Pursuit of Mercedes: The Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 Coupe

The latest Mercedes SUV to get the AMG tuning treatment, the GLC Coupe, won’t break any crossover land speed records, but it won’t break the bank either.

The Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 Coupe is propelled forward by a 3-litre twin turbo 367hp V6 engine that sends its power through a nine-speed automatic gearbox to all four wheels. This results in a less than shabby 0-100kph time of 4.9 seconds and an electronically limited 250kph top speed.

In isolation, those numbers are impressive but when this new variant of the GLC Coupé makes its official debut at the Paris motorshow in October, it will do so alongside the latest Porsche Macan.

Also announced yesterday, the Macan Turbo with performance package offers similar interior space and four-wheel drive, but its twin-turbo V6 serves up 440hp, a 0-100kph time of just 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 272kph.

But before those in the market for a sporty SUV start Googling “Porsche Dealership” the Mercedes has Porsche completely beaten in two respects.

First it’s a Mercedes and therefore at the cutting edge of luxury and of latest-generation driving tech. But secondly, though prices for the GLC have not been confirmed yet, it will cost roughly 30 per cent less than the new Porsche.

This means that, according to Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes AMG GmbH: “The Coupe is able to appeal to new target audiences.”

In times gone by, the AMG badge meant a massive, supercharged V8 or a monstrous V12 under the hood. But regardless of cylinder count, those three letters signified the pinnacle of performance possibility.

However, in an attempt to bring AMG’s engineering excellence to the Mercedes masses, since the beginning of 2016, the company has started offering two AMG variants (63 and 43) of new models with either eight or six cylinders calling the shots — think the difference between full cream and semi-skimmed — meaning that the calorie count is lower but the taste is still the same. Something that Moers highlights.

“The new GLC 43 4MATIC Coupe is characterised by a high level of agility and sporty driving dynamics,” he said.

Creating two AMG variations of each new model also means that the best (from a performance perspective) is still to come in terms of the GLC Coupé range at least. And that model will be a statistical match for any Porsche Macan or BMW X4.

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