2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 Coupe review: Vanity over versatility

Searching for a superior-functionality luxury utility automobile but want a little something with a bit far more visible aptitude? If you locate the normal Mercedes-Benz GLC a minimal too everyday, take into consideration the coupe variant, specially in AMG GLC43 guise. Its carefully sloping roofline delivers further pizzazz, while its pumped-up powertrain provides sufficient functionality. You could discussion until the proverbial cows appear household about regardless of whether this four-doorway SUV is really a coupe, but regardless of what aspect you slide on, it is both equally dynamic and upscale.

This Mercedes is straightforward on the eyes, with a perky bottom and smiling entrance conclude. For 2020, it has acquired a number of structure tweaks together with a new grille, an enhanced lower rear fascia and slimmer headlights for a a little far more menacing visual appeal. Black-complete quad exhaust strategies and optional ($two hundred) twenty-inch wheels intensify my tester’s normally tasteful visual appeal. But that drooping lid is even now a head-scratcher — if not a head-basher — to me. To be good, Mercedes-Benz is much from the only automaker undertaking this. The GLC Coupe has a number of soggy-prime rivals together with the BMW X4, Porsche Cayenne Coupe and forthcoming Infiniti QX55. 

Irrespective of its collapsed profile, this variation of the GLC is even now rather spacious inside of — cargo potential hasn’t been as savaged by that roofline as you could count on. The coupe provides around 17.seven cubic ft of area at the rear of the rear seats and about forty nine.four with the backrests folded. The normal GLC43 SUV is only a little far more spacious, presenting 19.four cubes at the rear of the rear seats and 56.five with them upright.

2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 Coupe: Increased style, lower practicality

See all images

Consolation in the GLC43 AMG Coupe is normally fantastic. The entrance chairs are agency and supportive, trimmed in MB-Tex imitation leather and Dinamica synthetic suede. If you choose a content shucked off an actual animal, a assortment of legitimate leather is made available for $one,620 far more. A tremendous-premium Nappa leather is also obtainable in putting black and white, even though this combo prices an further $three,a hundred. This vehicle’s entrance buckets are also heated and offer a great deal of bolstering without becoming too comfortable. However, the backseat is fewer hospitable, hardly ready to accommodate my six-foot frame. There is plenty of area for my legs, but headroom will come up shorter, leading to my noggin to contact the ceiling. Also, the rear backrest is too upright to be snug for extensive. 

Inside of the GLC is Mercedes-Benz’s new steering wheel with contact-management buttons. These minimal nubbins on the tiller’s spokes make it straightforward to navigate through the ten.twenty five-inch touchscreen infotainment procedure, or reconfigure the obtainable twelve.three-inch instrument cluster. Curiously, those digital gauges are not normal, they expense an further $750. The rest of this vehicle’s cabin is nice, with a great deal of superior-good quality materials and sizeable-emotion controls. From the air vents to the doorway handles, every thing is reliable and feels premium. The brilliant-crimson seat belts are oh-so awesome and match the contrast stitching on the seats, doorway panels and dashboard. About the only factor I never care for is the infotainment system’s trackpad, which can take up fairly a bit of area on the center console, and the black-colored ash-wooden trim. It appears to be like and feels a bit too a lot like plastic, but other selections are obtainable. 

For every standard, the GLC Coupe’s MBUX infotainment procedure is extremely responsive and straightforward plenty of to use, but it provides a ton of performance — potentially too a lot. In some methods, it reminds me of a computer’s desktop running procedure, given that it has far more layers than phyllo dough. There are also loads of shiny UI features and drop shadows which I am not automatically a massive supporter of given that they appear out-of-date. But hey, at the very least the procedure is tremendous responsive and both equally Apple CarPlay and Android Automobile are normal throughout the assortment. Just one case in point of how complex MBUX can be is how you modify the exhaust procedure or the dampers. I count four methods of undertaking this: dedicated buttons on the steering wheel, a rotary dial on the steering wheel, separate switches on the center console or through the infotainment display. There are also many instrument-cluster designs to decide on from, too. Communicate about overkill!

Irrespective of owning a value tag north of $70,000, my AMG GLC43 Coupe even now lacks a assortment of beneficial highly developed protection attributes. Points like lane centering, adaptive cruise management and computerized superior beams are not normal. Rather, these attributes, and other people, are bundled in the $one,seven hundred driver-help package deal. It looks Mercedes-Benz is finding relatively Porsche-esque in how it handles selections. For instance, they want $450 for ventilated entrance seats, $250 for a heated steering wheel, $760 for 3-zone local weather management and an further $two hundred for an emergency spare tire. Simply call me mad, but this things should be normal on a automobile that prices as a lot as the AMG GLC43 Coupe.

The good thing is, Benz hasn’t skimped out in the powertrain section. Inspiration is presented by a three.-liter twin-turbocharged V6 that is both equally easy and potent. Breathing through an optional and driver-selectable AMG functionality exhaust procedure ($one,250), the motor can make all forms of snorty appears when labored tricky. If you never care for all the theatrics, you can recork those pipes at the drive of a button, which can make this Mercedes as tranquil as Camry.

The GLC43’s motor provides a balanced 385 horsepower and 384 pound-ft of torque. Aided and abetted by a extremely responsive 9-pace computerized transmission with a torque converter rather of a multi-plate moist clutch, which is made available in other superior-functionality Mercedes-Benz versions, this automobile can rocket to 60 mph in just four.seven seconds, a properly quick (if not bone-crushing) functionality. An AMG-tuned all-wheel-push procedure guarantees this SUV can place that electrical power to the pavement, even in adverse ailments. If you want far more pace, take into consideration 1 of the GLC63 variants. They are propelled by a four.-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 that, in S trim, provides an extraordinary 503 horsepower.

Pushed ordinarily, this device is a great deal sporty, its transmission is easy and pretty quick to alter gears when you are in a playful temper. However, this gearbox is not fairly fantastic, as it has a slight lag when having off, when you roll on the accelerator from a standstill. This hold off is rather bothersome and doesn’t feel to alter even when rifling through the many driving modes. 

Grievances aside, this powertrain is reasonably successful for the functionality it delivers. The GLC43 Coupe is rated at 18 miles per gallon in the town and 24 mpg on highway drives. Merged, you should count on 21. In mixed use, I really topped that estimate, averaging 21.seven mpg according to the excursion computer, which just isn’t too shabby.

The AMG GLC43 Coupe’s adjustable air-suspension procedure provides 3 various damper configurations: ease and comfort, sport and sport+. For every standard, I choose leaving it in ease and comfort, which delivers a trip that is even now rather tuat but under no circumstances sloppy. It is really a minimal far more forgiving than the other two configurations, even though, actually, I never discover a enormous difference in trip good quality among any of them. The GLC43 is agency and very well behaved. 

The AMG GLC43 Coupe is about $three,five hundred far more costly than its far more standard two-box counterpart. My tester rolled off the assembly line in Bremen, Germany donning a $71,805 value tag. That overall contains $995 in delivery costs and just shy of 11 grand in selections, even though it could have been pushed very well into the 80s without a lot energy. 

Cozy and very well built, quick and light on its ft, the Mercedes-AMG GLC43 Coupe is fantastic enjoyable and suitably deluxe, but it is even now a product or service not everyone will have an understanding of. Honestly, I’d relatively just have the normal GLC and contact it a working day, but if you want a little something a minimal swoopier, by all suggests take into consideration the coupe.