2010 Mercedes-Benz GLKs at the SEMA Show

2010 Mercedes-Benz GLKs at the SEMA ShowI went to high school in Germany, and I've spent a lot of time there in the many years since, so friends often come to me with questions about how Germans and Americans differ. I can give examples about our differences in employment law, food, or even exercise habits (this one's particularly interesting-Germans exercise continually during the day by, say, walking to the grocery store. We take elevators up to the gym on the second floor and then spend a half-hour on the stairmaster).But if I were discussing the differences between Germans and Americans to a car guy, I'd need to do no more than show pictures of two cars that Mercedes-Benz brought to this year's SEMA show. In the company's first-ever "tuner challenge," Mercedes enlisted the help of four tuning companies to transform a new GLK into something special. All four are creative and interesting vehicles, impressive not only for their workmanship but also for the short time in which they were created-45 days.Two of the vehicles do an uncanny job at demonstrating the differences between Americans and Germans' tastes. Many of us don't typically associate the descriptor "taste" with Las Vegas, and as you can imagine, each of these machines pushes the envelope for their respective country.In the German corner, we have the renowned tuner Brabus; a company that's been tuning Benzes to the point of ridiculousness since 1977. They do things like throw a 720-hp twin-turbo V-12 into a C-class-and now they've gone all evil on a GLK. This GLK is fully street legal in Germany, which is an accomplishment in itself due to the strictness of German safety regulations. Outside, the GLK has been widened by two and a half inches with enormous wheel flares. It receives carbon-fiber front and rear bumpers, and gorgeous, polished-rim twenty-one inch, six-spoke wheels. The front brakes are conventional steel rotors, but measure an unconventional 15.75 inches in diameter and are straddled by twelve-piston aluminum calipers. The rear brakes are only slightly less impressive, with 15-inch rotors and six-piston calipers.  Outfitted with air shocks and a custom springs, the sinister black Brabus GLK Widestar sits 1.2 inches lower than a factory GLK. Under the hood, the diesel-powered 3.0-liter V-6 has been tweaked to 258 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque. Brabus then added a urea-based emissions-reduction system to ensure that the boosted engine passes the latest emissions standards. The Brabus GLK Widestar will hit 62 mph in 6.2 seconds and is predicted to get 28 mpg in regular driving.Inside, the Widestar is jam-packed with gorgeous, diamond-stitch cognac leather-including the floor mats. There are something like fifty Brabus logos adorning the cabin, which is impeccably sewn and gorgeous.And then there's the American; the GLK Urban Whip from Boulevard Customs. It's no less impeccably crafted, but it couldn't be more different than the Brabus-starting with its bold white paint. And then there's the absolutely enormous, Escalade-size chrome mesh grille. And the wheels-they're twenty-six inch Asanti forged wheels that are so enormous the fifteen-inch rotors behind them look tiny. In fact, they're so huge that the truck looks like a cartoon car-a cartoon Escalade with a Mercedes badge.Oh, I forgot to mention one thing-the Urban Whip doesn't have a roof. Boulevard cut it off and chopped the windshield down six inches. A 5700-watt (that's not a typo) stereo system ensures that the entire neighborhood (or state, presumably) can enjoy whatever radio station the GLK's driver prefers.5700 watts. That's 7.6 horsepower. Yeah, it would take more than three of your lawnmowers to produce enough power to run just the stereo. The stock alternator in the 3.5-liter 268-hp V-6 hp will have no chance keeping up. The GLK's door handles have been shaved; to open the front door, you simply touch the side mirror. A motorized hood behind the rear seats lifts to expose the stereo's amplifiers. There are thirteen-inch subwoofers in the doors. The suspension's been lowered by two and a half inches, the body widened by three inches, and the GLK's street presence multiplied by a factor of ten.See the difference yet? Given a clean sheet of paper, the Germans made a street legal, environmentally friendly, bat-out-of-hell GLK that will no doubt run circles around the stock Mercedes. The Americans made a GLK that couldn't even run a single circle around a stationary stock GLK (its wheels are so big that it can barely turn), but it's the one that everyone will notice. It's huge style, little substance. And it's the GLK that everyone will take pictures of.Nobody makes menacing performance cars like the Germans, but ain't nobody put on a show like Americans. See the difference?Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us