If you thought that the new Mercedes-Benz GLE is not so comfortable leaving tarmac, you might want to reconsider.
The successor of the ML-Class veered of the main road for an off-road challenge, during which it had to tackle tarmac, grass, mud and water.
With off-road guide Gunther Holzmann behind the wheel, the GLE was taken on an 80 km (50-mile) long course through a valley in south Albania, on difficult terrain. It was a 10-hour drive, with the sea as final destination, proving that a vehicle in its class can take its occupants on a comfortable trip in the wilderness.
Almost noneGLE owner will ever dare something like this, but it’s interesting to see what Merc’s SUV can do without off-road tires, a winch or underbody protection.
The vehicle used here is the GLE 500e 4MATIC, a plug-in hybrid that uses a 338hp 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 and a 114hp electric motor, for a combined output of 436hp (442PS) and 479lb-ft (650Nm) of torque, sent to the four wheels via a 7G-tronic. Combined fuel consumption is 3.3L-3.7L/100km (71.3-63.6mpg US) and CO2 emissions vary between 78-84g/km.