Mercedes GL500 (2006) CAR review

And so this is the new G-wagen?

No. The old military/agricultural G-class will be with us until at least 2010. The GL is, like the G, a whopping off-roader, but it’s also a luxury bus with five or seven seats. In part it's aimed at US monsters like the Cadillac Escalade, but it will go on sale in the UK in September in right-hand drive, priced from around £44,000. There's no confirmation yet on exactly what Britain will get, but the full range consists of two diesels (the V6 GL320 and V8 GL420) and two petrol V8s. The GL500 has the 5.5-litre engine that debuted in the latest S-class, but there's also an entirely new engine, the 4.6-litre 32-valver in the GL450.

What's the engine like?

It's good, and it comes with Merc's seven-speed automatic, which you can control using steering wheel buttons, but it's not economical. The official figure is 21mpg, but in our three days with the car in the US (where it's built) we averaged 14mpg. It's very heavy, at around 2400kg.