Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe makes the cut

A colleague asked me the other day what car I was testing. With him not being the most clued up on the trends of the motoring industry, I though about trying to explain what the Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe 300d AMG Line would be in layman’s terms.

Before I allowed myself to get tongue tied, I opted for the simple answer: “A lekker Merc.” “Nice,” he replied, clearly very content with what I told him. Petrolheads aside, not all people always understand complicated model names like this, so please afford me the opportunity to decipher it. Those that already know the specifics of that particular model can skip straight to paragraph nine.

GL are the letters used for Mercedes’ SUV family and the C indicates it features C-Class grading in that line-up. It therefore fits in between the GLE and GLA for the moment, with the new GLB arriving in 2020 set to slot in between the GLA and GLC next year. The Coupe part is self-explanatory, as it refers to the body style characteristics of a slanted coupe-styled roof coupled with more conventional SUV styling.

The 300d refers to where it fits into the range in terms of engine power. In this case, it’s the top diesel model as opposed to the more affordable 220d. And then the AMG Line ring to it means it has been pimped to the extent of R57 900 which brings the price of this particular model up to R 1 026 781 without any optional extras fitted. Welcome back petrolheads.

In essence, what a sports activity coupe sets out to achieve is combine the practicality and space of an SUV with the sleek, athletic design and sportiness of a coupe. And the GLC Coupe, which was recently updated along with the GLC and GLE, does both with aplomb, otherwise it surely would not have sold 1.5 million worldwide since debuting in 2016. Space inside the cabin is very generous as it easily swallows four adults, while the 500-litre boot will accommodate all their luggage.

On the outside, the distinctive chrome strip on the high beltline at the rear and the muscular shoulders set it apart from its GLC sibling, which means two out of two for goals achieved. The only gripe we had with our test model in terms of styling is that one of the characteristics of a SUV is ride height and we felt that this isn’t quite as high in the GLC Coupe as you’d probably find in lots of SUVs. And the optional greater ground clearance available in the GLC also isn’t even an option in the Coupe. But, in turn, unlike the GLC, the Coupe comes standard with sports suspension featuring a selective damping system.

This stiffer setup of the springs and dampers in conjunction with the Sports Direct-Steer make for great fun when selecting Sport or Sport+ in the Dynamic select, which also modifies the engine and transmission. Cornering at speed becomes ridiculously easy, but a great thrill nonetheless. You could argue that the suspension is maybe too stiff, even in Comfort and Eco mode, especially navigating it over the imperfections on our roads, but once you are enthralled by the car’s great handling, you learn to live with the stiffness pretty quickly.

Under the bonnet is a completely new engine in the form of the four cylinder 2-litre OM 654, replacing the OM 651. It produces 180 kW of power and 500 Nm of torque which is sent to all four wheels via the 9G-tronic automatic transmission. Mercedes claims it is capable of clocking 6.5 seconds over the 0-100 km/h dash and that is has a top speed of 231/km/h.

Although we have no reason to doubt those numbers, the claimed fuel consumption figures didn’t quite match what we achieved. In fact, the 11.1l/100km we achieved over the course of 397 km was almost double than the claimed 5.9/100km. And, in all honesty, we didn’t drive like hooligans and almost never took it out of Comfort mode. And a good deal of our driving was done on the highway. Had it been a petrol engine, those numbers would be perfectly acceptable, but you’d expect it to be much better with an oil-burner.

Inside the cabin it’s every bit as premium as, with the open-pore black ash wood/light longitudinal-grain aluminium that our test unit had fitted extra at R6 700. It comes standard with the MBUX multimedia system, but what is rather disappointing is that it doesn’t include satellite navigation, adaptive cruise control and Head-Up display. And neither is the sunroof, an optional extra at R18 000, equipped with an electric blind. But come to think about it, the GLC’s direct competitor, the BMW X4, in typical BMW fashion is also subjected to an endless list of optional extras which could easily rack up to a six-figure amount.

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