BostonPrince

Hi All,
Drove my GLK to the top of Mount Washington (New Hampshire, 6288ft). The views were awesome.
Though I have driven 1500 miles, still learning to trust my car in those sharp corners. The Mt. Washington Road with no shoulders did help.
Bp

NYCGLK

Awesome, I gotta do that. Yea, heavy cars don't inspire confidence as much, GLK just doesn't ask to be abused, but can take some. My friend told me that I obviously didn't read the warning about rollover after a few ramps.

Baby G

Nice, I am going up north next weekend.. and will see how the truck behaves in lets say its more natural environment....

BostonPrince

I was scared stiff driving down, especially while taking the hair pin bends without shoulders at very slow speeds....has to do with my lack of experience with any luxury vehicle I think....but somehow I feel that a tighter steering would have helped.

Any idea how to make them tighter?

Also, I think the compass has a cool feature which shows the position of the forward wheels, cool I think...might have helped with those hairpin bends in very slow speeds if I knew where the vehicle was aimed towards!!!

But otherwise, the GLK behaved well, no overheating of the engine and perfect braking every time....

NYCGLK, does the vehicle have a rollover sensor that warns you

Thanks again...BP

NYCGLK

No there are no rollover sensors, there is a warning on the visor (a sticker type thing).

BostonPrince

thz

GLK4MATIC

I drove to Tahoe which was 7100+ ft elevation. There was plenty of power at that elevation and it handled the twisties very well.

BostonPrince

Cool, Did you have any trouble handling hairpin bends with steep down slopes at very slow speeds.

Leslielp

Wow 7,000+ ft, you would think that that it would need external O2 to operate at that elevation:

So you mountain GLK men please post pics of the view with the GLK in the foreground ...thx

hmmm these emoticons are so fun

NYCGLK

While we are somewhat talking about GLK's handling here, I did a try to avoid a slightly depressed utility hole in the road. Usually I let it pass between the wheels, but this one time I turn the wheels the last second to go around instead (going around 40 mph). No drama at all. When I did similar things in a Solara (with wide summer tires) I'd get a bit of understeer first and then rear axle would loose traction a bit. GLK just went around where I pointed the steering wheel, I know the speed wasn't that fast, but I expected worse reaction.

BostonPrince

The photgraphs I took at Mt. Washington. Most of them are in the summit parking lot. All these are above the tree line.

As I did not have company, could not take cooler pictures....Next time.

Bp

PS: Another set of photos in the next post.

BostonPrince

Second set.

BostonPrince

Baby G and others had asked me to post pics....sorry for the delay...here they are.
Bp

Leslielp

Thanks Boston, those would look great on the next MB GLK commercial :-)

Baby G

Thanks for posting BP. Nice pics!!!

MtnMachine

Just returned from a380 mile, one way run from Laguna Beach CA to Mammoth Mountain Ski area in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mtns. Sea level to 9,000 plus ft above sea level with four of the six hour drive in 100-106 degree F high desert temps. Route profile has two passes, the second pass going from 3,400 ft to 8,040 ft in 45 minutes, a thousand feet below the actual ski area. About half the trip is on US 395 in high desert and the Owens valley flanked by 12,000ft plus mountain ranges.

Along the way, you have several two lane highway stretches that require passing slow trucks or motor-homes, thus putting your foot in mpg. Trip computer stated an average return tirp mph of 64 mph over 380 miles. We cruised at 72 mph most of way with two hours of mid desert speed of 80 mph. Remember, we really put our foot in it to pass a couple trucks from 50 mph to 85 mph.
Ok, I hope I set the stage for my evaluation and my GLK’s trip computer report. Oh, our last trip to Mammoth Mtn was in my wife’s 2009, BMW X5 4.8, and yes the BMW delivered flawless handling, torque experience, but the GLK performed all challenges as solid and quick, with much better mpg.

Any questions about high speed passing power/quickness, steering weight, high speed curvy road handling break feel, ride comfort, road feel or mpg were eliminated on this trip. This vehicle exceeded all expectations. The GLK makes less roar than the BMW X5/4.8 when passing trucks, but it is as smooth and fast. The GLK has no problem with long steep grades. The seven speed trans is so smooth and can be played well with throttle. Oh, the upgraded sound system is amazing and road noise, even with the 20s is very minimal. Controls, command center intuitive, friendly i/f made my wife wish she had waited for the GLK. GLK took the high speed swooping corners with same confidence as BMW X5. The GLK was a great experience, in a smaller package. I was surprised how strong the GLK engine pulled and how quick it responded when you stepped on it at 75 mph.

