The 2027 Mercedes-Benz GLS Seriously Impressed Me Off-Road

The GLS might not look like an off-roader, but you'd be surprised at what it can do

written by Steven Ewing
edited by Kirk Bell
4/10/2026
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The Mercedes-Benz GLS got a big update for 2027, with new styling and better tech.
This SUV is also a formidable off-roader — for a seven-passenger full-size luxury barge, anyway.
I took a ride in a GLS 580 at Mercedes' plant in Alabama. It tackled it all with aplomb.

— Vance, Alabama

About an hour after the 2027 Mercedes-Benz GLS greeted the world last week, I found myself in the back seat of a V8-powered GLS 580, its nose pointed up a 45-degree hill in the woods behind the carmaker's Alabama assembly plant. I'll admit I wasn't totally paying attention to my surroundings and was more concerned with turning on the GLS' ventilated, massaging seats (oppressive Alabama humidity turns me into an ornery Southern belle). But then a Mercedes test driver activated the 580's Off-Road drive mode, laid into the throttle, and climbed the muddy, rutted two-track hill like it was nothing, a wake of V8 burble echoing down the path.

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Oh, those Alabama hills

If I say "Mercedes-Benz" and "off-road," you're likely to think of the G-Class, and with good reason. Merc's G-wagen is as much an icon of go-anywhere prowess as it is a Sunset Strip boulevardier. But all of the company's SUVs have more robust off-road chops than you might expect.

Mercedes-Benz built this off-road proving ground during the Alabama plant's construction in the mid-1990s, and it's been operational since the company's very first M-Class SUV rolled off the line on February 14, 1997. Today, Mercedes builds its GLE and GLS models in Alabama, as well as the electric EQE and EQS SUVs, exporting them all around the globe. This facility will soon add production lines to build the new GLC compact SUV specifically for the U.S. market.

This off-road course has everything from your run-of-the-mill dirt trail through the woods to giant ruts specifically designed to test maximum suspension articulation and put an SUV up on three wheels. There's a wading pool full of disgusting standing water and a steel incline with staggered rollers on both sides so you can see how an SUV fares when only one wheel has grip. There are logs, simulated train tracks and a gnarly rock climb. One engineer even told me they used to drive SUVs straight into the pond, which is full of snakes. Snakes!

An off-roader disguised as a luxury SUV

The GLS' optional Off-Road package gives the SUV skid plates and a more sensitive stability control system; the former protects the underbody while the latter allows for occasional wheelspin, which is helpful in mucky terrain. Off-Road mode raises the GLS' standard air suspension by about 3 inches so you get more ground clearance, and of course, there's Recovery mode that uses the air suspension to move the vehicle up and down. This can either get you out of a sticky situation or turn the GLS into a bounce house — choose your own adventure.

The standard 4Matic all-wheel-drive system has a low-range gear, which works with the transmission to allow more torque to be delivered to the wheels. This power can then be sent to each individual wheel as needed, and you can lock the front and rear axles in seriously tough situations where consistent power delivery is key. The GLS also has hill descent control with a sort of off-road cruise control that keeps the SUV at a constant (and super slow) speed, making it easy to descend steep grades.

The GLS tackles it all

My driver put that last function to good use while pointing the GLS 580 down a 60% grade, managing the SUV's speed via controls on the steering wheel. But other than putting the GLS in Off-Road mode at the beginning of the course, he didn't futz with any other settings. He didn't lock a differential, nor did he need to use the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters to hold first gear during low-speed maneuvering — the GLS did that on its own.

Driving over jagged boulders? Piece of cake. Traversing a pile of logs? Easy peasy. The GLS can ford 22 inches of water, so getting through that wading pool was a cinch, as was crossing a murky, muddy creek. Oh, and by the way: The GLS did all of this while riding on 22-inch wheels wrapped in street-oriented all-season tires. No all-terrain rubber here.

I normally hate being a passenger when off-roading; being violently jostled around really isn't my thing. But the GLS' E-Active Body Control tech worked well here, electronically stabilizing the body regardless of suspension motions. This system is more for the benefit of on-road smoothness while cornering, so it doesn't completely quell harsh movements when off-roading. But riding in the back of the GLS on this off-road course wasn't the head-shaking, literal pain in the neck it could've been.

OK, but do people actually take these off-road?

You and I both know that 99.999% of all GLS SUVs will never experience terrain like this in the real world. The toughest obstacle a GLS will likely face is the curb in a Starbucks drive-thru. Serious trail-seekers aren't buying six-figure seven-passenger luxury SUVs for their off-road expeditions. Maybe they're buying a G-wagen. But even then, the street-spec AMG G 63 is far and away the most popular model in that lineup.

Mercedes calls the GLS the S-Class of SUVs, and this thing is first and foremost about luxury and comfort. But that's also what impressed me so much about the GLS 580's ability to scale seriously tough terrain. Just because this premium SUV likely won't go off-roading doesn't mean that it can't.

by Steven Ewing

Steven Ewing is Edmunds' director of editorial content. An automotive journalist for more than half of his life, Ewing's been on staff at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog, Motor1.com, CNET, and he was the U.S. correspondent for Top Gear magazine. He's also contributed to publications like Automobile magazine, Car and Driver, The Drive, Jalopnik, Porsche Panorama, and more. Ewing has worked in the automotive industry since 2003. From testing prototype cars in the Arctic Circle to spilling a beer on a Formula 1 driver at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (oops), he's always got an interesting story to tell.

edited by Kirk Bell

Cars have been an important part of his life since Kirk learned to identify them by their headlights as a toddler. He grew up helping pit crew for his dad’s highly unsuccessful drag racing escapades, and he turned his knowledge of the car culture into a career when he became an editor at Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine starting in college. Kirk has been writing about full-scale cars for more than 20 years and was named to the North American Car and Truck of the Year jury in 2014. He was most recently senior editor at Motor Authority, where he specialized in luxury and performance cars. Kirk also authored and edited several car books, including the award-winning Hot Rod & Custom Chronicle and NASCAR Chronicle when was managing editor at Consumer Guide Automotive. Kirk enjoys nothing more than a track day, but he’s also a Wisconsin sport fan and he enjoys spirited drives in his 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera S.

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