Range-topping diesel SUV gets a fine engine and interior but not the driving dynamics to match
We’re now getting through the range of the fourth-generation Mercedes-Benz GLE (once known as M-Class), which brings us here to the most potent diesel-powered version you can buy. The GLE 400d uses a 2.9-litre straight-six turbodiesel producing 325bhp and a hefty 516lb ft. You can also get a lower-powered (268bhp) version of this engine in the 350d, plus an entry-level four-cylinder in the 300d with 242bhp. Whatever version you choose, power is sent to all four wheels through a nine-speed automatic gearbox. Elsewhere, the 400d is much the same as we already know. This new GLE is longer, wider and lower than the car before it and comes with the option of seven seats for the first time. It’s also a technological tour-de-force, with a high-tech, high-quality interior and just one trim ‘option’: AMG Line. Yet the GLE’s real party piece that we were so impressed by on its international launch, the clever E-Active suspension – which integrates a development of the Airmatic air suspension with a 48-volt electrical system and camera to scan the road ahead and individually prime each wheel – remains absent from the UK options list and therefore our test car.
Source: Autocar
