Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 Review
Car Tested: Mercedes-AMG GLC 43; Road Test No. 908
Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 96.25 lakhs
What I really like about the GLC 43 is how it performs and of course its usable nature
Times are changing. Earlier, it was hard to find practical cars that would offer a good rush of performance and sporty dynamics but now a lot of automakers have been adapting and making cars that offer the punch of a good sports car blended in the package of a practical car that can be a daily driver. One such car is the Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 which is based on the GLC. In India, we get the Coupe version with the AMG heart and there are more than a few reasons why this one is such a nice package.
Motor Quest: Mercedes-Benz sells the regular GLC SUV in India with a choice of petrol and diesel engines but the Coupe version is available only in the AMG guise. The car doesn’t have any proper rival in the same price bracket but in global markets it competes with cars like the BMW X4.
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The GLC 43 Coupe looks quite different from the regular GLC
Exteriors – The design and looks department is where the AMG GLC 43 will make you go weak in your knees. The SUV gets a diamond-finished grille which is flanked by the LED projector headlights with LED DRLs on either side and the huge three-pointed star logo in the middle. There’s enough chrome detailing on the car, for instance, on the grille, front lower bumper and on the rear profile. At the side, is where the drama is all about. While the sloping roofline is the design highlight of this SUV, the 19-inch dual-tone AMG wheels and the wraparound LED tail-lights are also bound to catch your attention in a jiffy. The quad exhausts and the aerodynamics aiding lip on the boot lid tell you that this no regular GLC. The vehicle is available in a total of six exterior colours – Designo Hyacinth Red, Brilliant Blue, Obsidian Black, Diamond Silver, Selenite Grey and Polar White and is marginally longer and lower than the regular GLC.
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The cabin gets additional AMG bits and an all-black treatment
Interiors – While the cabin is reminiscent of the regular GLC, there are visual differentiators between the standard GLC and AMG GLC Coupe. For starters, the cabin adopts an all-black theme with piano black finishes in the centre console. There is red double stitching on the dash, seats, steering wheel and the door pads and if that’s not too colourful, you also get red seatbelts. The front seats are great in terms of support and comfort and get electrically adjustable squab length while the rear seat isn’t as good as the front. First, the headroom is tight for a person measuring 5’11” & above and second, the windows aren’t that large, so you might end up feeling claustrophobic. That said, leg room at the rear is ample.
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Space in the boot gets limited due to the spare tyre
Features on offer include an electric sunroof, 13-speaker Burmester sound system, 8-inch COMAND infotainment system with Bluetooth (not a touchscreen!), Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, electrically adjustable front seats with memory and heating function. The 491-litres boot ironically has very little space as the space saver tyre eats up all of that space. So before driving, you will have to decide whether you need the space saver or your luggage. Quite troublesome, isn’t it?
