GLC 43 a perfect driving storm
The GLC fauxcoupe now has an AMG-branded hero model to put the sport into SUV. It ups the fun factor, says Paul Owen.
As a nation, we’re quite partial to the higher-performance Mercedes models that bear the stamp of the little satellite village of Affalterbach.
Located within the orbit of the metropolis that is the ground zero of Mercedes-Benz, Stuttgart; Affalterbach is the home of AMG, the company that has been turning out enhanced products bearing the three-pointed star since the 1960s. It’s now grown into a Daimler-owned subsidiary that employs 1100 people, having been started in 1965 by two disgruntled engineers, Hans Werner Aufrecht (A) and Erhard Melcher (M), who set up a race engine shop in Aufrecht’s house in nearby Grossaspach (G), when Daimler-Benz suddenly withdrew from all motorsport activities.
AMG is now such a monster brand within the wider Daimler AG empire that the once-welcoming factory in Affalterbach is currently closed to visitors so that a huge expansion can be completed that will likely double both the workforce that it employs and the number of Mercedes-AMG cars that it builds.
Waiting eagerly to receive those cars will be a queue of Kiwi car buyers. We’ve suddenly gone quite mad on Merc-AMGs, you see.
We were already ranked as the most-certifiable car buyers in the world when it came to the percentage of AMGs contained within our take-up of Mercedes models. In 2016, that AMG portion comprised 15 per cent of all Mercedes sales in New Zealand – the highest of any market in the world.
But last year’s rapturous AMG reception was a relatively sane one compared to what’s been going on recently. In March, AMG models accounted for an incredible 30 per cent of all Mercedes sold here. Such an uptake could be considered proof that we’re a nation of luxury car racers.
The cars that have driven that recent spike in AMG sales have mostly had the number 43 attached to the bootlid, like the GLC coupe you see here.
The number identifies that the AMG in question is equipped with a front-of-the-queue engine/ transmission combination – a 270kW/520Nm twin-turbo petrol 3.0 V6 driving a nine-speed automatic gearbox.
In the GLC coupe, this statistically-impressive combo comes attached to an adaptive allwheel-delivery system and one of the sexiest-looking SUV bodies in creation. Bring all these attractions together in the one package, and the result is further incentive for Kiwis to go mad on AMGs. Be warned that this one requires the payment of a $123,900 entry fee before you can join the party.
Actually, it’s not all that much when you look at the sporty-SUVs from Jaguar and Porsche that the GLC 43 coupe is likely to be compared to. For the Jag F-Pace S costs a further six grand, while the Porsche Macan S lists for $128,800. And accounting for the Merc’s extra equipment tips the scales further in the Affalterbach car’s favour. Whether by design or circumstance, the relatively-new F-Pace S is a pauper when it comes new semi-autonomous technologies, while the Macan is getting on a bit now and is crying out to be upgraded to the new tech. Meanwhile everything is present and correct on the GLC 43. It’ll completely look after you on a rain-swept motorway, and take care of everything while only requiring you to maintain a light touch on the steering wheel.
But that’s not the reason the model is driving AMG’s take-over of NZ Mercedes sales. This fauxcoupe is the full-phat AMG despite possessing neither the hand-made engine of a 63- or 45-badged Merc, nor the bespoke body construction of those models. It sure looks every inch the Affalterbach Express that it is, with its glossy black 21-inch alloys, quad exhausts, dotted grille highlights, and the way the suspension lowers the car when a sporty driving mode is selected.
Inside, the 43 is less sporty than expected, with only a chequered flag instrument background to immediately identify it from other GLC models. The seats do offer plenty of sideways support, but there aren’t the same lateralg-ready bolsters that you’ll find inside a 63.
Selecting the Sports+ driving mode will quickly remove any doubt about whether the GLC 43 possesses the Affalterbach virus. The V6 begins to noisily dump turbo-boost between every lightning-quick upshift of the ratio-heavy gearbox while wailing sonorously between the intervals; the steering has a directness and a weighting that’s rare in a car that can steer itself on occasion; the suspension hardens its actions and keeps the body roll buttoned down. The brakes are some of the best in the SUV sector. It all adds up to a perfect driving storm, if that’s what you desire.
It’s also an ordinary SUV when you want it to be. Put it in Comfort mode, and it’ll waft sensitive souls gently around, giving its best impression of a refined luxury vehicle while keeping the dark side well in the background. As an SUV, it offers plenty of luggage and passenger space for vehicle mounted atop a compact platform. There’s plenty of leg room in the secondary seats, and folding them down will give access to a handy 1550 litres of stowage space.
Given the combined effects of our affliction for SUVs and our affection for AMGs, it’s easy to predict the starring role that the GLC 43 coupe will play in the NZ fortunes of Mercedes during 2017. Any bets that AMGs will comprise more than 25 per cent of threepointed star sales by the end of the year?