The Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 Coupe will always remain very special to me. When I was starting TURBOCHARGED towards the end of 2020, Mercedes-Benz India had just launched it as the first made-in-India AMG at a very tempting price tag, courtesy of local assembly. And in January 2021, I’d driven the GLC 43 Coupe from New Delhi to snow-clad mountains in Himachal Pradesh for the cover shoot of our inaugural issue! Powered by a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine, it was quite the SUV to drive on that road trip. Not to forget, it also impressed in the mountains with its 4MATIC all-wheel drive, which helped us find traction when driving on snow. I thus have some very fond memories with it, especially since the GLC 43 Coupe was our first-ever cover ‘star’! The past four years have also seen the GLC 43 Coupe become the best-selling AMG in India. And for 2024, Mercedes-Benz has just launched the second-generation GLC 43 Coupe. But intriguingly, the SUV’s price has gone up, and the engine size has gone down! Reason to be worried? I had to find out.
First things first, the new GLC 43 Coupe looks a lot more alluring thanks to its more muscular design. It’s the rear end of this coupe SUV that looks more attractive than the front, given its sloping roofline, quad exhausts, and splitters. The new tail lamps help it look gorgeous, along with the ‘lip’ spoiler. The new front end looks more appealing, too, thanks to the redesigned headlamps and DRLs, Panamericana grille, ‘Night Package’ that replaces all chromed bits with gloss black ones, and the muscular bumper. Our SUV was also running the optional 21-inch wheels (stock size is 20 inches), and these add to its looks too. The GLC 43 also looks very good from the sides – it is almost 4.8 meters long and, with the sloping roofline, makes for a riveting appearance. This, coupled with the massive 265/40 R21 tires at the front and even bigger 295/35 R21 tires at the rear, make for an imposing road presence.
Heck, the wife even opined that thanks to its matte black paint job, design, and dimensions, the GLC 43 Coupe would make for a perfect Batmobile for Bruce Wayne! Its interiors are familiar-looking and standard Mercedes-Benz/AMG affair, to say so, reminding of the C-Class and GLC, thanks to its design and choice of materials. The flat-bottomed steering wheel is covered in Alcantara and real carbon fiber and also houses the two additional, customizable buttons in the bottom half, in typical AMG style. The center console is home to the massive touchscreen, which is your home to most functions and is straight off the GLC. The dashboard is swathed in faux carbon fiber, while its top half is covered in soft-touch leather, and this part also houses the aviation-style air-conditioning vents.
The instrument cluster integrates AMG-specific displays that look very sporty and also give a lot of information, including how much pressure you’re applying on the brake pedal or throttle at any given time. You can customize the head-up display too. Seats feel rich and are firm yet supportive, as you would expect of a performance luxury SUV costing north of Rs 1 crore, while seat belts are red, again an AMG trait. The rear seat is spacious, but under-thigh support could be better, while headroom is decent at best given the sloping roof. Features include Merc’s 64-color ambient lighting, nine airbags, wireless charging, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated but not cooled front seats, fingerprint scanner to use your saved settings on the infotainment system, ADAS (with the need to switch collision avoidance off every time you turn the car off!), and a 15-speaker Burmester audio system.
Headlining this generation change for the GLC 43 Coupe, though, is the downsized engine. The new 2.0-liter four-pot turbocharged petrol engine has replaced the 3.0-liter V6, but power output is up to a more significant 421 PS from 390 PS now, though peak torque is marginally down by 20 Nm, to 500 Nm. That said, you get an additional 14 PS and 150 Nm courtesy of the 48V mild hybrid system and electric turbocharger. This engine’s turbocharger uses a tiny electric motor to accelerate its compressor wheel and keep it spinning before exhaust gases flood it, to minimize lag. Clearly an ode to the German marque’s prowess in F1 and technology that helps the GLC 43 impress on the road. Performance is relentless, and you’re riding a fat wave of torque throughout, almost all the way to the redline. The engine also sounds good and belies being merely a four-cylinder engine, though, yes, I did miss the V6’s theatrics. The 9-speed MCT is quick to respond, and the paddles work well, but the gearbox doesn’t allow downshifting aggressively, even in Sport+ or Race mode.
Driving modes alter suspension settings, too, besides the powertrain, and Sport+ and Race mode will have you break into a smile on a good road, but the smiles wane the moment you hit a broken road. This is a performance luxury SUV, after all, and is meant to be driven fast, but Pune’s rain-battered roads meant I had to stick to Comfort, or Sport at best. The suspension feels borderline stiff even in Comfort, which also subdues the exhaust note. That said, the GLC 43 Coupe is no less than a sportscar on stilts, given its sporty handling. When driving enthusiastically, you can have onlookers gawk in disbelief at how well it handles despite its size and heft, and except for the tall seating, the GLC 43 feels no different from a sports sedan. It grips tarmac unbelievably and is also very impressive around corners thanks to the rear-axle steering that can turn the rear wheels by up to 2.5 degrees to aid handling.
This new GLC 43 Coupe is thus a pleasant surprise. It is wildly more entertaining and more capable than its predecessor, and feels even closer to being a sportscar now. The only difference is that you have to climb into the GLC 43 as opposed to lowering yourself into one. All that sportiness comes at the expense of occupant comfort and ride quality, but then, if you’re looking at the GLC 43 Coupe, you’re probably not going to be ferrying your family in it. Also, importantly, the GLC 43 isn’t assembled locally anymore and comes in as a full import, which has also driven its price up. The SUV retails at Rs 1.11 crore ex-showroom now, a significant hike. That said, it does feel worth the price, given the performance and its overall appeal, despite losing the bragging rights of having a 3.0-liter V6 under the hood. I should perhaps plan another road trip to the Himalayas this winter, then?
