If we start to paint the picture “American Mercedes-Benz SUVs” in the “Three Athletes” style, then Ilya Muromets would sit in a GL-class Mercedes, Dobrynya Nikitich would be in an ML class car, and Alyosha Popovich would ride a hero of our Mercedes story - GLK-class . Moreover, Alyosha Popovich’s car would have looked like a smaller version of Ilya’s car, and he could have said Dobryne with a slight grin: “Did you, Dobrynyushka, buy a girl’s car?”
But do not be fooled by the almost complete similarity of the appearance of the Mercedes GLK with his elder brother Mercedes GL. GLK class cars are built on a C-class all-wheel drive platform, they have a supporting body without a hint of a frame structure, and even different wheels on the front and rear axles are a tribute to sports stability on the track.
On the other hand, the Mercedes GLK is equipped with the reduced-scale off-road properties of the Mercedes GL. The Offroad package is able to change suspension properties, increase ground clearance by 30 mm to 231 mm and help when descending from a mountain. A kind of mountain-launch cruise control, observing a speed of 4 or 18 km / h. The Offroad package can work not only with differential locks, but also use special ABS and ESP settings, which, combined with a very good geometric cross-country ability, makes the Mercedes GLK an acceptable car for corrupt deputies from rural central Russia.
Inside the Mercedes GLK, the design is rather avant-garde for the cars of this company: large round deflectors with cross-shaped diffusers, unusual white circles on the instrument dials, non-trivial ergonomics and a lot of chrome parts. And by Mercian standards, and in general, the Mercedes GLK is a small car in internal dimensions. The long-legged beauties in the rear seat will rest against the front knees, but if the rear seats are folded, the trunk from the 425-liter will turn into 1550-liter, and there is room for it to take a walk, taking into account various fastening and packaging equipment. However, the main drawback of the luggage compartment and the car in general is the lack of a spare wheel. For off-road trips, this is an unacceptable omission that is highlighted by almost all owners of such cars from Russia and the CIS countries.
With regard to the shortcomings of the Mercedes GLK car, owner reviews also mention narrow rear door openings, uncomfortable thresholds, tiny rear-view mirrors, an incomprehensible and difficult-to-remember algorithm for turning on lights and wipers, shock and thoughtfulness of the suspension at the time of sudden overcoming of obstacles.
If you go back to the merits of a Mercedes GLK car, the reviews of the owners describe a cozy and comfortable interior with excellent sound insulation, good dynamics and convenient controls. A car that perfectly holds the road in any conditions: puddles, snow porridge and ruts do not care for her. Engines are often praised, and not only for their acceptable dynamics, but also for their excellent high-torque performance, which makes it possible to pass snow drifts and other obstacles in a tractor-like manner.
Mercedes GLK is a car that stands out from the mass of modern crossovers with its masculine appearance, high-speed qualities, increased cross-country ability and an acceptable level of reliability against the background of the decline in this reliability among modern cars as a class of technical devices.