Photo: Catalin Garmacea
The 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class may not look like it’s hot stuff when put side by side to soft-silhouetted compact luxury crossover SUVs like the Range Rover Evoque, but the three-pointed star managed to pull a magic trick on us. It may be 7 years old and the GLC will replace it in June, but the GLK still feels fresh.
In this piece we won’t focus on the oily bits. It’s common knowledge that a GLK-Class can be equipped with four and six-cylinder engines, a manual or an automatic, in rear or 4Matic all-wheel drive guise. What I want to talk about in this story is how ageless the GLK’s design is, a design that will unfortunately succumb when the Mercedes GLC-Class will arrive this June.
Though the side profile view mirrors the pre-facelifted GLK, the 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class is a nip & tuck job worthy of praise. With bolder exterior styling thanks to revamped front and rear bumpers, the Intelligent Light System headlights and better integrated exhaust pipes and front grille, this capable SUV looks at home both in the city and on long cross-country trips.
Vector in the respectable ground clearance for off-road duties, the visual appeasing running boards and skid plates that emphasize the SUV persona of the GLK and there you have it - a four-wheeled Bear Grylls wearing an Armani suit. If the square-shaped wheel flares were the equivalent of muscles, then Bear Grylls should go and lift some weights at the nearest gym.
From any angle you look at the thing, the GLK seems to be both capable and premium-feeling. During our time behind the wheel, we found out that the aforementioned holds water, and then some. While the exterior looks are bite-the-back-of-your-hand gorgeous, especially the G-Class-inspired cues here and there, the interior is riddled with poorly designed or finished trim.
The air vents’ shape different front versus rear, the aluminum trim that goes from one edge of the dashboard to the other can be scratched quite easily and the list goes on and on. On the other hand, the 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class offers both driver and passenger with that hard to pen feel good factor, an element that is almost extinct in today’s automotive industry. In any case, the GLK can’t be summed up in only 6 pics, the reason why you’re invited you to get 46 more HD-quality impressions of this Mercedes.
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