I was pleasantly surprised with this article......

http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/news/...rc=syn&mag=rat

......
Since I have had long term experience with Diesels from long way back. My family have always preferred to have DISEAL Car & Trucks and they always turned up good value in long run...
I always wanted to own and buy cars for my OWN USE which have diesel and always ran into "MA state laws don't permit DISEAL PASSANGER CARS"
which seemed very weird. When the neighboring states had them and every truck/pickup that I saw in the area was DISEAL.

So it was glad to SEE/READ an article with REAL WORLD numbers and closed to REAL FACTS......but then am NO EXPERT in these matters.
From my research - paying up to 30K EXTRA for a 'plug-in hybrid' and then getting 40MPG = silly when you can buy a diesel car with any normal driving gets you 35-40mpg. Even if you factor in the higher prices at pump you still come out in front on average yearly driving of 12k
....sorry just my 2c worth.......

cheers everyone & happy Motoring !

 

The E class has the same engine and weight as the GLK but gets 10MPG more on the highway.. must be the brick-like shape

 

My brother has an E250. He gets about 5.7 L/100km while we get about 7.2 on our glk250(both highway only). When converted to usmpg, that is a difference of about 9mpg which confirms what you say.

These are real world numbers based on recent trips.

Best we have had, is about 32.5 usmpg. Not bad for a suv, but not great. A friend bought a Subaru Outback with 4cyl gas engine. He gets 30 usmpg and that is also the official economy rating for highway.

In retrospect, seeing we needed a utility vehicle, we should have bought an Outback and waited until our eclass needed replacement before buying a new Benz (C_class diesel?)

But we are enjoying the glk.

 

I haven't figured out the GLK yet. I have only owned it for about a month, but it seems like MPG is all over the place.

I took a 120 mile trip the other day and the display said I got 38 MPG for the trip which was mostly expressway driving.

Every day I drive to work which is almost 100% expressway for 100 miles round trip I get 29 MPG some days and 35 the other days. Overall average has been 33. Weather, driving style, and route all seems pretty consistent to me.

All based on the display. I will do some hand calculations over the next few tanks. Overall I have been getting close to 500 miles per tank which is great meaning I only fill up once a week.

 

We just got the equivalent of 33 (US) MPG on our last tank, all city driving.

I think the Prius and most plug-in hybrid vehicles are an absolute joke. I love the idea of something like a Tesla but the value for money just isn't there when it's double the price of a GLK diesel and then you need to go and get an expensive piece of equipment wired into your garage.

 

I really don't know how you do that. We now have about 5000 km on our glk250 and have driven it exclusively while we were away in USA. With mixed city highway we get 30usmpg max. On highway only, 32.5 max, mostly less.

These numbers are by carefully filling tank to same point each time and doing a calculation. Display may say something different.

I had hoped for better. Maybe driving at slow speed on highway may give better mileage, but we have to keep up with traffic so usually 70-75 mph.

 

Oh yes, aerodynamic drag is a huge factor in performance, especially fuel efficiency...

 

I believe that the motor in the E is also tuned differently, same torque but fewer horses under the hood. That might be the second biggest reason for the better economy.

 

RWD vs 4matic too.

 

Yes, we drive an all wheel drive, more powerful brick and yet get better fuel economy than any cute ute on the market. I'm happy.

 

Give it a bit more time to break in. Our mileage wasn't as good early on, and cold weather also impacts it, too.

 

Needless to say the two vehicles are not even apples to apples let alone apples to oranges. Perhaps the only real nexus is whatever mpg numbers they might share. For sure each car, Prius gasser hybrid vs GLK 250 BT should be driven within its designed operating parameters. I have to confess no real ( longer term) experiences with Prius. But I have driven it and have had them over night a few times, all tolled perhaps 500 miles. I do know to get anywhere near good mpg in a Prius one has to incorporate the egg between the throttle and foot concept. Diesels have a LOT more latitude

The observation of the tt diesel mpg being all over the place is really in keeping with the new car sticker. As folks know, the 14 GLK 250 B/T has EPA 24 c /33 h 28 combined. The RANGE is more like 16 to 31 with a high of 119. For whatever reasons, a lot of folks tend to overlook the stated RANGE.

That being said, I have only had the MB GLK 250 B/T for a tad over 550 miles. The first tank full posted 38.6 mph ( 509 miles with computer readings of 39.6). I like to break in new cars very easy, but the engine moderately aggressively with TDI's. I have routinely had the rpm all over the place from idle to (literal) red line (4,500?). Speeds have been kept low (75 mph and under) to give components an easy break in period. The emphasis during the first 500 miles is gentle tire break in and low wear per 1/32nds of thread depth. Another is firm but gentle brake pads and rotor bed in for longevity. Other suspension components benefit also. I am used to an 8 speed A/T, so looking for it took a bit of miles to get over.

So here is the "leap" a 3.0 L TDI, driven under "similar"? CONDITIONS AND 750 #'s MORE will post 31/33 mpg. (12 VW T TDI) The anecdotal range has been a high of 40 to a low of 29 mpg (over 54,000 miles) .

 

I've driven both a 13 and 14 glk250 and have seen a high mileage for a 100 mile run come in at 41.8 (under 60mph for the most part and on a couple of 500 mile trips at 38.2 and 36.3 at 55-75mph or so in the 13. With the 14 it's too early to tell as it's on it's first tank of fuel, but I expect similar performance.

The article if I remember correctly said the e250 had the same 200hp and 369lbs of torque. The aero of the E makes the big difference. When I had my 98 E320 I could get up to 32mpg on real gas(no ethanol), with my 05E 30 with up to 10% ethanol.

