In “GLK Hands On 1.0” I gave an overall of my experience in the GLK vs the RDX and X3. A couple of things I will touch on is under the hood, driver and passenger layout, cup holders, and the trunk.
Lets start under the hood…
A few things to point out to you. First off on the GLK and X3 no battery to be seen. The RDX has it upfront on the drivers side…anyone want to guess where the #1 spot that is impacted when a front impact occurs? Well if you guessed front left you guessed correctly. With the battery placed there you could potentially have some problems if the front is compromised. First battery acid leaking out? Second there could be a potential for a spark? Lastly what happens if your vehicle looses power from the battery…cant unlock power door locks, hazard lights don’t operate, can’t roll down power windows, I can go on and on. I am sure you get the idea.
Next thing we are looking at is the hood pins or latches. The RDX has one (that’s required by law). The X3 has 3 like us, the difference is ours are spaced a little further out to the edges of the hood. It gives us a little better hold when the hood is closed.
Thirdly I will point out our use of dual bulkheads. The X3 and RDX have a single bulkhead. To simplify it even more, if you look around our engines you see weather stripping to help with aerodynamics (less air under the hood) and it seals off the engine from dirt and debris. Also, it reduces engine noise and any potential odor from under the hood.
The last item I will mention here that you can’t see here is the finish of the under belly of the vehicle. The only reason I am mentioning it here is if you were to look down through the engine bay on the RDX you will see the asphalt the X3 for the most part is finished from front to rear of the vehicle, just not to the extent of the GLK.
Moving on…