BRABUS MERCEDES BENZ GLK V8 6.1 Review

When it comes to the comfort the Brabus GLK V8 provides, there's isn't much more you could ask for, honestly. Sure, the tire walls could have a bigger height, while the 22 inch black painted alloy rims could have probably looked reasonably similar in only a 20 inch guise, but putting low speed suspension comfort aside, the GLK V8 is far from being a weekend supercar. It's highly usable on a day to day basis - even in the winter thanks to the 4MATIC all-wheel drive system – and the comfort it provides isn't all that different from a regular sports SUV like the Cayenne Turbo, the BMW X5 M or the Mercedes-Benz ML 63 AMG.

The real difference in the comfort chapter between the aforementioned SUVs and the Brabus GLK V8 is of course the interior ambiance. No matter how many exclusive options you tick on an average, mass-produced car, it will never look nearly as good as something which was hand assembled by passionate workers who are masters in their field of expertise.

The plush but supportive leather seats are perfect for both cruising long distances at high speed and having fun on some deserted back roads, while the almost seamless-shifting seven-speed automatic transmission doesn't have a single moment when it could get in the way of serene, comfortable driving. The leather-packed steering wheels is a bit too large for our taste, but that is more of a Mercedes-Benz trademark, so we can't really complain.

The Thermotronic tri-zone automatic climate control system is one of the best examples of over-the-top engineering at Mercedes-Benz, and it improves interior comfort in ways you never thought possible. Beside having three separate zones passengers can control individually, it can even calculate the angle in which the sun rays hit the vehicle's windows. All in all, this is a very, very comfortable car, though suspension wise it's not exactly a flying carpet.

As you all know by now, the Mercedes-Benz GLK uses a modified C-Klasse platform, so both models are being manufactured on a single production line at the Bremen plant, in Germany. In the eyes of purists, this can only mean one thing: that the GLK is nothing but a C-Klasse T-Modell with all-wheel drive on stilts, therefore it shouldn't be called a real SUV.

Well, let's say that they are and they aren't right. First of all, by using a modified suspension that is closely related to a sedan, the GLK has a much better DNA for tackling the roads on which most users will drive the car. It's actually a crossover, not an all-out SUV. That doesn't mean that it will get stuck in the first muddy road it encounters. While having the right tires, of course.

The increased ride height is almost as big as on any modern SUV, albeit our test car has been lowered by Brabus a little bit in order to increase road-holding. The naturally-aspirated 6.1-liter V8 engine is a bespoke unit and it uses the M273 5.5-liter Mercedes-Benz V8 engine as a base. Instead of the already class-leading 388 horsepower and 530 Nm (390.9 lb ft) the original tri-star engine provides, the 6.1-liter Brabus powerplant delivers no less than 462 HP and 615 Nm (453.6 lb ft) of Earth-moving torque.

By correlating these numbers with a dry weight of 1880 kilograms (4144 pounds), the 5.2 seconds required to go from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) seem even more fantastic, while the 265 km/h (165 mph) top speed is nothing to be ashamed of. This is one mean machine.

The seven-speed 7 G-Tronic automatic transmission still uses an old-school torque converter but it can be locked in any gear and the gear shifting is almost seamless. Along with the humongous torque, this translates into both speed and comfort, no matter what gear you're in.

A bit obvious, Brabus chose a fully-loaded GLK to almost transform into an all-out all-wheel drive supercar. One of the most impressive gadgets on our test car was probably the three-zone Thermotronic automatic climate control system. Besides being just a regular automatic AC unit that splits into three separately-controlled zones, the Thermotronic actually uses its own sensors and ECU to keep the interior temperature steady no matter the outside weather conditions.

Another highly mentionable thingamajib is of course the Intelligent Lighting System with bi-xenon, which not only lights around corners, but it also automatically reduces or increases the headlight beam depending on the weather and driving conditions as to not blind the oncoming drivers. Pretty neat option, if you ask us.

We were also greeted by a number of other gizmos, from which quite a lot stood out. There was, for example, a Comand APS multimedia system with Mercedes-Benz's version of BMW's iDrive or Audi's MMI, two heated and electrically adjustable front seats with memory package, an electrically adjustable steering wheel and light and rain sensors.

On top of that, we also had a very useful parking package, which includes both front and rear parking sensors and a camera for reverse. The panoramic sliding glass-sunroof can also make you feel like in a convertible, or at least a Targa model, while the Harman Kardon LOGIC 7 surround sound system is most likely to be absolutely loved by audiophiles. On the whole, as you can probably tell, there weren't that many gadgets missing from our test car.

The Mercedes-Benz GLK was tested about two years ago by the EuroNCAP, scoring almost full points and five stars out of five. However, in 2010 the thresholds for the different star ratings at EuroNCAP have been increased, so most of the "old" crash tests were reevaluated, including the GLK ones.

Apparently, even though the 2010 requirements were quite a bit more demanding, the GLK passed the test with flying colors once again. Only the pedestrian tests were not repeated since the results for the other previous tests were sufficient for the new requirements. The overall crash test results were almost identical as the ones of the self-proclaimed segment leader in safety, the Volvo XC60.

Our Brabus GLK V8 test car was fitted with no less than seven standard airbags. There were two dual-stage frontal airbags, two thorax airbags, two side head airbags and a driver knee airbag. Not to mention the front seatbelt pretentioners with load limiters and a pretty stable protection cell. If that's not enough, there are also a bunch of active safety systems on board, starting from the ever-present ABS with emergency brake assist to the standard electronic stability control system.

It's very hard to choose a single great thing about the Brabus GLK V8. Some of us were excited by the flawless luxurious and highly opulent interior, while others fell in love with the Widestar body-kit and the 22-inch glossy black wheels. The Porsche-territory performance numbers are no mean feat either, especially since we're talking about a rather heavy all-wheel drive crossover. In the end, there was a close tie between the craftsmanship of the hand-sewn leather upholstery, the look of the checkered-pattern carbon fiber inserts and the unholy sound of the quad-tip exhaust. We're not yet sure, but the downright scary exhaust sound might have won by a hair.

The only bad thing about the Brabus GLK V8 is obviously its selling price. At almost 200,000 Euros, this isn't something everyone with money for a premium SUV can buy. It's a supercar price for a super-crossover. Sure, after taking a short peek inside, experiencing the power/torque and hearing just for a brief moment the sound of the exhaust you might be instantly inclined to search for your check book. No matter what's already been said about it, this is a very expensive car.

The only ugly bit we could find about it is probably the fact that its design becomes even more controversial with the Brabus Widestar body-kit. It was after all designed with some cues from the Bauhaus-like G-Klasse, which itself isn't exactly known as the most elegant vehicle out there. Not to say that the GLK has the face only a mother could love or that it has fell from the ugly tree, but it sure isn't a handsome car. If it hadn't been for the contrasting black-colored bits on the car, the white color wouldn't have helped it much in this chapter either.