Auto Express – August 20, 2019

78 SpecialIssue

ROADTESTS MercedesGLEvsVolvoXC90

MODELTESTED:MercedesGLE 300 d4MATIC AMGLine 7-seat

PRICE:£57,380ENGINE:2.0-litre4cyl, 242bhp

WE’REtestingtheGLE300d,whilethewhole
rangeisonlyavailableinAMGLinetrim.In
seven-seatform(a£1,995extra),itcosts£57,380.

Design &

engineering

THElatestGLEis longerandwider
thanthepreviousversion,while
thewheelbasehasbeenstretched,
helpingtoboostlegroomintherear.
At4,930mmlongand2,018mmwide,this
isabigcar–yetit’sslightlymorecompactthan
itsrivalhere,becausetheXC90isevenlonger.
Adaptiveairsuspensionwasfittedtoourtest
car,whichwasanearlyproductionmodel,butit’s
actuallynotavailableonthe300d,whichcomes
withsteelsprings.TheXC90B5(D)isavailable
onairsuspension,butyou’llhavetopayextra
fortheoptionorgoforahighertrimlevel.
TheGLEusesanine-speedautomaticgearbox,
sendingpowerfromthe2.0-litrefour-cylinderdiesel
toallfourwheels.Themotorhas242bhp,alittle
morethantheVolvo’s232bhp,and500Nmoftorque.
AbigpartoftheGLE’sappealistheinterior,and
it’swithgoodreasonbecauseit’sluxuriousinside.
Materialqualityisveryhighandtherearesoft-touch
surfacesallaroundthecabin.TheXC90hasbeen
aroundwithonlyafewchangessince2015,andits
interiorisjustalittlelessmodern-lookingthan
theGLE’s,althoughqualityissimilar,sosomewill
prefertheSwedishcar’ssimpler,cleanerdesign.
Mercedes’latestinfotainmentsystem,MBUX,
iswhatmakestheGLE’sinteriorlookandfeelso
modern,andit’sstandardhere.Itfeaturestwo
12.3-inchdisplaysforthedialsandinfotainment,
whichmeansithasaveryhi-techfeel,andit’s
goodtouse.Standardkitisgreatandincludes
20-inchalloys,LEDlights,two-zoneclimate
control,heatedseats,blind-spotassistandAEB.

Driving

BOTHcarsusefour-cylinderdiesel
enginesandareevenlymatched,
despitetheVolvo’smild-hybridtech.
However,bothfour-potenginestendtorattleasyou
revthem,andevenalotofsoundproofingcan’tmask
thegrumble.Still,theyonlygrateathigherengine
speeds,andtheyworkfineinday-to-daydriving.
Inour0-60mphtests,theGLEmanagedatime
of7.4seconds,whichwas0.6secondsaheadofthe
lesspowerfulXC90,andtheMercwashalfasecond
fasterfrom30-70mphthroughthegearsaswell.
TheMercedeswasalsofasterinmostofour
in-geartests,becauseitssmooth-shiftingnine-
speedgearboxusesslightlyshorterratiosthan
theeight-speedboxintheVolvo.Forexample,
50-70mphinsixthgeartook6.3secondsintheGLE
and6.6secondsintheXC90.Victorywenttothe
Mercedesinour30-50mphtestsaswell,andthat’s
thankstoitshealthy500Nmoftorquefromjust
1,600rpm.Thismeansit’seasytodriveinarelaxed
way;youcanrelyonthatbigreserveofpulling
powersoyoudon’tnecessarilyhavetopushthe
enginethathard,especiallywhencruising.
Ourtestcar’sairsuspensiondidagoodjobof
keepinglumpsandbumpsoutofthecabin,butthe
GLEisn’tascontrolledorascomfortableastheXC90

Testers’ notes

“Bothmodelshaveamaximumtowingcapacity

of2,700kg,anditcostsjustover£1,000toadda

towbarineach.TheMerc’s£1,150Towingpackage

addssteeringassistforreversingwithatrailer.”

Sam NaylorSenior reviewer

onitsairpackage.However,high-speed

riderefinementandcomfortarefine.

Thesteeringweightisgood.There’snofeel,but

that’stobeexpected;atleastthesteeringmakesit

easytomanoeuvre,butit’snotaspreciseasthe

XC90’sathigherspeed.TheMercedesisquieter

thanitsrival,though,especiallyonthemotorway.

Practicality

THEhugedimensionsofthesemodels

meanthere’sloadsofinteriorspace;

that’sabigpartoftheappealofthesecars,

afterall.There’smorethanenoughroomin

thesecondrowfortalladultstositcomfortably,

andtherearelotsoflargestoragespaces.

However,inseven-seatform,theGLEis

compromised.Ifyouneedtocarryextrapassengers

theXC90isabetteroption,becausethere’smore

roominthethird-rowseats–andthey’reeasierto

getinto.TheGLE’srearmostseatsarequitecramped

andonlysmallchildrenwillfit.

Still,theMercedeshaslotsofbootspace;withthe

thirdrowfolded,there’s630litresavailable,which

iseasilybigenoughforafullfamily’ssuitcases.The

Volvoisbiggerstill,at680litres.Withallsevenseats

inuse,theGLE’sbootwilltakeonly130litres,while

theXC90’scanaccommodate302litres.

Ownership

OWNERSrankedMercedesapoor26th

placeinour2019customersatisfaction

survey.Volvotookamorerespectable13th,

whichshowstheSwedishbrand’scarsare

closertomatchingbuyers’expectations.

EuroNCAPrecentlytestedtheGLEandawarded

itafullfivestars,matchingtheXC90’sscore.The

Volvoisamongthesafestcarsontheroad,butone

areawheretheGLEbeatsitisthatblind-spotassist

isstandard,yetit’llcostyou£500aspartofthe

IntellisafeSurroundpackontheXC90.

Autonomousbrakingwithcollisionwarning

isstandardontheMercedes,whilethe£1,695

DrivingAssistancepackageaddsadaptivecruise

andmanyotheractivesafetysystems.

Running costs

THEVolvoB5(D)’smild-hybridtech

meantitwasmoreefficientontest.The

GLEreturned31.9mpg,whichequatesto

£2,256ayearinfuelcosts,whiletheXC90did

33.4mpg–that’s£2,154ayear.It’snotahuge

difference,butthefactthattheGLEwillcostour

exampledriver£901ayeartoinsureisaharder

pilltoswallow;they’llpayonly£725fortheXC90.

ȽȽ4L 4 L

score

3.9

ȿȿ4L 4 L

score

3.7

ȗȗ4L 4 L

score

4.1

ȼȼ4L 4 L

score

3.5

ȿȿ4L 4 L

score

3.7

Sa

MBUX brings awristrest,touchpad and shortcut buttons. It’s

afiddly arrangement, although the screen is touch-sensitive

MercedesGLE

Powerful diesel engine and ahigh-quality

Running costs

31.9mpg (ontest)

£112 fill-up/£465 or 37%tax

Practicality

Boot(7/5/2-seatmodes)

130/630/2,055 litres

!

Braking

70-0/60-0/30-0mph

49.7/33.7/11.2m

Performance

0-60mph/top speed

7.4seconds/140mph