Engineering in a Tasteful Wrapper
First of all, this is a Mercedes-Benz, and that has come to mean solid engineering and tasteful luxury wrapped in a package that's often more conservative than it is beautiful. (Anybody else besides us who thinks the GLK looks like an old Subaru Forester?)
Built from a C-Class sedan, the GLK's wheelbase is nearly identical to that of the sedan, yet its overall length measures shorter by a whopping 8 inches. The GLK feels as solid and sure-footed as the highly regarded C-Class, but with more suspension travel and even more compliance on rough pavement and worn freeway concrete. Mercedes credits what it calls Agility Control, which is a fancy name for ordinary hydraulic dampers (no electronics are involved) with blow-by valves that offer good response to sharp impacts.
Until recently, Mercedes-Benz steering has been criticized as lifeless, but just as with the C-Class, the GLK's rack-and-pinion setup transmits just enough road feel to offer information but not so much as to be burdensome. When you're vectoring down the highway, the steering feels a little numb, but just off-center, the GLK's steering responds smartly and the chassis' yaw response is very good, especially considering our test vehicle's 4,200-pound weight.
The distance between the GLK's rear wheels has been increased by 3 inches compared to a C350 to improve cargo capacity and enhance rear seat comfort, and the wider track that results actually helps the GLK get around corners at the kind of sporty clip you might expect from a BMW X3, though without the BMW's choppy ride.
For a utility package, the 2010 Mercedes GLK is surprisingly well balanced, with 58 percent of its weight poised above the front tires and 48 balanced on the rears. It circles the skid pad largely unencumbered by a non-defeat stability control system, although its performance of 0.77g isn't remarkable. Through the slalom, the GLK is athletic, although its 61.3-mph effort again isn't outstanding.
If you were expecting a soft, squishy chassis calibration, you'd be wrong. Mercedes has done a superb job of balancing the GLK between soft and firm, doughy and sporty. If you want a busier ride, you might replace the standard 19-inch wheels with the $970 optional 20s, but we wouldn't recommend it except for cosmetic reasons.
