2017 Mercedes-Benz GLS: First Drive

Mercedes’ largest SUV gets a makeover that’s more than skin deep.

What it is: 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLS

Price Range: To be announced but expect it to be around the same price as the current GL – about $65,000 and up

Competitors: Land Rover Range Rover, Audi Q7, Lexus GX and LX, Infiniti QX80

Alternatives: Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln Navigator

Pros: Plenty of legroom for seven adult passengers, ample room for luggage (with the third-row seat folded down) a luxurious interior and good looks on the road.

Cons: A larger package means there’s a lot more vehicle to wheel around and on steep, wet, fog-wrapped roads.

Would I Buy It With My Own Money: If I needed to haul a soccer team in a luxury vehicle that looked good and didn’t break a sweat doing it, I’d buy it.

Time takes its pound of flesh from everyone. Butts sag, jowls wobble, bellies bubble over their beltlines, and while we are all flesh and bone, sometimes we feel compelled for help in fighting gravity’s pull. It’s as true for humans as it is for automobiles and the 2017 Mercedes-Benz full-size SUV has just undergone the equivalent of an Extreme Makeover—one that did not end in tears and terrible sweaters.

Previously known as the GL, the seven-seater has been upgraded to become the GLS, aligning it with Mercedes top-level sedan, the S-Class, even though the GLS builds from a stretched version of the smaller GLE platform. Back in 2006 when the first GL hit the market, the large-size SUV quickly became one of the German automaker’s most popular vehicles, selling nearly 20,000 units in its first year, and more than 26,000 last year.

Updates for the 2017 GLS includes more powerful engines paired with new transmissions. The “entry” level GLS 450 carries over the 3-liter twin-turbo V-6 rated at 362 horsepower and 369 lb.ft of torque. The GLS 550 gets a 4.7-liter twin-turbo V-8 and a power increase of 20 horsepower to 449 hp and 516 ft-lb of torque. The top-of-the-line AMG GLS63 gets an AMG 5.5-liter twin turbo V-8 that makes 577 hp and 561 lb-ft of torque, up 27 hp from its predecessor. In addition, Mercedes will offer a diesel version in the form of a GLS350d that makes 225 hp and 457 lb-ft of torque.

The GLS450, GLS550 and GLS350d all get the new 9-speed automatic transmission called 9Gtronic, while the AMG GLS63 gets the AMG Speedshift Plus 7 speed transmission. All models will come equipped with Mercedes’ all-wheel drive system and an updated version of the air suspension system it uses on its SUVs. Mercedes claims that the new combination of lighter engines and nine-speed gearbox makes the new GLS more fuel efficient across the entire range.