2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE vs. 2021 Audi Q7: The veteran and the rookie
May 13 2021,
There are several interesting vehicles in the mid-size luxury SUV category. After all, we're serving a clientele that's willing to pay a lot of money for a product that will offer them the ultimate in luxury. And that's what the manufacturers who offer a model deliver.
Considering this, it is obvious that each proposal is full of qualities. However, when we have fun comparing the products, we realize that one of them has a recipe that has been used for years.
This one, of course, is the Mercedes-Benz GLE, formerly the ML, a vehicle that was launched in 1997, 10 years before Audi's Q7
Let's see how it differs from the latter.
Interior styling
Audi has never been known as a design-forward company. Its vehicles have been slow to evolve, both inside and out. On board, the difference between the Q7 and the Mercedes-Benz GLE is striking. Audi is pretty and well presented, but Mercedes offers a direct door to the future. That's obvious at first glance, as the huge screen that houses the instrumentation and multimedia system dominates the dashboard.
Better yet, it houses the industry's best multimedia system, MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience), which allows drivers to connect with the machine in a way that has never been seen before in a vehicle.
Choice
Both the GLE and the Q7 come in a variety of flavors, which is how buyers prefer it. With a vehicle of this price, it's nice to be able to make a few selections that suit your needs. Well, mechanically, Mercedes-Benz has the most engines with four; that's one more than Audi.
Each model is available with a 2-liter turbo 4-cylinder engine. The power output is 255 horsepower at Mercedes, 248 at Audi. Then there are versions with a 6-cylinder turbo engine; 362 horsepower for the GLE, 335 for the Q7. Then everyone gets a version with a 4-liter turbo V8 engine. Here, the performance is 603 horsepower for Mercedes, 500 for Audi. It's 591 horsepower with the RSQ8, the coupe variant of the Q7 (equivalent to the GLE coupe)
So everywhere, Benz engines are more powerful. As for the additional powertrain, it's that of the AMG 53 version, which benefits from a more powerful version of Mercedes' inline 6-cylinder engine, a block that suggests 429 horsepower.
The GLE's gearbox even has an extra gear; nine compared to eight.
It is often said that the devil is in the details. The GLE's design and specifications are a fine example of this.
