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2021 Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class Road Test and Review

Nicole Wakelin
by Nicole Wakelin
October 7, 2021
5 min. Reading Time
2021 Mercedes Benz GLB 250 Front Quarter ・  Photo by Nicole Wakelin

2021 Mercedes Benz GLB 250 Front Quarter ・ Photo by Nicole Wakelin

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class is a luxury SUV with seating for up to seven passengers. It has all the style and elegance you’d expect in a Mercedes with a plush interior that encourages passengers to simply enjoy the ride. Materials are high quality with an upscale feel that’s never brash or over-the-top. It’s understated luxury that’s not trying to prove itself to anyone.

In addition to that beautiful and comfortable interior, the GLB-Class has two engines that provide strong acceleration with crisp, confident handling. There’s a choice of front-wheel or all-wheel drive, too, for those who live where winter means snow. Infotainment includes a standard 7.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with voice control. There’s also good safety with a long list of standard features. Let’s take a closer at the 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class to see if it’s the right luxury SUV for you.

Two Luxurious Trims With Plenty of Standard Features

There are two trims of the Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class. The base trim is the GLB 250, which starts at $38,050 with standard front-wheel drive. Choose all-wheel drive and the price goes up by $2,000. As a luxury car, even the base trim is well-equipped with an 8-way power driver and front passenger seat, dual-zone automatic climate control, synthetic leather seats, and 7.0-inch infotainment touchscreen. Power for this trim comes from a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with 221 horsepower.

Move up to the AMG GLB 35 and there’s a big performance and pricing bump. This trim starts at $49,500 with standard all-wheel drive. It has an enhanced version of the engine found in the base trim and delivers 302 horsepower with an AMG steering wheel with touch controls and a standard 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen. There’s also a range of performance options that are only available for this trim.

 Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Two Powertrain Options

The base GLB 250 is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with 221 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. This is paired to an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. It’s a strong engine that easily gets the GLB up to speed with a minimum of engine noise intruding into the cabin. It makes short work of highway merges and still has enough power leftover for passing slower vehicles. Although responsive, this isn’t an especially performance-focused powertrain. If that’s wat you crave, then step up one trim level.

The AMG GLB 35 gets an enhanced version of this engine that put out 302 horsepower with 295 lb-ft of torque. It also gets an AMG 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. There’s a price jump of over $10K between these two trims, but it’s worth it for those who want a more aggressive, engaging drive experience from their SUV.

 Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Fuel Economy That’s Easy on Your Budget

EPA-estimated fuel economy for the 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class equipped with the base 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine is 23 mpg in the city, 31 mpg on the highway, and 26 mpg combined with front-wheel drive. Choose all-wheel drive and those figures dip only slightly to 23 mpg in the city, 30 mpg on the highway, and 26 mpg combined. That’s a nearly negligible drop that ensures good fuel economy no matter which you choose.

Go with the more powerful 2.0-liter engine found in the AMG GLB 35 and the drop is more noticeable. This engine gets an EPA-estimated 21 mpg in the city, 26 mpg on the highway, and 23 mpg combined. While not a precipitous drop that makes this version of the GLB-Class a budget-buster, it will cost you more to fuel. It’s the price to be paid for a performance engine.

 Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

A Quiet, Well-Mannered Ride

This is a luxury SUV, so the ride is expectedly smooth and compliant. Rough pavement goes largely unnoticed and only the worst potholes will be felt by passengers. The GLB-Class is a composed, passenger-focused ride. Adding to that comfortable ride is a quiet cabin. An SUV can sometimes have lots of wind noise, but the GLB-Class is notably quiet. Road noise is also kept to a minimum, so conversation is easy. Those in the third row won’t have to raise their voices just to be heard by whoever is sitting way up front.

Handling is crisp with responsive steering that strikes a lovely balance between relaxed and sporty. It doesn’t have the tiring handling of a sports car that requires constant adjustment, nor is it so relaxed that it feels sloppy. Instead, it falls in the middle keeping the driver engaged without being taxing.

 Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Seating For Up to Seven

The interior of the GLB-Class is comfortable and attractive. Seating is plush with standard synthetic leather trims. There’s plenty of room for front passengers while second-row passengers have a roomy bench seat. The second row also has an exceptional range of adjustability with multistage backrests that lets passengers recline. This makes them ideal for longer trips. Additionally, the seats slide forward and back up to six inches. This provides a huge amount of legroom when pushed back.

That, of course, eats into legroom for the optional third row. Slide them forward and second-row passengers will still have room while opening the seating area for the third row. While most third rows are small, they’re exceptionally so in the GLB-Class. Treat them as something to use when you have an extra few people along for a short trip rather than something for every day.

 Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Cargo Room Varies Between Seating Configurations

Despite having three rows of available seating, the Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class is not a huge SUV. That’s part of why the third row isn’t great for passengers. The good news is that without that third row, or if you choose to fold it down, there’s a lot of space for your stuff. In three-row variants, there’s just 5.1-cubic feet for cargo behind the third row. Fold them down and there’s a much more useable 24.0 cubic feet. Fold the second row, and there’s 56.7 cubic feet for cargo behind the first row.

Cargo room is better in two-row versions of the GLB-Class. These offer 27.0 cubic feet behind the second row or 62.0 cubic feet behind the first row. That’s a good amount of space that easily holds luggage for a week’s vacation, groceries, or supplies for that weekend project. If cargo is your priority, then consider ditching the third row.

 Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Infotainment With Impressive Voice Controls

Standard infotainment in the GLB-Class includes a 7.0-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. It can be controlled with the touchscreen, steering-wheel controls, a touchpad, or through a unique voice control system. The Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) is activated by saying, “Hey, Mercedes,” followed by whatever command you choose. It’s not a system that requires learning precise key words. Instead, it uses natural language commands that make it far easier to use. A 10.25-inch touchscreen is optional on the GLB 250 and standard on the AMG GLB 35.

The standard screen size is on the small side, especially for a luxury car. It’s still workable, but the larger available screen makes the system much easier to use. Regardless of which you choose, the infotainment system is intuitive with well-arranged menus that don’t take long to learn and are easily mastered by passengers new to the system.

 Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Good Standard and Available Safety

The Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class has not yet been crash tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It has been tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration where it received an overall 5-star rating with all-wheel drive or 4-star rating with front-wheel drive.

This SUV has a wide range of standard safety features including automatic emergency braking, attention assist, blind spot warning assist with exit warning assist, and crosswind assist. Additional available features include speed limit assist, active parking assist, active steering assist, evasive steering assist, active brake assist with cross-traffic function, and active distance assist. There’s also active emergency stop assist, which monitors the driver’s engagement in the driving process. If it detects the driver’s hands off the wheel for too long, it provides visual and audible alert and can slowly reduce its speed and come to a stop.

 Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Final Thoughts

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class is an attractive and well-equipped luxury suv. It has a beautiful and quiet interior that coddles its passengers. The optional third row, however, is something of an afterthought best used on rare occasion. There’s good cargo room, especially in two-row variants, but the GLB-Class is not rated for towing.

Infotainment includes standard smartphone connectivity and an available 10.25-inch touchscreen that makes using the system easy. It also offers voice control that does a great job at understanding natural language commands. The GLB-Class is priced more affordably than you’d expect for a luxury car with front-wheel or all-wheel drive and a responsive base engine. Those who put a priority on performance should give the AMG GLB 35 a try for it’s more powerful and engaging powertrain. As an affordable luxury option, the GLB-Class is worth a test drive.

 Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Photo by Nicole Wakelin


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