Test drive Mercedes Benz GLK class X204 since 2008 SUV

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We would not want to look for the king of the mountain in the recently formed premium segment of compact crossovers. But, apparently, it still will have to. Infiniti EX35 and Mercedes-Benz GLK came together in the first battle
I am not tired of appealing to the immortal words of Albert Einstein, who once argued that there are only two endless things: the universe and human stupidity. And about the universe, I'm not sure, I was immediately added by a perspicacious scientist husband. You can’t refuse your father-founding the founding theory of relativity, especially in the context of the modern paradigm in views on the size of the universe. However, even he could not predict how tightly the infinity would enter into everyday life. And there are many examples of this. Friday, stuffy summer evening. Trying to break out of the cottage, you stand in a traffic jam on the Moscow Ring Road, and the DJs of all radio stations without exception impactly and stupidly imitate vigor ... What is not infinity, flavored with a fair dose of hopelessness? The same story with a consumer loan: you pay it, pay it, and the end and the edges are not visible. Or take at least a banal classifier of cars. In terms of the number of species, classes and subclasses, it is rapidly approaching the atlas of insects. The person who has come to a painful vehicle is becoming increasingly difficult for a person. And not only with the choice of the most suitable segment, but also with the definition of it. However, in many segments, at the very least, we still learned to navigate. But what if the niche is completely new and the models included in it for the most part appeared on the market quite recently? Speech, as it is easy to guess, today will go about compact crossovers with premium prefix. Perhaps the only representatives of this cohort and, in fact, its discoverers for a long time remained the BMW X3 and Land Rover Freelander. Meanwhile, over the past six months, they have joined the Audi Q5, Volvo XC60, Infiniti Ex35 and Mercedes-Benz GLK. It becomes cramped, and therefore the showdown in this segment gaining popularity, we decided to arrange purely internecine and local, namely, to start with the last two characters Infiniti EX35 and Mercedes-Benz GLK.
Honestly, it is difficult to imagine a person painfully choosing too opposite emotions between these two cars. They are strongly not similar to each other not only externally, but also in fact. This is a different religion, a different understanding of luxury, different, if you like, a vision of chosenness. They are brought together only by similar overall dimensions and the volume of the engine, but if we recall the atlas of insects, they are similar to each other, like a bumblebee and a May beetle. They look menacingly, make noise and know how to fly, but in principle nothing in common. Each of them is the quintessence of something of its own, a continuation of completely different stories.
Infiniti EX35 aesthetically and emotionally represents the result of a victorious procession on the first generation planet FX, and it is built on the same, albeit modernized, platform. FX satisfied a huge amount of ambitions at one time (and continues to be shamelessly engaged in this), and therefore the seed abandoned by him did not disappear, but was fruit. It looks with a claim and a challenge. Yes, not every such challenge is able to accept. There is courage. Excessive, you know, not everyone’s smoothness is not always associated with a set of qualities that are used to identifying with crossovers. However, having discarded skepticism pulled by the ears and closing his eyes to a 15-centimeter road clearance, infiniti ex cash and even handsome. And he has been listed for some time in this segment, until a new class of cars of 4-door coupe of increased cross-country ability is formed.
If we assume that a 3.5-liter EX is a bumblebee with a capacity of 302 hp, then the 272-horsepower Mercedes-Benz GLK, the May beetle comes out. And in fact, GLK, created based on and, as it were, with an eye on the G-class, an abundance of straight angles can impress a strong business executive and even a simpleton. But this is at first. After a slightly closer acquaintance, you understand that the appearance of GLK is far from the aesthetics of the soviet shovel, like the South Pole from the North. Unlike Infiniti, which strives to seduce you with its unambiguous convexities and concaves, the grace of Mercedes is based on the purity of direct lines. Aristocracy from simplicity, but simplicity, in turn, apparent. Probably, this is the meaning of the capacious word of the breed. Even in the absence of a desire to sing the next and unnecessary, in essence, an ode to a large German brand, it should be recognized that the best guarantee that is fully traced in GLK in GLK is the best guarantee not only from innate, but even from acquired vices. It is unlikely that over the years, a serious image of this car will be able to suffer from the adhering husks of the husk. The Swabian automotivemen pulled out a painfully holistic image. You are convinced of this again, being inside. Frivolous roundness in the interior can be counted on the fingers. It seems, if the will of the interior designer would be the will of, not only the cup holders, the speedometer and a tachometer, but would also fit into a rectangle about horror! The three -beam star itself.
