The good, the bad and the ugly....
Discussion
Well then, after a couple of years away from Mercedes sampling the utter sh!tness of Audi reliability (in an R8)...followed by the wonders of Porsche perfection (911, Cayenne, Macan and briefly 718 Boxster....but the less said about the 718 the better), I find myself in the tricky situation of having twins on the way. f
k!
I've therefore acquired one of the most preposterous family wagons I could and what is clearly Mercedes' most desirable model....
What a beaut eh!
Despite the undoubted marmite effect this car has, I reckon these AMG SUV's are tremendous pieces of kit. I had a couple of ML63's previously so you could say I really rate them.
In fact, by comparison I actually bought a Range Rover Sport SVR to start with but, quite frankly, the quality was a bit sh!t so I rejected it within the first month and sourced this instead. I honestly reckon it's better in almost any objective measure compared to the SVR, although I accept there's some subjective areas it falls behind (such as perceived prestige).
Sure, a Cayenne probably drives a bit better (they're more agile) but they don't sound as good and unless they have the anti-roll PDCC fitted, they don't have the cast iron body control of the GLE, which has AMG's version of PDCC (Active Curve System) fitted as standard. Cayenne's are also a bit common and they lack many of surprise and eight features of the Merc....I mean, the star hologram is surely worth the purchase price alone! One could never accuse these AMG's of being common (there may be a reason for that) and indeed, they're quite rare so getting a used one in the spec/colour I wanted was quite hard - no complaints with this though, it has every option ticked.
Should prove adequate to shuttle the new family about.
k! I've therefore acquired one of the most preposterous family wagons I could and what is clearly Mercedes' most desirable model....
What a beaut eh!
Despite the undoubted marmite effect this car has, I reckon these AMG SUV's are tremendous pieces of kit. I had a couple of ML63's previously so you could say I really rate them.
In fact, by comparison I actually bought a Range Rover Sport SVR to start with but, quite frankly, the quality was a bit sh!t so I rejected it within the first month and sourced this instead. I honestly reckon it's better in almost any objective measure compared to the SVR, although I accept there's some subjective areas it falls behind (such as perceived prestige).
Sure, a Cayenne probably drives a bit better (they're more agile) but they don't sound as good and unless they have the anti-roll PDCC fitted, they don't have the cast iron body control of the GLE, which has AMG's version of PDCC (Active Curve System) fitted as standard. Cayenne's are also a bit common and they lack many of surprise and eight features of the Merc....I mean, the star hologram is surely worth the purchase price alone!
One could never accuse these AMG's of being common (there may be a reason for that) and indeed, they're quite rare so getting a used one in the spec/colour I wanted was quite hard - no complaints with this though, it has every option ticked.Should prove adequate to shuttle the new family about.
OK, that was ‘good’ one. Now we move onto my second recently acquired AMG…..the bad(ass), ugly one
Maybe this will be more to everyones taste?
Some may remember that I tried one of these when they first came out but I only had it for a few months before moving onto the new R8 (the Audi was a fabulous piece of kit but it proved to be one of the least reliable cars I’ve ever had).
I’m a huge AMG fan but honestly, even I find these AMG GT’s less than immediately endearing cars. They're very raw (much rawer than the Porsche Carrera 4 GTS I had earlier this year) and they’ve taken one of the best steering racks in any car I've driven (the SLS AMG) and almost ruined it by turning up the power assistance too much….so it remains super direct but far too light.
I didn’t really give my first AMG GT a chance before moving it on but, fast forward a couple of years and I was offered nearly as much for my 911 (after 4 months and 6k miles) as I paid for it new, so I was on the lookout for a replacement. These AMG GT's are now great value used, so I thought I'd give one another shot and what an example I found - here we have another car with every option (bar the expensive Solarbeam yellow paint) ticked.
And you know what, it’s still a hard car to get used to. It’s that steering, which is actually quite feelsome and wonderfully direct, but far too light. And with the Dynamic Plus Pack fitted, it has a very robust ride so it does move around quite a bit.
However, I've persevered with it and I've learned to appreciate some really good aspects - the amazingly well-controlled damping once you look beyond that robust ride quality, an amazingly stiff chassis structure like nothing else I've driven (even the half carbon tub R8 did not feel as structurally stiff as these spaceframe-structured AMG's), excellent engine response which sounds really good (although it could do with a bit more aural zing at the top end if I was being critical, but I guess that’s the way with turbo’s) and utterly superb ceramic brakes.