The very vertical front winshield and tall green house provided less glare and a more open feel, much like a Range Rovver. BMW X5 is beautifull inside, but does seem more closed in. GLK is perfect for enjoying big outdoor vistas.

Now for the stats, according to GLK's trip computer. 380 miles, at 64 mph average, 24.1 mpg. We drove 380 miles from Mammoth lakes to Laguna Beach, without a gas fill up and had 25 miles to empty as I entered my garage. Our BMW X5, last Range Rover and past Subaru could not do that. Any concerns about mpg or range, with small fuel tank, are put to rest. I could not believe the mpg or range, given speeds, passing, mountain grades and small gas tank so I did the numbers. User manual states a 17.4 US gal tank, including 2.1 gal reserve. So, 17.4 US Gal X 24.1 mpg (according to trip computer) is 419 miles, which very closely matches my computer stats at trips end.

I have 3,200 miles on my GLK and appreciate it more every day. MB did their work on this machine in all categories. Is there anything negative we noticed? Yes, the sun-roof shade allows a lot of heat through. I need to find out if the sun roof shade and/or tinted roof panels protect you from harmful sun rays. Shade looks very cool and creates a cool lighting affect night and day, but not sure about its functionality.

I love every aspect of the GLK, design and functionality.

NYCGLK

very nice review!!! 2 questions.

1) How the hell you averaged 24 mpg? I've been on 300 mile trips mostly on highway averaging 21-22. I belive 24 is possible but not with lots of 50-85 passing or 85mph driving.

2) How can you see you have 25 miles left? Once fill up warning comes up, I can't use MFD except to see "Fuel Reserve" on it.

MtnMachine

NYCKLK,
Answer #1:The 24.1 mpg average was the going home from Mammoth to Laguna trip and it has less uphill and long sections of slight down grade from high desert to low desert. I know I must have done closer to 21 mpg average on trip from beach to mountains. I foregot to set my trip computer upon leaving Laguna, but I did fill up with gas before leaving and I was short of comfortably making it all the way to Mammoth by about 40 miles so I filled up with gas at the bottom of the final 40 minute climb up Sherwin grade. I really had concerns about GLKs little tank and range, but no more. Even with all the climbing on the way up to Mammoth, GLK matched my Subaru GT Turbo wagon in range and was far better than my our last Range Rover.

Answer #2: I drive with the trip computer screen selected that shows fuel consumption bar and range to empty based on current driving conditions. Even when the little fuel pump low symbol lights up, it continues to tell you range to empty until you get to 25 miles range and it blanks out all data and replaces with symbol of your car and a fuel tank next to it.

NYCGLK, aren't you the one that posted the pictures of the small tapizoid mirrors on your side mirrors that look like they were designed to match the GLKs mirrors?
I found the exact mirrors, they eliminate blind spot, look great. Also, for USA, using one of your memmory buttons as your passenger side mirror tilt down button for parallel parking works great.

NYCGLK

MtnMachine,
I see, this makes sesne as on my trip back that had more downhills than uphills I averaged about 24mpg.

Still not sure about #2, I will try to keep it in mpg mode, and see what happens next time fuel gets low. Can you switch views on MDF when fuel light comes on? I can't.

Yes, I do have those lil mirrors and they are great (best 3 dollar accessory). With them there is no even need to tilt mirrors down as I can see the rear wheel in them. It's just tough to see in dark. I don't do parallel parking, only back into spots in garages/parking lots. So didn't bother with programming M3 for tilt down.

MtnMachine

NYCGLK,
I thought the same thing about being locked out once fuel light came on, but on this trip, I hit "ok" and up arrow after fuel first light came on and I could schroll up. I will double check next time, but I definitely continued getting miles to empty readings down to 25 miles and it stops giving any data and freezes at that point.

Good luck

Baby G

+1 you are correct in this. You simply click ok on the warning and you can see how many KMs are left

NYCGLK

ohhh....thanks

BP sorry for hijacking the thread.

BostonPrince

NYCGLK, plz help/advice on the rear view mirrors that eliminate the blind spot...Bp

NYCGLK

Here you go.

So you have an idea what we are looking at:

Overall view in the mirror:

Close up:



And the other side mirror.

NYCGLK

Yea so I never tried hitting "OK" button. I hit arrors and nothing happened. But if you hit OK the MDF functionality comes back. I was at 32 miles to go the other day. Drove to the gym (4 miles away), and the miles-to-empty turned into little car with fuel pump. After the gym when I started the car it showed 24 miles to go, and then turned to the same car icon again. Drove another 4 miles to gas station, and filled 16 gallons (so still had about a gollon). The fuel indicator was slightly above empty line before the fillup. Sadly I average about 18mpg so 300 miles on one tank is pushing it for me.