[planet_rocker]

Superb Thread Ajmat Loved it to bits

Rated 5 Stars - gotto get back to work now - take care.

[SS-Traveller]

Interesting fun trip you had there, ajmat! I'm sure a lot of us would love to swap places with you!

A few questions:

Originally Posted by ajmat

Ride height has three settings. A compressor pumps air and this takes a minute to get to max height. It is not instantaneous like as shown in car TV programmes. The pump works hard to maintain ride height and you occassionaly get messages that pump has shut down to avoid overheating. The car is not supposed to be driven more than 20km/h on the highest ride setting.

Do you have any more technical details about the suspension setup and how the ride height is altered? Is it pneumatic or hydraulic? Are there coil springs too or not? Does the ride height increase automatically when shifting to low range, or does one have to manually do it?

Originally Posted by ajmat

...the silver GL ripped a sidewall...

Originally Posted by ajmat

Two tyres were damaged...

What brand of tyres? Seems Ladakh has not been kind to whatever tyres Merc are using!

Originally Posted by ajmat

One of the GL's needed new brake pads...

Huh?! How does one eat up brake pads on an (almost) new car, especially when co. maintained? Any idea how much this car had run before needing new brake pads?

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Interesting fun trip you had there, ajmat! I'm sure a lot of us would love to swap places with you!

A few questions:

Do you have any more technical details about the suspension setup and how the ride height is altered? Is it pneumatic or hydraulic? Are there coil springs too or not? Does the ride height increase automatically when shifting to low range, or does one have to manually do it?


What brand of tyres? Seems Ladakh has not been kind to whatever tyres Merc are using!

Huh?! How does one eat up brake pads on an (almost) new car, especially when co. maintained? Any idea how much this car had run before needing new brake pads?

1:Uses air suspension (pneumatic), it uses coil springs. The ride height setting is independent of the low range settings. Hence it is a manual process

2: It used Continental. In one case, the GL landed hard near a sharp boulder which ripped the tyre. Note these are normal road tyres. If the sidewalls wee reinforced, it might be a different story.

3: Some Mercs were brand new, some around 3-6 months old. I cannot comment on the brakepad, it could be that the car was driven hard or a stone got it and damaged it (happened to be on on another car once)

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Interesting fun trip you had there, ajmat! I'm sure a lot of us would love to swap places with you!

A few questions:

Do you have any more technical details about the suspension setup and how the ride height is altered? Is it pneumatic or hydraulic? Are there coil springs too or not? Does the ride height increase automatically when shifting to low range, or does one have to manually do it?


What brand of tyres? Seems Ladakh has not been kind to whatever tyres Merc are using!

Huh?! How does one eat up brake pads on an (almost) new car, especially when co. maintained? Any idea how much this car had run before needing new brake pads?

i agree,recently a friend blew one of the tyres of his recently acquired ML350 in ladakh,i guess he had continentals,i cant recall,but they seemed to be road biased tyres.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ajmat

1:Uses air suspension (pneumatic), it uses coil springs. The ride height setting is independent of the low range settings. Hence it is a manual process

So this is the hydropneumatic suspension with adaptive dampers and coils. Does this come as a separate optional off-road package, or is it OE?

Originally Posted by ajmat

2: It used Continental. In one case, the GL landed hard near a sharp boulder which ripped the tyre. Note these are normal road tyres.

Going by your pics these tyres don't seem to be very low profile, and multiple RFT tyres getting ripped probably doesn't bode too well for those planning to take their Mercs to Ladakh - as akshay4587 pointed out too. Did Merc techs suggest any alternative tyres for such terrain? Considering that a lot of us actually travel to Ladakh in lesser cars shod with desi non-off-road tyres without suffering such damage, this comes as a surprise.

[ajmat]

The air suspension package is standard on the GL

Please note the tyre mishaps happened when off roading.

[toiingg]

Did they carry hi octane Petrol for the G55 ? Or does it take regular petrol off the pumps?


edit: Any videos of the G55 revving?

[RROD]

I dint read through the whole travelogue.
The pics speak for themselves. Awesome Awesome.
Just seeing these machines against the leh's background is worth the time spent on this thread.

[swiftnfurious]

Excellent details ajmat. Some of the pics are to die for! Am sure you had a gala time and all the more nice to see that a lot of people come for this. The moment I saw the Merc doing doughnut, I thought it has be hanmust!!

[artofzen]

I think all the GL350's comes with Continental Tyres.

@Ajmat: Its great to see the GL performing well On & off road. And you are right , an ML would be a better fit to anyone who doesnt want the 7 seater opton. Especially since it uses the same engine and weighs much lesser.

Any idea about the average returned by the GL onroad (especially on the Delhi- Leh sector) ?. I did a hill station run recently and it returned 7.5 average

[karizma_devil]

Great Thread !

Pictures straight from heaven !
These M- Beasts looks awesome in all dust !
The G 55 is mind blowing !!!

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by artofzen

Any idea about the average returned by the GL onroad (especially on the Delhi- Leh sector) ?. I did a hill station run recently and it returned 7.5 average

I dont remember the average but the first day with all the off road fun, we got around 6

[Amaan_urs]

Originally Posted by ajmat

I dont remember the average but the first day with all the off road fun, we got around 6

Ajmat, Thanks for the great write up! I couldn't resist myself from reading it over again and again, if the other lucky moderators could chip in their details it might double the pleasure.

And on the funnier side we are still a country obsessed by the fuel efficiency. Kitna Dehti Hai !
Regards
Muzzammil

[RGK]

Great write up Ajmat. Great place to enjoy with great cars.

Do you find bit difficult to get accustomed to lower end cars after driving these great SUVs for two full days?

In Q7 the height adjustment was instant and allowed to drive till 100kmph.

[arvi86]

Wow! A superb thread ajmat, made for an interesting read.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to attend this event representing another popular Indian automotive website, an opportunity that beckoned on me courtesy my blog ANYTHING ON WHEELS. Having been there and done that, I agree with almost every point that you have posted.

The G55 AMG was total fun both on and off the road with oodles of power and torque. It's classic looks and proportions, the addictive V8 thrum and the 'pushed-back-in-your-seats' feeling every time you nudged the throttle pedal were to die for. I loved the way in which it literally scared the hell out of people in other vehicles when overtaking with a short but loud 'whoosh' noise. The major grouse was that the ride was pretty harsh and you could feel every single imperfection in the road.

The GL again, was mighty impressive and it came as a surprise that it could match, if not beat, the G55 in off-roading abilities. I would even say that, with goodies like Downhill Speed Regulator' and 'Ride Height' adjustments, the GL would be a better bet to go off-roading. Any day, I would happily pick the GL instead of the G55. The GL is one of the most underrated luxury SUV around in India as not many are aware of its actual capabilities.

Overall, it was a great experience to drive these high-end SUVs there in the mighty Himalayas. The lesser said about the insanely-beautiful locations around Leh, Changla Pass and Pangong Tso, the better. Words just can't describe them and adjectives like 'awesome' and 'stunning' will not even reveal a part of the actual beauty.

I am just adding a few of my favorite snaps here. For more pictures and a short drive report, kindly click either of the links given below:

ANYTHING ON WHEELS: Driven #7: Mercedes-Benz GL-Class & G55 AMG

Mercedes Leh Fascination Drive