Mercedes-Benz GL-Class review

Bearing down, you say? Surely that would be fanciful, given the sensible-shoes diesels we’re likely to get here in the UK? Well, you’d think so. But while Britain will get a fine 258bhp 3.0-litre V6 diesel (with smooth-running manners and a huge amount of torque), it will also get a 557bhp GL 63 AMG, that can hit 60 in under five seconds. How’s that for sheer contrast? Frankly terrifying pace for something approaching 3 tons.

Not that it corners with such nostril-flaring intensity. The emphasis here is very much on comfort. Even with the active chassis switched to Sport, it remains a big, wafty bus of a car, isolating you from the road beneath rather than pressing your face into it. Don’t worry, it doesn’t topple over at the sight of a corner, but it hardly attacks them with relish. Enjoy instead the way it brilliantly soaks up bumps and keeps you distant front the worst South London can throw at you.