Last year I drove a Mercedes GL450 from eCarOne for about a
week. That particular week, the GL came
in very handy because it was my daughter’s birthday and it was nice to be able
to load all the kiddos into one car and haul off to the circus. I recall writing a very favorite review on
the GL and till this day, it remains one of my favorite large SUVs.
Last week (almost exactly a year from driving the GL), I had
the chance to drive a 2013 Mercedes GLK250 Bluetec from eCarOne. At first, I was a bit hesitant to take the
little SUV because with all honesty, I never really believed in small
SUVs. I’ve always had a “go big or go
home” mentality and to me, a small SUV is almost an oxymoron; sort of like
brown tuxedo shoes or a wool swim suit.
I mean what’s the point of giving up handling, acceleration, and
sportiness for the sake of just having a little more trunk space and really no
more added comfort or seating capacity?
What’s the point?
Well, after driving the GLK for a week and really putting it to good
use, I now get the point. And the point
is that you don’t have to sacrifice performance and comfort in order to get
much more cargo capacity than say a comparably priced sports sedan (a.k.a.
Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-Series or Audi A4).
Hold on… Am I really comparing the performance of the legendary BMW
sedan to that of a compact SUV? The
answer is no. Rather, I’m saying that if
you want a car that provides you an overall excellent driving experience while
giving you tons of cargo space, then you can’t go wrong with the little
GLK.
From the outside, the GLK looks small when compared to the
average SUV you see on the road today.
In fact, it’s not any longer or wider than a mid-sized sports sedan like
an E-Class or 5-Series. Once you get in
the driver’s seat, the overall feel is still the same… you’re in an E-Class and
it’s not till you look over your shoulder and see the cavernous rear cargo room
that you realize this car is very deceiving!
The rear seat is again not much larger than that of an E-Class but as
far as cargo space is concerned, the GLK is phenomenal. Let me give you real world support to my
favoritism… I had the GLK during a week
where I was doing some redecorating at home and accordingly I used it for trips
to pick up various items. I specifically
recall one trip where I had two 12x8’ rugs (rolled), several boxes from The
Container Store, several large bags of household items, and a full load of
groceries. All I had to do is fold the
back seats down and everything fit with no issue… I probably had room for
more! In my opinion, that’s all you
should ever try to fit inside the cabin of a vehicle… any more and you should
have a truck.
In terms or practical everyday use, the GLK is a winner as
expected. What I did not expect is that
the GLK is really a joy to drive. I was
expecting it to drive like… well, like an SUV.
However, this car rides and drives much more like a sports sedan. In my opinion, it drives much like an E-Class
or a C-Class… the steering is very accurate, the suspension is tight and
responsive, and it accelerates very well for a car of this size. There were many times where I had to remind
myself that I’m driving an SUV, not a sports sedan. And I’m someone who is very familiar with
sporty driving! I’ve been driving sports
cars and performance sedans for years and I truly feel that the GLK deserves
special notice for being a truly outstanding on-road vehicle. I did not get a chance to test its off-road
capabilities, but I think we all know that off-roading is not the purpose this
car was built for. All in all, I thing
the GLK is a winner in terms of providing ample cargo room, passenger room, and
overall driving enjoyment.
The only quam I have is the diesel! I live in Texas and had a difficult time
finding a gas station that sells diesel.
In terms of performance, I think this diesel powered GLK was excellent
(power, torque, and economy) but unless you have plenty of stations around your
area that sell diesel, I’d consider the gasoline version. In either case, you can’t lose.
Till next time, thank you for reading.
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