Car Auto Magazine

Forget about AMG—this thing is already the real deal.
BY ERIK JOHNSON, October 2007

In a world where everything from the E-class station wagon to my toaster oven has had a huge AMG engine foot-stomped into the space between its fenders, Mercedes-Benz has shown remarkable restraint in thus far refusing to AMG-ify the GL-class SUV. And with the release of this latest version, the muscular GL550, why would it? Besides, the wheels are from AMG. Isn’t that good enough?

Using the same delicious 5.5-liter V-8 that has wormed its way across the Mercedes-Benz lineup—here it makes 382 horsepower and 391 pound-feet of torque; it’s also found in the CLS550, E550, S550, and you-get-the-idea 550—this latest GL has some serious balls in its basket. This is one fast SUV. How does a best-in-class 5.9 seconds to 60 mph sound? If you’re still not impressed, consider that this mastodon-sized piece of hardware weighs in at a whopping 5569 pounds, roughly equivalent to the weight of the piles of gold bullion it requires to afford the $82,415 as-tested price.

Still snorting derisively from your armchair, sure that we’ve inhaled some Mercedes-scented smoke? Here’s one more performance figure to blow your mind: The GL achieved a 70-to-0-mph stopping distance of 165 feet. Kind of pedestrian for a sports car, but when you consider that it took the last Lotus Elise we tested just three fewer feet to achieve the same, uh, feat, you kind of start to look at the GL550 in a whole new light.