German Car Zone

bmwrules · 06-06-2006, 06:06 PM

1st Place
2007 Mercedes-Benz GL450

Capable, comfortable, and enthusiastic, the GL450 makes an impressive, albeit pricey statement about the current state of teh SUV art. Note to product planners: It's time to make leather standard.

0-60 - 6.4
0-100 - 17.3
passing, 45-65 mph - 3.4
quarter mile - 14.8 sec @ 93.1 mph
braking 60-0 - 125 feet
600 foot slalom - 57.1 mph avg
Base price - $55,675
Tested price - $68,075
EPA city/highway economy - 14/18 mpg

2nd Place
2006 Land Rover LR3 HSE

An off-road legend that plays on pavement as well as any go-anywhere SUV can, it continues to prove that good things can indeed come in small packages. Needs a bit more muscle to match up the pair.

0-60 - 6.5
0-100 - N/A
passing, 45-65 mph - 5.2
quarter mile - 16.7 sec @ 82.1 mph
braking 60-0 - 121 feet
600 foot slalom - 50.1 mph avg - electronicly limited
Base price - $53,700
Tested price - $56,175
EPA city/highway economy - 14/18 mpg

3rd Place
2007 Caddilac Escalade AWD

The Blinginator returns in an even bigger and better way, but its head-turning presence can't offset some questionable packaging compromises for buyers who demand practicality over profile..

0-60 - 6.4
0-100 - 17.4
passing, 45-65 - mph 3.3
quarter mile - 14.9 sec @ 94 mph
braking 60-0 - 130 feet
600 foot slalom - 57.1 mph avg
Base price - $57,280
Tested price - $66,110
EPA city/highway economy - 13/19 mpg

From the end of the article.

Quote:

Depending on where your priorities lie for choosing an SUV that opens on the far side of $50K, any one of these three could well be a proper fit. For this confrontation, we put sophisticated on-road skills, three rows of useable seats, and lots of real-world utility on the front line, and came to an inevitable but far from overwhelming conclusion. Were off-road prowess to be more heavily weighted, the LR3 would've made a solid play for victory. Even in this face-off, it remains a paradigm of superb packaging that also offers an attractive mix of flexibility, comfort, and outstanding value.

Raising its visual profile, build quality, and sophistication beyond that of its successful forebear, the new Escalade also served notice that it'll remain an impact player, and one with even broader market appeal. In the end, its less-than-stellar interior space solutions left us feeling that bigger isn't always better.

That brings us to the equally new GL450. With its highly evolved powertrain, impressive dynamic envelope, and interior packaging capable of going head to head with anything that's available on the market, this new Mercedes-Benz simply worked its way to the top of the score sheets with a winning personality and all-around perfomance that more than offset any of its minor shortcomings.

As for the ability of any of these primo lifestylers to cope with the endless upward spiral of gasoline prices, (at almost four bucks a gallon), well, that's a story for another time.

bum-man · 06-06-2006, 06:26 PM

This is a good indication for the people that thought the V8 in the GL was too much of a slouch to be even compared to the Escalades 400hp. It was pretty muched equaled.

bmwrules · 06-06-2006, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bum-man

This is a good indication for the people that thought the V8 in the GL was too much of a slouch to be even compared to the Escalades 400hp. It was pretty muched equaled.

There are two good reasons that GL makes up the 68 horsepower difference. The GL's 7 speed transmission vs the Caddy's 6 speed and the GL weighs 309 pounds less than the Caddy.

go0gle · 06-06-2006, 10:22 PM

bmwrules · 06-07-2006, 07:17 AM

Thanks for the scans. My old parallel port scanner stopped working with XP service pack 1 and I've never replaced it. Otherwise I would've posted scans as well.

GTA8.5 · 06-07-2006, 03:27 PM

Interesting article, very informative. Glad to see the GL450 take the victory! obviously it is the best looking in this test imo.

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