Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK Freeside Concept

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What is it?
Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK Freeside Concept

What's special about it?
Although we've followed the lead of Mercedes here and classified the Vision GLK Freeside sport-ute as a concept, it is in fact simply a production 2009 GLK that's been tarted up with big wheels for auto show duty.

"Vision" is Mercedes parlance for such a thinly disguised production vehicle. Your guess is as good as ours — and perhaps even as good as Mercedes — as to what "Freeside" might mean.

Whatever the case, this heavily styled SUV will give the company a size small to go with its medium ML and its large GL, and is set to do battle with the burgeoning premium compact-sport-utility class that includes the Acura RDX, BMW X3, Land Rover LR2, and soon the Audi Q5. How compact is it? Well, the GLK should be right around 180 inches long, just as all of its competitors are.

Mercedes claims, "Indeed, never before has there been such a distinctively expressive vision of tomorrow's compact SUV." Um, OK, expect that it does look a little bit like the last-generation Subaru Forester. But then, the Forester never rode on 20-inch wheels. The Subie never had "Diamond White Magno paintwork" with a matte clear coat. And the Forester certainly never came with a urea squirter.

The first two items are largely the standard-issue filigree seen on all "concept" vehicles. The third, the urea injector, is part of the GLK Freeside's Bluetec diesel engine. None of the GLK's current crop of competitors offers a diesel option in the U.S., but its inclusion in the concept is a clear indicator Mercedes will offer it here in the production version.

The power plant in the concept is a 170-horsepower turbocharged 2.2-liter inline-4 diesel common-rail direct injection. Mercedes will likely also offer the same gasoline V6 engines that are available in the C-Class — the 228-hp 3.0-liter and the 268-hp 3.5-liter. The gas engines of the GLK's competitors (all of which are six-cylinder motors except the Acura's turbocharged four) make between 230 hp and 297 hp.

Mercedes notes that this is the first time its Bluetec emissions control system has been used on a four-cylinder diesel. Further, the company insists that the urea the system squirts into the exhaust stream be called AdBlue, probably because "urea" makes it sound like, you know, urea.

Just like the C-Class upon which it's based, the GLK has a seven-speed automatic transmission. The all-wheel-drive system distributes 45 percent of the engine's torque to the front wheels and 55 percent to the rears under steady-state cruising. This concept version also incorporates the same adaptive dampers and configurable integration of throttle action, transmission programming and stability control that's coming to the C-Class this year, only calibrated for off-road driving.

With short front and rear overhangs and increased ground clearance, even this C-Class wagon-based not-cute-ute should have enough off-road prowess to satisfy a clientele that's not especially demanding in that regard.

The production GLK will go on sale in Europe this coming fall and reach the U.S. a year from now in January 2009.

What's Edmunds' take?
There's nothing radical about the entry of Mercedes in the luxury-compact SUV class, except perhaps its heavy dose of styling. But like the ML before it, the GLK will bring the three-pointed star to a less-moneyed buyer. — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit