It’s a huge car, the Mercedes-Benz GLS, and it has the towing ability to match.
With a kerbweight of over 2.4 tonnes, just about anything you could fit wheels under will make a suitable match for the GLS. It has enough muscle to pull a very heavy caravan or trailer, as the swift 30-60mph time of 10.1 seconds shows.
It’s stable as well as fast in a straight line. Data from the Al-Ko ATC system shows how little movement there was from the caravan at speed, and our drivers were comfortable at 70mph.
The big Merc was nearly as impressive in the lane-change test, with the caravan only starting to slide on the final, fastest run.
It would be hard to fault the Merc’s hill start test – it made starting on a 1-in-6 slope with a caravan in tow seem easy.
Inside, the GLS is very roomy. With the third row of seats folded away we found space for all our holiday luggage. Our testers also noted lots of caravanner-friendly features, such as a trailer stability system and a clear reversing camera.
We’d rate the GLS even more highly if the engine wasn’t so gruff and noisy, and if it was more competitive on emissions. It’s also very expensive compared with a Land Rover Discovery or Volvo XC90.