Bay Harbour: September 16, 2020

Wednesday September 16 2020
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
BAY HARBOUR
PAGE 25
Family wagon with performance
MERCEDES-BENZ is certainly
covering all bases in the sport
utility vehicle market.
Its product line-up is extensive
and it’s still growing. The
company has just launched a
brand new range of SUVs – the
GLB series.
There are three variants in the
line-up – 200, 250 and 35, all
turbocharged. Put simply the
designations represent a 1.3-litre
variant at 120kW, and two 2-litre
variants at 165kW and 225kW
respectively, the latter essentially
utilise the same power plant but
with greater boost for the 35.
This evaluation surrounds the
250, it is priced at $92,900, the
200 and 35 list at $78,900 and
$104,900 respectively. These
prices are relatively familyfriendly;
sure it’s out of the
mainstream, but if you want
an SUV and are interested in
a premium brand, the GLB is
competitive.
The GLB series is very
traditional in its design, it’s a
seven-seater, albeit compact,
and it carries four-wheel-drive
mechanicals, well at least it does
in 250 and 35 form, the entrylevel
model is front-wheel-drive
only.
Powering the GLB are the
engines which have filtered
through other Mercedes-Benz
product. I’ve experienced the
250 engine many times before
and I have always commented
on its smooth, quiet operation;
it needs to be, there are a raft
of other four-cylinder, 2-litre
turbocharged engines on the
market and they are all refined,
the GLB’s unit is up to par and
lacks nothing, even in low power
form.
The 250 is also rated with
350Nm of torque, which is an
impressive and useful figure,
but if you are interested in more
bottom end grunt the 35 pumps
out an extra 50Nm.
I’d be comfortable with the
250, it’s no slouch when it comes
to performance, Mercedes-Benz
claims a 6.9sec run to 100km/h
and through the mid-range
it fairly hunts through an
overtaking manoeuvre taking just
4.7sec to make 120km/h from
80km/h.
These are good times for a
chunky SUV, the GLB weighs in
at 1721kg, so it’s no lightweight,
which reinforces how versatile and
honest the engine is, and if you
listen carefully you can just pick
that something exciting sits under
the bonnet, there’s a well-muffled
MERCEDES-BENZ GLB250: Sport utility vehicle available in
three levels.
exhaust throb when the engine is
under load.
The engine is also the fuelmiser
that modern turbocharging
techniques provide us with.
A combined cycle average of
7.7-litres per 100km is claimed.
During my time in the test car the
fuel usage readout was constantly
listing around 8.6l/100km with
an instantaneous readout of
6l/100km recorded at 100km/h in
eighth gear.
On the subject of fuel usage,
I must mention the display
graphics make saving fuel easy,
the fonts and colours are easy
to read and understand, and
their constant presence reminds
the driver to take it easy on the
throttle.
That’s part of a comprehensive
display graphic structure, a
wide panel stretches across the
dash area and it contains much
depth in terms of functionality
and detail. There’s also the
voice command system that
is being incorporated into all
Mercedes-Benz product. Say
“Hey Mercedes’’ and with further
prompts many of the operating
systems will be adjusted at your
beck and call.
On the road the GLB rides
beautifully, it doesn’t get air
suspension, but such is the quality
of the underpinnings I had to
keep constantly reminding myself
of that.
I took the test car west through
the Malvern Hills on one of my
favourite high country roads,
returning to the city via Hororata
and Burnham. The GLB is a
fabulous cruiser, it is superbly quiet
and, as mentioned, the suspension
affords a ride that doesn’t tax the
driver on a long journey.
As is traditional fare, the
GLB gets several dynamic drive
modes, I didn’t use either of the
sport modes other than just for
exploratory purposes, the
• Price – Mercedes-Benz
GLB250, $92,900
• Dimensions – Length,
4634mm; width, 1834mm;
height, 1658mm
• Configuration – Fourcylinder,
four-wheel-drive,
1991cc, 165kW, 350Nm,
eight-speed automatic.
• Performance –
0-100km/h, 6.9sec
• Fuel usage – 7.7l/100km
engine is feisty enough in
normal mode and is easily a
match for the role of a mid-size
SUV, and in true luxury car
fashion the entire driveline reeks
of refinement.
The GLB is also incredibly
well appointed, there’s nothing
you’d want for, and if you take
into account Mercedes-Benz’s
extensive list of options and
extras, then it can be tailormade
to suit each and every individual’s
requirements.
I can’t imagine that
Mercedes-Benz will be developing
another SUV any time soon;
however, I suspect another couple
of models will be added to the
GLB series as time goes on.
Mercedes-Benz is in a good
situation, SUV sales are showing
no signs of slowing, and even
though the market is tough due
to the coronavirus pandemic,
buyers are still looking for the
complete family wagon.
The GLB goes a long way to
address that.
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