2009 Mercedes-Benz GL320 BlueTEC (photos)
CNET Car Tech takes the Mercedes-Benz GL320 BlueTEC on the road to see how thrifty its diesel engine can be.
The long haul
We recently took the 2009 Mercedes-Benz GL320 BlueTEC from San Francisco to Los Angeles and back to see just how green the BlueTEC can be.
3.0-L BlueTEC
The GL320 is powered by a 3-liter turbodiesel V-6 which outputs 210 horsepower and generates 398 pound-feet of torque. That's more torque than the GL550's 5.4-liter gasoline V-8!
Fuel economy
While acceleration from a stop suffered slightly, the GL320 BlueTEC was able to top the EPA fuel economy estimate of 23 highway mpg.
Biodiesel friendly
The BlueTEC diesel engine is approved for use with B5 biodiesel fuel.
AdBlue injection
Up to 80 percent of NOx emissions are scrubbed thanks to the BlueTEC's AdBlue exhaust injection system.
Power liftgate
An optional power liftgate opens and closes at the touch of a button.
Third row seating
A third row of seats folds flat to increase storage space when carrying less than seven passengers.
Rear seat entertainment
Rear seat entertainment in handled by two seatback-mounted LCD screens.
Leather and wood appointed interior
The GL's leather trimmed interior isolates passengers from the outside world. The high seating position made us feel that we were sitting on top of a car, rather than inside of an SUV.
Power adjustable steering wheel
The power adjustable steering wheel features redundant controls for audio, helping users keep their attention on the road.
Information display
This monochrome LCD shows useful information such as current song, turn-by-turn directions, and fuel economy.
Suspension controls
At the base of the center stack sit the controls for the Adaptive Damping system, the Airmatic suspension (which increases ground clearance by 3 inches), and hill descent and off-road program modes.
COMAND-based navigation
The hard-drive based navigation system is quick and responsive, but the graphics pale in comparison to systems we've seen from Lexus. Additionally, the d-pad based COMAND system is a pain to use.
Traffic
Traffic data is beamed into the GL's navigation system, which shows incidents and congestion along your chosen route.
Advanced GPS options
The GPS system can display advanced information such as heading and latitude/longitude, but hides more basic information, such as time or distance to destination, under submenus.
Harmon/Kardon audio
The Harmon/Kardon audio system sounds fantastic in the GL's quiet cabin. Over the air audio sources include HD Radio and Sirius satellite radio, along with standard AM/FM tuning.
Audio sources
Users have multiple options for playing back their digital audio, including a six disc DVD/CD changer with MP3 playback, an SD card slot, 4GB of Music Register storage, plus USB/iPod connectivity.
iPod interface
Tucked in the glove compartment is the optional iPod interface cable, which shares a connection with the analog aux-input.
Logic7 surround sound
The Logic7 audio processing outputs sound in Dolby digital 5.1 surround.
Bluetooth hands free
The GL's Bluetooth hands-free system is easy to setup. We particularly like that it will automatically pull in your contacts.
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