Penetration into the salon, as it is opened by Mercedes-Benz, causes a slight thrill. The reason for this is premium, in the spirit of time ineptly disguised as democracy. Where does this premium bring from, not even clear. The inserts on the front panel for aluminum are not impressive, in some controls, backlash and clearance are noticeable, in BMW and Audi they have not allowed such a long time. And the seats compared to Infiniti first look completely with benches (though leather), especially from behind. But you will sit in a chair, touch the Comand APS round selector, which can be controlled blindly, and the calculator immediately begins to click in the brain: how to reduce the costs of the family so that it is 800 euros monthly for several years to pay a bank for this. ? In a word, I don't want to leave these seats
Another thing is EX35. Infiniti is not up to sophistication. The Japanese have no time for her. The client must be taken warm while his mouth is open with amazement, the muscles are relaxed and the will is suppressed. Actually, you get to such condition in EX35 quickly. He appreciated the hospitable system of intuitive lighting Welcome Lighting, conveniently settled in a luxurious chair with perfect lateral support, envied the taste with which the tones of the skin and plastic was chosen, was delighted with the child’s interesting multicolor panel, scaled, launched BOSE, gazanel and everything. From this moment, what is happening beyond the borders of the driver's seat loses its meaning, since an exciting adventure called EX35 begins. Eyes, as in a computer game, stumble upon a speedometer and a tachometer only to understand how many lives remained and how many points managed to score. And such trifles such as the unacceptable flexibility and some slaughter of the casing of the central tunnel or extremely uncomfortable penetration on the rear sofa (where, due to the lack of a place for the head and for the legs, it would be better not to sit at all), remain insignificant and, in fact, nothing of nothing In this case, not meaningful. The virtual sensation is enhanced by four outdoor surveillance cameras that can not only transmit the picture of what is happening on all four sides from the car, but also configure the view from the top on the intra -axial monitor. The thing is innovative and when parking in constrained conditions is very useful. If it were not for the winter and forever stained with mud and snow, the eye of video surveillance, then this invention could even be used.
The transmission of the torque, the maximum value of which is 341 Nm, is occupied by a 5-band machine with the possibility of manual switching and the Downshift Rev Matching function (coordination of engine and secondary shaft revolutions). Largely, thanks to this approval, acceleration on the EX35 is perceived on an absolutely virtual scale as if after pressing the Start button in the NEED For Speed \u200b\u200bsimulator, a computer is engaged in a set of speed. The new 3.5-liter V6 deftly copes with the mass of the car and the riders, as if juggling it with a brisk transmission that does not interrupt the growing stream of power ...
But inside the Mercedes, the car is felt much stronger. It is the car, and not its full -size and trained, seemingly, to all the nuances and secrets, the Japanese version. Even inconvenience here should emphasize superiority. What is only a universal and multifunctional steering wheel switch! Its main drawback is that he is just alone and is responsible for everything. But then with it you can do everything. You can’t only turn on the heating of the rear seats. Although, maybe we just didn’t figure it out to the end ... And instead of turn signals and janitors, you often come across a cruise control lever, he is right at hand and instead of damaging or shaking now and then, you fix the speed. Movement on GLK is akin to the execution of the mass. The car is respectable, like a shepherd, and obediently, like a church choir. The radius of the turn and visibility of the envy of all taxi drivers. The suspension settings are solemn, no buildup or chatter, but reactions to the steering wheel, nevertheless, are accurate, although the steering wheel itself is informative in moderation. However, one should not think that GLK is sluggish. It was created on the platform of an all-wheel drive C-class. And this thing, as you know, knows how to ride, and sometimes even very good. The apparent degree of GLK compared to Infiniti explains how we see a trifle with the design of the gas pedal, which stands on the floor, as in the cabin of the Ikarus. For some reason, I do not want to overcome its rigidity, pushing the pedal by more than a third. Well, if he squeezed it, then hold on: the pickup will be such that you will have to hold the pedal and further (which is also work), how to grab the wheel. It is no coincidence that for the GLK in configuration with a 272-horsepower six, an additional sport package is even provided, including a 20 mm suspension and low-profile wheels 235/50 R19 in front and 255/50 R19 in the back.
