'Motor Trend' names Mercedes-Benz GL as SUV of the Year

After kicking the tires of 11 different models, Motor Trend magazine found a winner for its SUV of the Year. But it won't come cheap.

It's the new Mercedes-Benz GL. The big seven-passenger SUV -- well, technically it's a unibody crossover -- came in at $87,500 for the version that Motor Trend tested. Some rivals cost half as much.

Then there's the fuel mileage: worst of the group in the gas version. Reason: The GL weighs 1,200 pounds more than the next-heaviest, the new Infiniti JX. But the diesel-powered version was considered both a dream to drive and had the second-best fuel economy of the group.

Motor Trend praised the interior as nearly flawless and the sheer power. The gas version of the GL550 was the fastest of the bunch, covering zero to 60 miles per hour in 5.1 seconds.

"There is nothing more you could want or need in an SUV," Editor-in-Chief Ed Loh says in the draft article announcing the winner.