Mumbai: At 760Nm, the 5.5 litre biturbo AMG V8 makes 70 more torques than a V12-engined Lamborghini Aventador. We’re talking serious muscle here. And the 7-speed AMG Speedshift 2 gearbox appears to be made out of bits of granite and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But the weird part is that Mercedes-AMG has installed this monumental firepower under the hood of their GL-Class SUV. On paper, this should be as dangerous as giving an RPG to an enraged gorilla because high-performance and big SUVs go together as well as, RPGs and enraged gorillas.
You see, the GL is meant to ferry seven people about in great comfort and luxury over just about any terrain. That’s its purpose. Where does a 552bhp AMG tuned V8 fit into that?
For starters, you can feel its presence. Sitting that high up in a car that big, with that engine burbling all the time is a bigger ego trip than the Queen bowing for you. The holier-than-thou factor here is higher than I’ve ever experienced before. And here’s the other weird part.
As you sit in your GL watching people scampering out of your way, you’ll realise that this blunderbuss is no harder to drive than the diesel GL. The throttle has plenty of delay so even the most lead-footed driver can potter around in city traffic and not worry about all that power being unleashed en route to a tree.
The fact that it can shut off four out of eight cylinders, when you don’t need the power has a lot to do with this as well. This makes it all the more ego-trippy — being so convincingly in control of
all that power.
We’ve already brought you a comprehensive off-report on the diesel GL, so we’ll skip that bit in the interest of finding out what Affalterbach’s largest monster is like on the road — it’s hilarious, that is what it is.
When you step into the distinctly non-AMG cabin, you don’t expect that this leviathan can crack 100kmph in less than five seconds. But it can. And it just keeps on piling on the power like a boxer bludgeoning his opponent to death.
And don’t worry about the corners. AMG’s boffins have ensured that there are various traction management systems to keep you on the road.
This is actually an SUV that you can punt into corners with a vague certainty that you’ll come out alive on the other side. The four-wheel-drive system is setup to understeer in comfort mode which is good because most drivers don’t know what to do when the tail kicks out.
The body roll has been managed very well considering it weighs as much as the country it was made in. The only time you’ll feel this weight is while braking. It stops alright, but not before dislodging some of your vital organs.
All in all, I can sort of see the point of this car. It’s big, imposing, insanely powerful and very, very loud. It is all of these things while being no more difficult to drive than a shopping cart. It’s like Tony Soprano who can do a hundred-metre sprint as well.
I could almost conceive of having one because it is a billion times better looking than the Porsche Cayenne. And more powerful.