The only possible for GLK 7G-Tronic automaton has already managed to declare itself on other models. We are sure that no one will blame him for inadequacy, thoughtfulness and arrogance, and even more so here when 7G-Tronic will readily pick up a car from any revolutions, lowering as many as four programs. The machine is very fast, but you do not notice the speed due to smoothness, which, in turn, creates a feeling of the operation of the electric motor. The car accelerates without jerks and failures. Meanwhile, the 5-band EX35 automatic machine is hardly less fast. In a more powerful EX35 engine picked up, it should feel like a person with whom, in principle, I would not want to argue about anything. Life outside the windows flies past you somehow doomed-shy. At the same time, in the cabin, quietly, the suspension with appetite swallows small bumps (harshly shaking significant on the irregularities). The steering wheel in the context of considerable weight is amazingly informative. The brakes are pleasantly viscous, with a deep pedal. In a word, comfort here is excess and even more, which means that sooner or later the driver can theoretically lose the necessary connection with the road, that is, with dangerous reality. And who, tell me, now needs such a connection when everything that the driver had to track before has taken on electronics today? So, under the usual conditions, the intellectual system of all-wheel drive Infiniti Attesa e-ts (do not be scared, so they called the electromagnetic coupling in Japan) does not show itself, providing the car completely at the disposal of the rear-wheel drive. This fact probably makes the EX35 management intriguing and fascinating. The system monitors the road and, if necessary, adds the moment to the front axle. This becomes noticeable already in the snow, when a constant and irresistible desire to throw a coal into the furnace makes the controls of the muft with an electronics come to the rescue. And even during the work of the all -wheel drive system and stabilization systems in the EX35, the feeling of rear -wheel drive does not disappear. And for this, by the way, many are ready to pay.
The GLK can also be noted by the rear -wheel drive dominant, however, the superiority of the rear axle in the torque is insignificant: 45% in front and 55% behind. If on Infiniti, due to a relatively small clearance, we did not dare to climb the snow virgin lands, then GLK did not feel like a stranger on it, although it does not have a much large road clearance. In any case, for a car, on the off -road ambitions of which the seller is unlikely to focus on the buyer's attention (the angle of entry is only 23, small moves of the pendants, I don’t want to talk about the depth of the ford), very, very good. A number of problems will help to solve the pressing of the G button initiating an off -road algorithm ESP, ABS and transmission. The protective fiberglass casing on the bottom and steel protection of the crankcase will save from some troubles, but in general, the GLK owner should be far from the idea of \u200b\u200bthe omnipotence of his car on the roadway. This is not an analogue of the G-class at all. As, however, the Infiniti EX35, having bought which you need to set yourself up for the operation of almost a 2-ton compartment, but not an SUV.
So, in the end you can summarize the following results. Both cars made a favorable on us, and in places even an indelible impression. Consuming an average of the same amount of fuel about 16 l/100 km in the city cycle, they demonstrated completely different characters. Possessing comparable to the EX35 of dynamic capabilities, GLK proved himself as a standard of solidity and an example of autoclassicism. The Germans, in contrast to it, is not even quite justified and the places of excessive luxury and comfort Infiniti once again contrasted the experience, accurate calculation and maximum understanding of the psychology of a person who has matured to buy Mercedes-Benz. In addition, Infiniti EX35, the car is exclusively for a loner, and this does not quite fit into the concept of crossovers, albeit compact
Ilya Fisher
Photo by Yana Segal

 
 
 
 
 

Source: Avtopanorama magazine