AMG versus the GLE SUV
The GLE is no spring chicken, but AMG has put a spring in its step. By David Linklater.
The sheer volume of brandnew models from Mercedes-Benz over the past few years has been truly staggering.
But everything has a cycle, so one of the big challenges has been keeping older vehicles not yet due for replacement looking and feeling fresh next to the swish, allnew stuff around them in the showroom.
The GLE SUV is one of those models. It dates back to 2011, after all. Mercedes upgraded it in 2015 with a styling refresh inside and out, not to mention a new name: formerly the ML-class, it became the GLE in line with the company’s new policy of aligning SUVs with their equivalent passenger-car models (GLE equals E-class).
Now we have the MercedesAMG GLE 43. At a stroke, this new version puts the GLE in the thick of AMG’s latest ‘‘43’’ model series, alongside similarly badged incarnations of the C-class and GLC SUV (which is one of those brand-new things threatening to make the GLE look a bit dowdy).
Common to the 43s is a new 3.0-litre biturbo V6 engine making 270kW/520Nm, coupled to a ninespeed gearbox and 4Matic allwheel drive. Note the branding: this is a Mercedes-AMG rather than a Mercedes-Benz. But is it the real thing?
If you subscribe to the belief that true AMGs have powerplants hand-built at the company’s Affalterbach headquarters under the ‘‘one man, one engine’’ ethos, then no. That’s the way MercedesAMG four-cylinder, V8 and V12 engines are created, but not the 43-series V6.
That’s partly why Mercedes created an ‘‘AMG sport’’ subbrand for vehicles like these back in 2015. Indeed, this very biturboV6 powertrain has been available all this time in the Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 AMG coupe. But that’s now been renamed the MercedesAMG GLE 43 coupe.
There’s clearly been a change of heart, which may or may not be a result of the marketing appeal of the Mercedes-AMG brand.
Mercedes would certainly like to assimilate that experience and move on with its marketing. A press release celebrating 50 years of AMG that’s landed as I write this refers to the ‘‘43 series models launched in 2015’’, which is a bit of an alternative fact. It’s like that whole ‘‘AMG sport’’ business never happened.
The performance division would (and does) argue that there’s more to an AMG than just the engine: also suspension, finetuning and body modifications.
The GLE has a bespoke powerplant (it’s not available in any non-AMG vehicle) and the whole machine has been substantially fettled by the tuning division. So it works from that point of view.
Mercedes emphasises that this is still a model you step up into from a regular Benz, rather than existing as an alternative to the full-house GLE 63 biturbo-V8 job. You don’t necessarily have to live loud with the 43.
But if you want to, you can. It gets both Sport and Sport+ driverselection modes, Airmatic suspension with the Active Curve System of intelligent anti-roll bars that quell body roll in milliseconds, and a surprisingly angry exhaust note once you wind it up.
It’s perhaps an example of engineering development and electronics conquering old age, but the GLE 43’s performance and handling composure are both deeply impressive by any standards. Nor is the GLE obviously lacking in driverassistance and safety equipment. There’s no comparison to the E-class, of course: they might share a naming convention, but it’s one of Mercedes-Benz’s oldest models versus its newest and most hi-tech. The GLE still gets a wealth of camera-based features, including adaptive cruise with steering assistance and active lane-keeping.
Whether a GLE buyer who has stepped up to the 43 aspires to make another towards the 63 S is a moot point. But as they’ve both had the big tick from AMG, it’s impossible not to compare them.
It’s an undeniably big step, both financially and philosophically. From the 43 to the 63 S SUV there’s another $53,500 to find in the piggy bank. Incidentally you’re also down two gears, to a seven-speed automatic.
You’re also going from beautsports-utility to battletruck. The howling (hand-built, remember) 430kW/760Nm V8 catapults the 63 S to 100kmh in 4.3 seconds, nearly a second-and-a-half quicker than its V6 sibling. Still want those extra gears?
The chassis is also in a unique state of tune for the V8 model. It’s all very serious stuff and the thunderous AMG Performance exhaust never lets you forget it.
While the 43 boasts a huge catalogue of AMG-specific styling and trim, the 63 S ups the ante even further with higher-quality upholstery, more intricate instrumentation and even different body panels: while the bumpers are unique to the 63 S as you’d expect, the front wings are also bespoke, to house the wider front track.
Common to all GLE models, though, is the uneasy blend of new and old in the cabin. It picks up plenty of latest-generation technology, including that waveshaped Comand touch-controller and a tablet-like screen that runs phone projection technology. But Mercedes hasn’t gone all the way and there’s still a leftover plethora of buttons and dials on the dashboard, which is at odds with the marque’s new-generation cabin design.
That applies equally to the GLE coupe, although you might not think so from the wacky-racer exterior styling.
You can have the coupe in both 43 and 63 S configurations. It’s even more extreme, with 22in wheels and a more rigid body shape than the SUV.
The coupe commands $3100 (43) and $6100 (63 S) premiums. Not a lot for a vehicle so very capable of making a huge impression, although I can’t help but think that the whiff of old-school surrounding the GLE is actually quite appealing in SUV form. The coupe just seems to be trying too hard with hand-me-down bits. Unlike the similarly low-slung version of the smaller but somuch-newer GLC.