The new GLE is going to replace the ML-Class in India later this year, and will still retain its 250 and 350 CDI nomenclature for the two diesel engine variants. And yes that means the same engines, but we do get the new 9-speed auto gearbox that replaces the 7 speed. So of course it made sense to spend the bulk of my time with the new GLE family, in this - the GLE 250 CDI. The 250 will continue to give Mercedes-Benz India the bulk of its sales after all. At first glance the car looks almost exactly like the ML-250 CDI. The facelift is a minor one, with the bumpers, head and taillights and outside mirrors getting a reworking.
Step inside and it's a different story, as the GLE now tries harder to be the E-Class of SUVs. The cabin is very well finished, and looks more high end and plush than before. A lot of buyers in India are especially going to like that. But the 250 is naturally then fairly familiar territory under the hood, but now offers better torque at the low end. The engine has been retuned to fit the new transmission, and that shows up in making it come across as more refined than before.
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The car moves quickly enough given it is still fairly heavy, and the 250 is the smaller of the engines. The engine punches 204 bhp and has a very generous 500 Nm of torque. You do need to work the gears a bit to get it going at times, but for the most part it is an extremely comfortable and pleasant drive. The transmission drops gears quickly if you want quick access to power, and the long gearing gives you great cruising capability.
Mercedes-Benz claims more than cruising on this car, so we dropped off the motorway and onto some off-road terrain next. Here I switched cars and jumped into the 333 bhp GLE 400. Yes the petrol does instantly offer a different character. But I won't expand on that too much since this variant won't make it to our shores anyway. It was quite a superb track set up for us, and the rainy cloudy weather made it even more fun thanks to some slush and mud adding to things.
There is now a good product differentiation in this segment. Now if you look at the BMW X5 there is some sense of off-road capability but it's all about an urban activity and really more about performance. When you look at the recently launched second generation of the Audi Q7, its all about dynamics again, and very much the driving attributes on road. With the GLE, the conversation has gone smartly towards tough off-roading and, even though I know a lot of buyers are probably never going to venture far from tarmac. It is still a good differentiation nevertheless.
And yes in case you are wondering, the GLE took to the rather arduous track with a fair amount of ease. Nimble on upward and downward gradients, and also traversing the uneven surfaces and ditches with ease, it gave me a great chance to also check out all the features that you get with the off-road package. The car can gain height by as much as 90mm, has hill descent control, and lets you judge the terrain type and select the appropriate settings for throttle, suspension and engine performance. The car with me had the off-road package on it, but that won't be on offer in India most likely. Yet it was worth my time to check it out as it also points to the overall capability and build of the GLE.
In fact it is for similar reasons that I also drove the all-new GLE 500e earlier in the day. That is an all-new plugin hybrid variant that marries the 3-litre turbo V6 petrol to an electric motor to produce a combines 435 bhp! It has a pure electric range of about 30 kilometres, and I managed to squeeze out 37 kilometres on my drive! That is once again a variant that sadly won't make it to us, since it would have to be imported and then the price would cross the 1 crore mark. That is why I am have been most focussed on the 250 CDI.
The car will arrive around Diwali to clash with the new Audi Q7 that also arrives around the same time. Expect prices to climb marginally over the existing ML range.
