Had the new Mercedes-Benz GLB on test last week. The new compact SUV from the Mercedes stable has arrived in South Africa, and it’s about to redefine the versatile compact SUV market. The new GLB is the first Mercedes-Benz in the compact segment that is optionally available as a seven-seater, and is powered by completely updated four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines that offer a combination of fuel economy and performance.
The new GLB joins the Mercedes-Benz compact car family of the A-Class Hatch, A-Class Sedan, B-Class, CLA and the GLA. Since the first A-Class was launched in 1997, over seven million vehicles of this segment have already been delivered worldwide.
This is in line with the Global passion for SUV’s and more importantly, in SA, where it is the fastest growing segment.
Exterior Looks.
It is a butchy looking SUV with powerful proportions with short overhangs and off-road-oriented design, standard LED headlights, as well as 4MATIC all-wheel drive in the GLB 220d make the GLB a versatile SUV and a spacious family car.
Mercedes think that this SUV will speak to a new audience, that wants seven seats, but also want an affordable, premium car. It has got good space with a wheelbase of 2829 millimetres, the GLB is 10cm longer than the new BClass. The car is 4634 millimetres long, 1834 millimetres wide and 1658 millimetres high.
As a result, headroom in the first seat row is 1069 millimetres – an optimum in this segment. At 967 millimetres the effective legroom in the rear of the five-seater is at an especially comfortable level. The two optional additional individual seats can seat people up to 1.68m tall in comfort.
The boot compartment capacity of 570 to 1805 litres boasts the qualities of an estate car. The second row can be moved fore and aft, enabling the boot to be enlarged by up to 190 litres. Comfort details in the third row include two drinks holders between the seats as well as two stowage compartments with rubberised insert on the left and right in the load compartment trim, each housing a USB port. The seats can be lowered so that they are flush with the load compartment floor to extend the load compartment.
Cabin.
Driving assistance systems are drawn from the S-Class, with improved camera and radar systems that allow the GLB to see up to 500 metres ahead and drive in semi-automated mode in certain situations.
The MBUX infotainment system (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) offers powerful computer, brilliant screens and graphics, customisable presentation, full-colour head-up display, with optional navigation and augmented reality, learning software, and voice control activated with the prompt “Hey Mercedes”. The model we drove seemed to struggle with basic commands though.
Engines.
South Africans will be able to choose from the GLB 250 and the GLB 220 d 4MATIC. We drove the GLB 250, Which returned a combined fuel consumption 7.4-7.1 l/100 km, with combined CO2 emissions of 168 g/km. It produces 165kw & 350 Nm of torque. Front wheel drive meant that it got a bit nose happy on occasion. The car drove well with good acceleration and responsive throttle. Handled well in the bends, and was comfortable to drive.
Seating variability in detail:
Variability | Five-seater (Standard) | Seven-seater (Optional) |
First seat row | Folding front passenger seat (option) | |
Second seat row | Seat backrest with 40:20:40 folding split | |
Multi-stage seat backrest inclination adjustment | ||
Seat row can be moved fore and aft by 140 mm, seat with 40:60 split (option) | Seat row can be moved fore and aft by 140 mm, seat with 40:60 split (standard) | |
EASY-ENTRY function | ||
Third seat row | – | Two retractable bucket seats |
The models at a glance:
GLB 250 | GLB 220 d 4MATIC | ||
Transmission | 8G-DCT (automatic) | 8G-DCT (automatic) | |
Displacement | Cc | 1991/L4 | 1950/L4 |
Output | kW | 165 | 140 |
At | Rpm | 5500 | 3800 |
Peak torque | Nm | 350 | 400 |
at | Rpm | 1800-4000 | 1600-2600 |
Combined fuel consumption[1] | l/100 km | 7.4-7.1 | 5.4-5.1 |
Combined CO2 emissions[1] | g/km | 168 | 144 |
Acceleration 0-100 km/h | S | 6.9 | 7.6 |
Top speed | km/h | 236 | 217 |
Retail Price | R831 000 | R841 000 |