Joining the growing field of exotic and ultraluxury utility vehicles is the 2021 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600. The Maybach SUV, based on the redesigned third-generation GLS platform, is powered by a specially developed 550-hp V-8 engine. The engine is combined with a 48-volt electrical system paired with an integrated starter generator, known as EQ Boost, that can add up to 21 hp for short periods. The GLS 600 starts at $161,550, including shipping. Fully loaded, the SUV will top out at nearly $200,000. Here’s a roundup of initial GLS 600 reviews from automotive journalists.

“The powerplant is long on low-end grunt, almost freakishly quiet, the steering is precise but has a nondisclosure agreement with road surfaces and the brakes could stop a crashing stock market. Road noise is muffled until it stops squirming, wind noise is slight and melodic and the double-paned glass shushes anyone yelling about the injustices of capitalism.

“Performance? When the masses arise against the oligarchs, the GLS 600 will help them flee in a hurry. With a couple hundred pounds of additional curb weight over the GLS 63 and slightly less power, we expect the zero-to-60-mph blitz to take 4.1 seconds. That’s hustling for a three-ton object.

“This isn’t an SUV about sport or utility. It’s a vehicle for arriving, for making a big splash when it pulls up to an event, a club or office building. It’s an announcement of intimidation, not something that’s built to dive into corners, take families on vacations or even put at risk dirtying its standard 22-inch or optional 23-inch wheels.”

— John Pearley Huffman, Car and Driver

“The AMG-built motor is just the kind of engine you’d want in a luxury SUV. It offers tons of torque, zero lag and a quiet, muted, luxe-appropriate roar. The transmission tuning is similarly brilliant, with quick, smooth and decisive shifts.

“Its suspension tuning is even more impressive. E-Active Body Control so effectively reads and reacts to the road that the GLS 600 can bowl over potholes, drainage ditches, expansion joints and speed bumps in much the same way something like a Ram 1500 TRX can. It’s weirdly so effective that the absence of big impacts almost serves to highlight the smaller ones. The GLS 600’s suspension is not only compliant but also allows the Maybach to hustle on a good winding road, mitigating body roll and brake dive and allowing you to focus on twirling the well-weighted leather-wrapped wheel in your hands.”

— Christian Seabaugh, Motor Trend

“Typically when an automaker combines a large, high-riding vehicle with an eminently compliant suspension, it’s a recipe for a lumbering barge of a machine that feels top-heavy and wayward. The narrow, winding roads of the Malibu hills should, in theory, emphasize this issue in the GLS 600. But not long after we settled in at the helm, it became evident that some engineering magic is present. While we were always cognizant of the SUV’s sheer size, it never felt like we were waiting for the chassis to catch up with our inputs or settle into a corner, even with Comfort drive mode set.

“There’s a Sport mode as well, which firms up the suspension and alters the transmission’s shift points for more response. There’s certainly enough forward thrust available from the boosted V-8 to justify it, and the presence of a manual shifting mode and steering wheel-mounted paddles bring the key components of the formula together, but the GLS 600 really just isn’t intended for those who are in a hurry.

“Curve mode, on the other hand, suits this SUV perfectly. There’s enough compliance to maintain the cloud-like ride quality of Comfort mode, and the suspension’s ability to lean into a turn creates the perception of flat, stable cornering without introducing harshness if you should encounter a mid-corner bump.”

— Bradley Iger, Motor1.com

“The nine-speed automatic transmission shifts less frequently and doesn’t use first gear, the stop-start system is deactivated so no one feels untoward vibrations and the throttle response is flattened so there are no sudden jolts of acceleration. The air suspension automatically selects its Comfort setting and turns on the Curve Control, which lets the GLS lean into corners to reduce lateral cornering forces on the vehicle’s occupants.

“Needless to say, the GLS rides like a dream. You barely feel bumps. You barely feel turns. If you spill your champagne while being chauffeured in Maybach mode, you should probably just fire your driver, because it certainly wasn’t the vehicle’s fault. Sure, a few small irritations make their way through the chassis, but what do you expect with 23-inch wheels and 285/40 front and 325/35 rear tires? Maybach mode in the GLS 600 is so nice that I actually fell asleep for a few minutes while being driven around Los Angeles on a test loop (and it wasn’t even super early in the morning!).”

— Steven Ewing, Roadshow by CNET

“Shifting is quick and smooth, and power delivery is seamless. On par with what you’d expect from the newest addition to the limited Maybach product portfolio, the steering feedback and braking are impeccable. In a nutshell, the Maybach GLS’ performance and handling are comparable to the skills of a professional chef who prepares a perfectly grilled steak with a side of sauteed mushrooms and Brussels sprouts.

“As fast as a falcon that protects her babies from an approaching predator, the Maybach GLS 600 can be as quiet as a mouse and so pleasant to drive. Our test vehicle rolled on 23-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero rubber; paired with the outstanding active suspension, the Maybach GLS 600 gobbles road defects like clockwork.”

— Eleonor Segura, Automobile

“Even in its most aggressive drive mode, the Maybach feels as though it’s gliding forward during acceleration, but a quick glance at the speedometer assured me that the big SUV was moving much faster than it felt. It’ll sprint from 0-60 mph in an estimated 4.8 seconds. Mighty impressive for such a large beast.

“This feeling of flying over the road rather than riding on it becomes even more apparent when the road turns curvy. Mercedes’ calls its suspension system ‘E-Active Body Control,’ and it combines road surface scanning, the air suspension and adaptive dampers to keep the big SUV level. This combines with a curve inclination system that will actively lean the Maybach into corners up to three degrees (like a motorcyclist would) to make any lateral forces even less perceptible to passengers. These systems in tandem provide a driving experience I took to calling ‘magic carpet mode’ because whether I was in higher-speed sweeping curves or sharper corners, the Maybach simply glided through them. I knew there should be body roll, but there just … wasn’t any. It moves around the corners as if it weighs nothing at all, though without the agility of a lighter vehicle.”

— Brian Wong, Motor Authority