Mercedes G. L… C. what’s this?
According to an unconfirmed report, a German astrologer had recently advised Mercedes-Benz to rename their SUV line-up in order to achieve unparalleled success. Merc’s top management readily agreed and zeroed in on a new naming strategy that required each of their SUV names to start with letters ‘GL’ followed by the alphabet signifying their relationship with sedans from its portfolio. And among other renamed SUVs, Merc introduced the GLC, a tallboy derivative of the C-class.
I don’t remember reading such a report. Never mind… so like the GLE and GLS, this one, too, is a rechristened, facelifted version of the… wait. What was the GLC called before?
Glad you realised, Mercedes-Benz never had an SUV this size in India before. It did have the GLK in Europe, which was a size smaller than the ML, er, GLE, but that too, was available only as a Left Hand Drive model. Despite being a hot-selling SUV, its eight-year-old platform had its own limitations and Merc never bothered transforming the GLK into RHD. So, Merc decided to kill the GLK, developed its predecessor from scratch, and made a global SUV that now carries the letters ‘GLC’ on its bootlid.
Doesn’t Merc have enough SUVs in India already? Was there a need for another SUV and create more confusion?
There’s no confusion – just more options to the buyers. Allow us to explain. To be launched on June 2, the GLC will finally fill in the gap left wide open between the compact GLA and the large-size GLE, thereby completing Mercedes’ SUV line-up in India. It was the missing link from Merc’s India chapter and its arrival will give Mercedes a fair chance to compete with its German rivals on price, product and size.
So, the GLC will now rival the Audi Q3 and BMW X1?
No, you’ve got your numbers wrong. GLC has the Q5 and X3 in its sight.
Okay, got it. Is it any better than the two?
It’s too early to tell. We’ve had a brief rendezvous with the SUV in a setting we do not have a benchmark to test it against. And it would be unfair if we were to pick one without a dirty dogfight, which we shall leave for another day. What we can tell you today is how it fared on Coorg’s twisty, serpentine mountain roads.
Coorg! What a beautiful little hill station – the greenery, local delicacies, coffee plantations. I’m sure you ventured out in the wild.
How we wish that was true. Although the GLC does come with Merc’s 4WD tech and different off-road modes such as slippery, off-road and incline, we ran out of time to go mud-plugging. The only off-roading the GLC did was when it was repeatedly forced to go off-the-shoulder by the brash Karnataka State Bus drivers plying on that route. It’s unbelievable how those buses overtake around blind corners at speeds you wouldn’t really… okay, some another day.
Coming back to the GLC. Yes, it’s equipped with off-roading hardware, but we didn’t manage to put them to test. What we did test however, was the GLC’s road-worthiness. And in that, the newest Merc SUV has scored some good points.
Good points, like 9/10?
Not really, more like 7/10. It could’ve scored an eight, but there are lot of factors that we’ve had to consider here. Firstly, the motor. We drove the 2.0-litre petrol and the first thing that impressed us was its smoothness and refinement. And with 245bhp on tap, there’s enough grunt to take care of your daily city and highway needs. Part-throttle responses, progressive power delivery, meaty top-end – it’s all good. But where it loses out is when you are in a mood for some spirited driving.
Like the way you would want to push on mountain roads, right?
Exactly. The combination of Merc’s 4cyl petrol, 9-speed gearbox and suspension setup is excellent for the urban grind and regular highway drives. But it’s not the best in the business when it comes to the twisties. The gearbox does its job really well but the motor and softer ride somehow spoils the fun. The motor happily sprints to its red line of 6500rpm in lower gears, but then, it lacks that sense of urgency. Even in the spiciest of drive modes(Sport+), the GLC’s performance can at best be rated as ‘single red chilli' hot. Yes, it gets up to speed quickly as compared to ‘Comfort’, but there’s a certain degree of calmness in the way it hits the ton. It’s all too poised and graceful, even when you want it to be a bit of a hooligan.
So you don’t like it because it’s calm and composed? Strange!
No, we like the GLC for its overall demeanour, its ability to cruise at triple digit speed, but that mad rush is something that we miss. On a narrow, two-way highway, it's not easy to pull off that spectacular overtaking move, if you know what we mean, and it doesn’t give you the confidence of filling up a fast fading gap. Sure, paddle shifts do let you take greater control over the proceedings, and in Sport+ there’s a tiny shove in the back with every gear change. But even that can’t be termed as super-exciting.
Anything wrong with the steering feel?
Definitely not. In fact, it’s nice and progressive with a lot of feel at all times. Even around tight corners, it stays consistent, without any sort of lag. But there’s understeer when you’re pushing it hard, and that, to an extent, forces you to take it easy.
Understeer? Isn’t this AWD?
Yes it is, with a rear bias. But even then, it doesn’t drive like it is on rails. Plus, due to its dimensions, there’s more than just a hint of body roll around corners. Also, while Merc lets you alter drive modes, it doesn’t let you tighten the spring ratings, and that doesn’t help the GLC’s agility either. In the trade off, the SUV offers excellent ride comfort, at all times.
Sofa-like?
It’s a Merc, not a Maybach. But yes, it does soak up road irregularities without batting an eyelid and even on the broken roads around the hilly town, the GLC made sure its occupants had a comfortable journey. Sure, there’s occasional pitching, but it isn’t anything that would put you off. Plus, there’s a greater sense of space and enough room to comfortably seat four adults. Leg-, head-, and shoulder-room are top-class, and so is the seat comfort. Typical of Mercedes SUVs, nothing much to complain here.
What about the design? You haven’t spoken a word on that, yet.
That’s because you didn’t ask. Now that you have, let’s talk about its styling. Interior first, because the GLC’s cabin is by far the best-looking cabin you can find in this class. It’s a mirror image of the C-class’ – tastefully designed, well put together, and a great mix of materials. Back in 2014, the C-Class had won TG’s Interior design of the Year award. Need we say anything more?
And the exterior design?
Yes, that’s good too. The most striking part being the rear styling - it isn’t a typical SUV rear-end. There’s a hint of a modern day estate-like design, and when viewed from an angle, there’s a passing resemblance to the Porsche Cayenne/Audi Q5. While the overall design does carry Merc’s SUV DNA, thankfully the GLC isn’t a scaled down version of the GLE or a bigger GLA. Good job, Mercedes.
We’re assuming you wouldn’t know the final pricing as you mentioned official launch is on June 2. But any inside information that you’d like to share?
So, the first batch of GLC would be CBUs, called the Edition 1, and that means the SUV will be packed to the brim with every safety feature and creature comfort Mercedes is known to offer in India. And this should push the GLC 300’s pricing in the early Rs 50 lakh bracket. There’s also a diesel 220 d variant, which should be cheaper than the petrol by more than a couple of lakhs. But if you happen to reside either in Delhi or Kerala, petrol GLC Edition 1 seems like your only option for now.
Specs:
GLC 300: 4cyl, 1991cc, 245bhp, 370Nm, 9A, AWD, 0-100kph: 6.5s(claimed), 222kph, 1871kg
GLC 220 d: 4cyl, 2143cc, 170bhp, 400Nm, 9A, AWD, 0-100kph: 8.3s(claimed), 210kph, 1954kg
Price: Rs 48-54 lakh, est. ex-showroom
Verdict:
Merc took its time to get the GLC ready, but with good space, comfortable ride, stylish interior and decent on-road dynamics, it’s a great all-round package.
