagance was a sedan matter. Who'd desire a high-end SUV?

Certainly, the Alabama-created m class has shown a rewarding effort, Mercedesbenz boasting of some 1.6 million offered over the past 18 years. Now, the Mercedes SUV family has exploded to include three more versions, as well as the long-functioning and iconic Gclass, prompting a fresh identifying scheme to slice the the acronym mess. Thus, the m class is now the GLEclass, the better to align it to a recognized sedan counterpart, the eclass. The swop coincides with all the crossover's mid-cycle refresh, which likewise finds it add a fresh plugin hybrid vehicle as well as a "coupe" counterpart (coated individually) to accept the BMW X6.

The outdoor upgrade is subtle yet powerful. The borders are sanded off most of the frontend components, as well as the taillamps are redesigned, bringing the entire vehicle more consistent with all the remaining Benz family. The the inner update is somewhat more important, mainly because the upgraded COMAND system puts the handle dial under a touchpad, a manhunter 2015 c class, while a big display screen stands conspicuously between two giant air ports. The remaining dashboard as well as the door panels are unchanged, but between the newest upper-dashboard parts as well as the sumptuous stuff, the cottage looks and feels more up-scale than any mclass version's actually did.

The GLE is going to be offered in no less than five variations in the US--the gasoline-run GLE350 and GLE400 designs, the GLE300d, the new GLE550e plugin hybrid vehicle (ZEV states only), and the stonkin' 550- and 577-hp GLE63 AMG designs. Sadly, our short drive time during the Austrian mountains was restricted to the GLE250d diesel (the title of the GLE300d in other markets) as well as the GLE550e plugin hybrid vehicle.

A Recognizable Diesel

Our first impressions indicate that, in terms of the diesel-run GLE is worried, every thing we experienced when we examined the ML250 Bluetec several months past carries over. The torquey four-cylinder, which generates 201 hp and 369 lb-feet, feels faster compared to specifications indicate--we observed an 8.3-second