With a big tablet, brand new engines and high-tech suspension, the all-new Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class is getting close to its official debut. But the official unveiling won't present too many surprises, as our latest spyshots show the SUV nearly completely uncamouflaged.
The GLE is the bread-and-butter SUV for the American car market, competing with giants like the BMW X5 and Volvo XC90. It's base on a brand new platform, which will be shared with the GLS II.
The balance between luxury and sportiness heavily tips towards the latter with this Benz. This looks like it's the AMG Line, combining a regular engine with the bolder grille design, most of which is just for show.
White a good color on for refrigerators and other appliances? Not in the least bit. It's extremely popular, especially on high-end cars or in the Middle East. The GLE needs to pull this look off, and it does so with the help of a black accent pack.
As we've mentioned several times, Mercedes has begun transitioning to inline-6 engines. These offer not only more power, but also variety. For example, where the old V6 diesel only really had one configuration, there's now three of them.
Even four-cylinder units are going to be available, which is hardly surprising when you consider the current GLE 250 d pushes is 204 HP from a 2.1-liter. In its place, we're going to see a twin-turbo unit with a more substantial 245 HP. Meanwhile, the 299 HP GLE 350 will compete directly with the popular Volvo XC90 T5 and T6.
If we had to guess, we'd say this is something along the lines of the GLE 450 they showed at the press event. Of course, not only model will have that crazy bouncing air suspension system, but it certainly sets this apart from all the other SUVs in this segment.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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