 Just took delivery of my wife's GL 450 and I am blown away by how quiet, solid and comforting this vehicle is. It really rivals the S class. When I test drove a lesser equipped vehicle I liked how well the vehicle performed. I loaded this vehicle out and I am not sure why but the vehicle is even nicer than I remember. Acceleration is adequate, braking is superb and the ride is awesome. Looked at all the competing models but kept coming back to Mercedes. The price does escalate as you add options as it does with others. If you are in the market for an SUV you owe it to yourself to at least give the GL some consideration. 