{"id":4962,"date":"2017-03-12T17:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-03-12T21:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/?p=4962"},"modified":"2019-06-12T06:46:30","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T10:46:30","slug":"one-year-with-the-keithmobile-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2017\/03\/12\/one-year-with-the-keithmobile-e\/","title":{"rendered":"One Year With the Keithmobile-E"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So it&#8217;s been just over a year now since <a href=\"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2016\/03\/14\/behind-the-wheel-2014-mercedes-benz-glk-250-diesel\/\">this particular Mercedes-Benz GLK 250 joined my fleet as the Keithmobile-E<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In that time, I&#8217;ve:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Had a tow hitch installed<\/li>\n<li>Towed trailers full of dirt, gravel, other construction materials, and a small (but heavy) excavator<\/li>\n<li>Carried numerous long bits of lumber, piping, and boxes on the roof rack<\/li>\n<li>Hauled hundreds of pounds of (bagged) dirt and mulch in the back<\/li>\n<li>Driven on dirt roads in the pine barrens of NJ<\/li>\n<li>Cruised around downtown Manhattan<\/li>\n<li>Carried 4 adults around during the 3 months my parents-in-law were visiting from Australia<\/li>\n<li>Made several long road trips:\n<ul>\n<li>From NJ to Chicago, IL<\/li>\n<li>Back and forth from NJ to MA several times<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Achieved a maximum of 35.5 MPG (with an average of 32.4 over 12,365 miles)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can see, I&#8217;ve used the GLK 250 in all of its roles: as a passenger vehicle, as an off-road vehicle, and as a utility vehicle. The diesel engine has also come through for me and delivered that excellent fuel economy that I expected (slightly better than the EPA ratings, actually).<\/p>\n<p>Overall, it&#8217;s clear that choosing a GLK 250 as the next Keithmobile was absolutely the right choice &#8211; it has never let me down and it has shown itself to be extraordinarily capable in all the roles I expected it to fill and with all the duties I wanted it to perform.<\/p>\n<h3>Long Distance Cruising<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-front-light.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4972\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2017\/03\/12\/one-year-with-the-keithmobile-e\/keithmobile-e-front-lights\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-front-light.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"4592,3448\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.7&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Keith M. Survell&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;DMC-GX7&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1471542475&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Keith M. Survell&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;20&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.000625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Keithmobile-E front lights&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Keithmobile-E front lights\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-front-light-800x601.jpg\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4972\" src=\"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-front-light-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Keithmobile-E front lights\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-front-light-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-front-light-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-front-light-800x601.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-front-light-1200x901.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>This is where the GLK 250 really shines &#8211; at highway speeds the 7-speed transmission is sitting in its highest gear while the engine is turning a leisurely (and fuel-sipping) 2,000 RPM. However, even at that low RPM the diesel engine has oodles of torque available &#8211; the first (smaller) turbo kicks in at just 1,800 RPM. So if you need to accelerate, there&#8217;s no need to downshift &#8211; all that power is just there, ready to push you up to whatever passing speed you need without any fuss or bother.<\/p>\n<h3>Trailer Towing<\/h3>\n<p>Although it&#8217;s not the ideal tow vehicle, the GLK 250 is no slouch. With all that torque from the diesel engine, it has no problem at all getting going, even with a fully-loaded trailer.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-rear-light.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4970\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2017\/03\/12\/one-year-with-the-keithmobile-e\/keithmobile-e-rear-light\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-rear-light.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2685,2300\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 5s&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1459756118&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.15&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;160&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.033333333333333&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"keithmobile-e rear light\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-rear-light-800x685.jpg\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4970\" src=\"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-rear-light-300x257.jpg\" alt=\"keithmobile-e rear light\" width=\"300\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-rear-light-300x257.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-rear-light-768x658.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-rear-light-800x685.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/keithmobile-e-rear-light-1200x1028.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The main limitations on towing are the brakes and the hitch tongue weight limit. The brakes on the GLK are great, but the GLK is a fairly heavy vehicle on its own, and when you add a heavy trailer it does put a bit of a strain on them (there is no trailer brake module either, though I believe some aftermarket solutions are available). The hitch tongue weight limit is mainly down to the fact that the rear suspension is designed more for comfort &#8211; and thus, isn&#8217;t well suited for extremely heavy loads.<\/p>\n<p>That said though, the GLK is a very pleasant vehicle to tow with &#8211; it controls very well under load, and the good rear visibility makes reversing with a trailer a breeze. Plus, the AWD system means you won&#8217;t spin any tires when, say, reversing a trailer across a wet lawn into your back yard.