Mercedes-Benz GLB review
Passenger & boot space
In this review
Passenger & boot space
How it copes with people and clutter
Front space
The boxy shape of the GLB translates to excellent front seat space. Even the optional sunroof doesn’t do much to dent headroom, and legroom is good for tall drivers.
There are plenty of places to store odds and ends, too. Push a button at the base of the centre armrest and it reveals a deep cubby with two USB-C ports. In front of the infotainment controller, there’s a lidded cubby with another USB-C socket as well as two cup holders and a dedicated area for your smartphone. The door pockets are large enough to hold 500ml bottles of water, but their shape precludes them from holding bigger bottles.
Rear space
Very few passengers will have cause for complaint in the back, either. With the second row slid all the way back, leg room is maximised, and it’s still bearable even when moved forwards; only taller adults will be left short on knee room.
All but models with the 220 d engine come with a third row of seats, which can be accessed by tilting the outer second-row seats forwards via small levers on their tops. And, while it’s possible to fit adults back there, shallow footwells mean longer trips might be rather uncomfortable. You’ll find that the rather less expensive Peugeot 5008 is a tad more spacious in the third row.
Seat folding and flexibility
Every GLC gets 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats that you can slide and recline. While that’s pretty handy when you want to give a bit more room to those in the third row, the Discovery Sport is even more versatile, with rear seats that slide and recline independently.
Where fitted, the third row can be folded by pulling a red strap in the boot at the base of each seat. With a little physical assistance, they fold flat to the boot floor.
Boot space
Opening the flat rear tailgate reveals a mostly square load area, with a loading lip that sits flush with the boot floor so it’s easy to load or unload bulky objects. With only five seats in use, the GLB can accommodate more luggage than the Audi Q5, but it’s behind the Land Rover Discovery Sport for outright capacity.
However, something that the GLB has that the Discovery Sport misses out on is a dedicated slot for the parcel shelf under the boot floor. This comes in handy when you suddenly have cause to deploy the third row of seats.
