2010 Mercedes Benz GLK

What Edmunds Says:
It may not be the roomiest or the most fuel efficient, but the 2010 Mercedes GLK350 is an impressively built compact crossover SUV that should meet the needs and desires of many luxury buyers.
Pros:Impenetrably solid feel, impressive ride and handling, impeccably crafted cabin, high-tech options.
Cons:Less cargo space and rear leg room than competitors, pricier than Japanese rivals.

The Mercedes-Benz GLK, its exterior heavily disguised with black tape but its interior in near-production form, was shown last August to a small group of automotive journalists, including Consumer Guide.

The GLK prototype was a five-passenger 4-door wagon. It was about as long as an X3, but noticeably wider and somewhat lower. Its shape was camouflaged, but appeared to favor square-cut lines and a boxy nose, more in the spirit of Mercedes' GL-Class full-size SUV or the LR3 rather than the more flowing contours of the Mercedes M-Class midsize SUV or such premium-compact SUV newcomers as the EX35.

"It doesn't look so much smaller than the M-Class, even though it is smaller, because of the boxy, edgy design language," said Volker Hellwig, GLK design project manager.

Mercedes said the prototype's dashboard was in near-final form. It consists of a sporty assembly of main gauges set before the driver. Jutting forms separate a series of blocky modules that house groupings of controls. The dashtop on the prototype was black and the instrument panel was of light-toned grained material set off by aluminum trim.

If you compare the GLK with a like-priced popular competitor, the Acura RDX, its external dimensions are similar, except for two measurements. The GLK has a significantly longer wheelbase and more ground clearance. The extra-long wheelbase makes possible excellent highway ride characteristics and the added under-carriage clearance comes in handy if you wander off the paved trail.

Under the hood, the GLK has a 3.5-litre V6 engine that out-muscles the four-cylinder turbo in the RDX – it can propel the GLK to 100 km/hour in less than seven seconds. The GLK’s Energuide fuel consumption figures are 13.3/9.6 L/100 km (city/highway), not much more than the RDX’s 12.5/9.3 L/100 km (city/highway). The GLK’s longitudinally positioned engine, transmission and transfer case also offer advantages over a transversely positioned drive unit.

Mercedes’ fourth-generation 4Matic all-wheel-drive system normally apportions 45 per cent of the drive to the front wheels and 55 per cent to the rear. A number of overlapping electronic systems take care of stability and traction and a newly developed multi-disc clutch in the centre differential takes care of torque distribution between the front and rear axle. The GLK’s maximum tow rating is 1,588 kilograms (3500 lbs).

The Agility Control suspension in the GLK offers what’s called “amplitude-dependent damping.” During normal driving the system responds softly, but during more spirited driving the dampers adjust to a harder setting for optimum handling stability.