All that said, it's the more subjective areas where it really scores because it feels way more special to look at and be in than the 911 ever was. As something to get in and drive, I’d say the latest 991.2 GTS has the edge as it had so much new tech that was so well integrated and so effective at doing the job of going down the road....fast. But as an ownership prospect, as something to makes you feel more special being in it and something that attracts extremely positive attention, I’ll give that to the AMG.
Maybe this will be more to everyones taste?
Some may remember that I tried one of these when they first came out but I only had it for a few months before moving onto the new R8 (the Audi was a fabulous piece of kit but it proved to be one of the least reliable cars I’ve ever had).
I’m a huge AMG fan but honestly, even I find these AMG GT’s less than immediately endearing cars. They're very raw (much rawer than the Porsche Carrera 4 GTS I had earlier this year) and they’ve taken one of the best steering racks in any car I've driven (the SLS AMG) and almost ruined it by turning up the power assistance too much….so it remains super direct but far too light.
I didn’t really give my first AMG GT a chance before moving it on but, fast forward a couple of years and I was offered nearly as much for my 911 (after 4 months and 6k miles) as I paid for it new, so I was on the lookout for a replacement. These AMG GT's are now great value used, so I thought I'd give one another shot and what an example I found - here we have another car with every option (bar the expensive Solarbeam yellow paint) ticked.
And you know what, it’s still a hard car to get used to. It’s that steering, which is actually quite feelsome and wonderfully direct, but far too light. And with the Dynamic Plus Pack fitted, it has a very robust ride so it does move around quite a bit.
However, I've persevered with it and I've learned to appreciate some really good aspects - the amazingly well-controlled damping once you look beyond that robust ride quality, an amazingly stiff chassis structure like nothing else I've driven (even the half carbon tub R8 did not feel as structurally stiff as these spaceframe-structured AMG's), excellent engine response which sounds really good (although it could do with a bit more aural zing at the top end if I was being critical, but I guess that’s the way with turbo’s) and utterly superb ceramic brakes.
All that said, it's the more subjective areas where it really scores because it feels way more special to look at and be in than the 911 ever was. As something to get in and drive, I’d say the latest 991.2 GTS has the edge as it had so much new tech that was so well integrated and so effective at doing the job of going down the road....fast. But as an ownership prospect, as something to makes you feel more special being in it and something that attracts extremely positive attention, I’ll give that to the AMG.
Edited by Palmball on Monday 18th December 23:39
Well remembered zedstar.....yes it is.
I only had the first GLE for a few weeks but not because of a problem with the car itself (I really liked it). I had one of the first GLE coupes when they came out but, shortly after buying it, a number of things went wrong with my house that I was building at the time and I needed to release some cash....a large amount of which I'd just sunk into the GLE. Thankfully it lost bugger all value so I got most of it back (and bought an E63 S which, to this day, has been one of my favourite and fastest cars).
To be fair, the GLE's have continued to lose very little value and even 2015 models still command upwards of £70k....and move quickly as I found to my cost when trying to buy one at the lower end of the market.
Are they better second time round?
The GT definitely so, mainly because I didn't give it a chance first time and this is a car that definitely needs time and familiarity to get to know it's potential.
The GLE (much like the two ML's before it) have always been highly regarded in my eyes. Despite trying a few other SUV's since, namely an X6 M which I hated, Porsche Cayenne S diesel which I loved, Porsche Macan Turbo which I thought was very good (if a bit overrated) and the SVR which was also very good to drive but wasn't especially well made, I always hankered after the big AMG most.
I only had the first GLE for a few weeks but not because of a problem with the car itself (I really liked it). I had one of the first GLE coupes when they came out but, shortly after buying it, a number of things went wrong with my house that I was building at the time and I needed to release some cash....a large amount of which I'd just sunk into the GLE. Thankfully it lost bugger all value so I got most of it back (and bought an E63 S which, to this day, has been one of my favourite and fastest cars).
To be fair, the GLE's have continued to lose very little value and even 2015 models still command upwards of £70k....and move quickly as I found to my cost when trying to buy one at the lower end of the market.
Are they better second time round?
The GT definitely so, mainly because I didn't give it a chance first time and this is a car that definitely needs time and familiarity to get to know it's potential.
The GLE (much like the two ML's before it) have always been highly regarded in my eyes. Despite trying a few other SUV's since, namely an X6 M which I hated, Porsche Cayenne S diesel which I loved, Porsche Macan Turbo which I thought was very good (if a bit overrated) and the SVR which was also very good to drive but wasn't especially well made, I always hankered after the big AMG most.
Edited by Palmball on Tuesday 19th December 00:55
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