 

Subaru Outback is a car the wife is considering. First kick against it is the overall size, equal to a Saab 9-5 Aero Sportwagon which we sold. Now I have read the 2015 Outback will have the CVT transmission. One of the other Subaru models is offered with a CVT & paddle shifters (Forester?) which imo is silly. Dead in the water as a consideration as far as I am concerned & now with another year of the current body style a likelihood of another GLK but with a diesel.

 

CVT's are an abomination. CVT's with paddle shifters are just plain funny. How do you change gears when you don't have gears to change?

Gotta love marketing

 

The Outback with the 4-cylinder engine has had a CVT for a few years. I'm not even sure if they offer the boxer-6 anymore on the Outback.

I've had a couple of Nissan CVTs and have been pleased with the smooth, seamless operation.

 

They did when I was looking last year and from this Subaru.ca site, it seems they still do:

http://www.subaru.ca/WebPage.aspx?We...ModelYear=2014

In retrospect, although my GLK is fine, the Subaru Outback 4-cyl would have served us fine, provided more interior space and been a lot less money. Fuel consumption not much different, it seems.

Our 98 E320 still "feels" like a luxury car, but the GLK does not - it "feels" more like a utilitarian vehicle (which it is) - that is why I think a Subaru might have sufficed.

 

I tracked mine 250 from start, so the data might help you, should be in sigs

 

Speed makes a huge difference on economy - especially with the brick like shape of the GLK. I drive up and down California where the speed limit on I-5 is 70mph most of the way. Of course everyone adds roughly 10mph to it so the average speed is closer to 80mph. In my '10 GLK 4Matic with the 3.5L gas V6 I average 24 miles per gallon if I use the cruise control exclusively. If I drop to 70mph I get another mile per gallon. At 65mph I get another bump. The ideal speed for efficiency is actually closer to 45mph as if we could put up with it. I drive with the Info Cluster showing the "Instant MPG" bar and miles to empty. It will show you how quickly you can drive the number into the low teens.
Car and Driver had a good article on aerodynamics over the last month or two.
It will leave you wondering how slow you can stand it.

 

All states that adopted CARB smog rules effectively outlawed the sales of new automotive diesels until ULSD fuels became available because the sulfur content in the older USA diesel formulation would destroy the pollution controls of European smog compliant diesels.

Most of the vehicles I have owned since 1977 (The 77 VW Rabbit Diesel was the first) have been diesel including my 2005 E320 CDI (built in 2003 as a pre production test vehicle) with a cast iron in line six designed for European driving. It gets around 24 mpg in city driving but gets 40 MPG on long trips with the CC set for 80 MPH.

That said, my daily driver for the last two years has been a plug in Prius.
There was no way it cost 30k more than what I was driving since the Plug-In Advanced version came to $39,525 which was about 7k over the price of a regular Prius and that 7k extra was almost completely covered by the dealers discount from the MSRP and Federal, State, and CARB sponsored rebates with the additional bonus of getting a pass to operate in the HOV lanes as a single occupant.

The Prius Advanced version came with LED headlights which are brighter than OEM HID lights on my other vehicles and also included an HD based Navi. (but the Toyota is way more expensive to update).

The Advanced Prius also included Keyless Go and an Active Cruise Control with Autonomous Braking which was not available in the MBUSA product line in 2011 when I ordered the Prius.

Now my driving habits may not be the same as yours but I average 60.1 mpg driving in gas only mode with the Hybrid system disabled. I drove it strictly in gas mode only to get the gas engine broken in quickly.

In normal use I can drive in battery only mode for only about 11 miles before the system switches to Hybrid mode after using up most of the battery charge. Since most of my trips seldom exceed 10 miles round trip the car can go weeks without ever starting the gas engine and the rot gut regular grade gas the car happily runs on is about 30 cents a gallon less than the ULSD diesel my CDI or VW TDI's require. A full charge for another 11 miles range costs less than $0.40 so figure about 4 bucks for 110 miles of driving.
Since the last oil change service I have gone about 7981 miles and burned slightly less than 75 gallons of cheap gas. Because I charge it off a 110 VAC line its low current consumption has not been detected by the local electric utility classifying me as a high energy consumer so I am not stuck with the higher rate plan surcharge most electric vehicle owners get stuck with.

The CDI is of course my only choice for longer trips and I still love the idea of cruising down I-5 from the SF Bay Area to LA to visit my kids and getting there and back on one tankful.

 

Glad to see that CA & especially in SF pple haven't gone 'hollywood' and driving their STAR-STUDDED Prius where the Toyota and their dealers have done a nice MKTGing job with those people..... however try and BUY that same "advance Prius today' and especially in MA!!! I did price them and also did some very 'apple to apple' real-life comparison of 'avg daily costs' which included 'recharge costs, maint; insurance etc etc........I look at keeping a car for 10 yrs and thus the costs is/was 'compared over that length of time'. Plus the TRADE-IN price ! wonder who is that person who will buy w well used Prius with soon to go $10K 'battery pack'. Being a newly retired teckie geek.... sees a lot of pple bitter and very disappointed with their 'very expensive bricks' during my working life. I am out and about driving happily around AMERICA;s and spending my money - let them eConomey Grow! Yikes DOW drived 160 pts the other DAy ,,,,, oops I don't care I got CASH !! lol


Although no-one has ever yet thought of the possibilities or any complained about when there is no more POWER since there hasn't been any NEW POWER PLANTS built to cater for these 'added' PLUG-IN. I haven't forgotten that VERY DARK NY DAY......only cause I was there !

hope this doesn't sound to bitter ,,,, hate that taste happy motoring everyone