<\/p>\n<h3>Hauling Stuff<\/h3>\n<p>You wouldn&#8217;t think a &#8220;luxury&#8221; SUV would actually be good at hauling cargo, but the GLK is actually surprisingly capable. I added a cargo area protector to the rear &#8211; one originally designed for pets, so it&#8217;s waterproof &#8211; and with this I&#8217;ve had no trouble at all hauling bags of mulch, bales of hay, various sizes of plants, lumber, bags of concrete mix, and so on, all without making a mess of the interior.<\/p>\n<h3>Being the Keithmobile-E<\/h3>\n<p>The really good thing about the GLK is just that it&#8217;s really good at being &#8220;the Keithmobile.&#8221; It continues to be such a pleasurable place to be and a true joy to drive, whether it&#8217;s a short hop up the street or a multi-day road trip. Overall it just &#8220;fits&#8221; me well, like a glove or a comfortable pear of shoes.<\/p>\n<p>Even when I&#8217;d only just recently started driving it, everything about it &#8211; the handling, the response, the placement of the various controls &#8211; felt intuitive and natural, and that continues even more so to this day.<\/p>\n<p>All in all, the GLK 250 just suits me really well &#8211; which is the reason I chose it in the first place, right? But the point is, even after a year I&#8217;m still very pleased with it, and I will continue to be very pleased with it for as long as I have it &#8211; which I expect will be a long, long time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a year of driving it, does the Mercedes-Benz GLK 250 still hold up as the right choice for the Keithmobile-E?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,408,403,159,404,409],"class_list":["post-4962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cars-and-trucks","tag-cars","tag-glk","tag-glk250","tag-keithmobile","tag-mercedes","tag-mercedes-benz","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/03\/Keithmobile-E-in-the-early-evening-sun.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pimUj-1i2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5864,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2022\/11\/10\/things-i-wish-the-keithmobile-had\/","url_meta":{"origin":4962,"position":0},"title":"Things I wish the Keithmobile had","author":"Keith Survell","date":"November 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"All the things I wish the Keithmobile had (but it doesn't).","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4989,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2017\/04\/26\/desktop-madness-vol-101\/","url_meta":{"origin":4962,"position":1},"title":"Desktop Madness Vol. 101","author":"Keith Survell","date":"April 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"After a lengthy hiatus, it's back to form with a bunch of new desktop wallpapers - this time the theme is \"the car I'm driving these days.\"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/04\/GLK-side-wallpaper-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/04\/GLK-side-wallpaper-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/04\/GLK-side-wallpaper-300x169.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/04\/GLK-side-wallpaper-300x169.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/04\/GLK-side-wallpaper-300x169.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2017\/04\/GLK-side-wallpaper-300x169.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6102,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2024\/02\/24\/mercedes-glk-250-towing-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":4962,"position":2},"title":"Mercedes GLK 250 Towing Experience","author":"Keith Survell","date":"February 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A while back I wrote about what it's like to use a Mercedes GLK 250 as a tow vehicle, and promised that I would do a follow-up once I'd finished a big trip I'd planned that would involve me towing a big camper trailer around the country. Well, that trip\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2024\/02\/50391143193_2493708ae5_4k-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2024\/02\/50391143193_2493708ae5_4k-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2024\/02\/50391143193_2493708ae5_4k-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2024\/02\/50391143193_2493708ae5_4k-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2024\/02\/50391143193_2493708ae5_4k-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2024\/02\/50391143193_2493708ae5_4k-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4816,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2016\/03\/14\/behind-the-wheel-2014-mercedes-benz-glk-250-diesel\/","url_meta":{"origin":4962,"position":3},"title":"Behind the Wheel: 2014 Mercedes-Benz GLK 250 (Diesel)","author":"Keith Survell","date":"March 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The little SUV from Mercedes that won the right to carry on the name \"Keithmobile.\"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2016\/03\/keithmobile-E.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2016\/03\/keithmobile-E.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2016\/03\/keithmobile-E.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2016\/03\/keithmobile-E.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2016\/03\/keithmobile-E.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2016\/03\/keithmobile-E.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5520,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2020\/08\/01\/using-a-mercedes-glk-250-as-a-tow-vehicle\/","url_meta":{"origin":4962,"position":4},"title":"Using a Mercedes GLK 250 as a tow vehicle","author":"Keith Survell","date":"August 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I've always tried to make sure I use my vehicles as more than just transportation - making use of the \"utility\" in \"sport utility vehicle\" - and that goes for my current vehicle (the Keithmobile-E, a 2014 Mercedes-Benz GLK 250) as well. I somehow imagine that not many people use\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6035,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2023\/09\/04\/behind-the-wheel-2023-mercedes-benz-glb-250\/","url_meta":{"origin":4962,"position":5},"title":"Behind the Wheel: 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLB 250","author":"Keith Survell","date":"September 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently when my car (a 2014 GLK 250) was in the shop having its windshield replaced, I was given a loaner car which happened to be something I'd wanted to get behind the wheel of for a while now: a 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLB 250. I was interested in the GLB\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars and Trucks&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars and Trucks","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/cars-and-trucks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}