Gilbert’s Garage

Mercedes combines a hot car and a sporty SUV

Bright Blue Metallic Mercedes AMG GLC43 Coupe parks on Hawk Ridge, above Duluth›s East End. Photos by John Gilbert.

Mercedes Benz has maintained of a compact SUV that not only a consistent trajectory wants to fill a sedan’s shoes, onward and upward but gets both the 4-door with both its sedans “Coupe” treatment but and SUVs, and as a virtual poster-child for GILBERT’S the high-performance AMG specialization. the blending of cars and SUVs, the Mercedes more GARAGE The result is the AMG GLC43 Coupe, which is compact SUVs will do just the ultimate subterfuge about anything anyone could ask a sedan to do. A perfect example is the 2020 Mercedes GLC, which JOHN GILBERT to confuse the vehiclebuying public. AMG used to take the sportiest Mercedes sedans and is the standard designation give them a thorough for the company’s makeover for engine, compact sports-utility vehicle, and as drivetrain, suspension, interior, seats, a downsized compact, it won Motor and even the steering wheel, and Trend’s SUV of the year award when it then it also took on a raft of addedwas born for 2019. Ah, but now it fits on grooves, contours and special the mold of taking on the appearance identifying traits. AMG became so prominent that Mercedes took on its affiliate to make it part of the company.

Walking up to the GLC43, I was taken by the brilliant blue metallic paint — identified as “Brilliant Blue Metallic,” incidentally — which is not as dark as deep navy and not as bright as royal. As a compromise, it is a unique color, even to a blue-freak like me, and I believe I like it better than either navy or royal for a car’s exterior.

If you approach from the rear, you’re thinking that you suspected it was an SUV, but you must be mistaken, because that sloped rear roofline has a sporty-car flair, and those four silver exhaust tubes, and the rear deckled spoiler are further sporty touches. From the front, the thin grille is more High-tech controls, from steering wheel to switchgear, and to quilted white leather seats makes GLC43 special.

sportiness, so by the time you get ready to climb aboard, you’ve forgotten all the SUV-like traits, and once you get a look at the quilted white leather bucket seats and the high-tech, flatbottomed steering wheel, you’re ready to go. Swiftly.

Under the hood there is a 3.0-liter V6 Biturbo engine, which means twin turbochargers feeding the two banks of the V6. It develops 385 horsepower and 384 foot-pounds of torque, which is not only a perfectly balanced distribution but is another example of what AMG can do with a perfectly good 3.0 V6.

You start up the engine, and it sounds calm enough, then you engage the gear lever — which I find odd, no matter how well it works. It is a thin little stalk sticking off to the right of the steering column, right about where most other companies would mount a windshield wiper stalk, while putting the shifter on the console, either as a lever or a rotating knob, or whatever. This little stalk can do three things: up for reverse, down for drive, or in the middle for neutral.

My trouble is that when cruising along, if you happen to hit a tiny bit of rain, just a brief shower that doesn’t require the wipers on full, you might flick the lever up, or down, to get just one swipe of wipers. Except in the Mercedes scheme, that means you have just shifted the gear selector as if trying to engage reverse — a no-no, for sure — or reinforced your desire to be in drive. My point is that intuitively, you are choosing something other than the gear shifter when you move the gear shifter.

The transmission, incidentally, is a 9-speed, and when left alone it shifts with smooth precision. If you really want to get involved in the shifting, there are shift paddles comfortably behind the steering wheel, left for downshifting and right for upshifting.

In case all those features haven’t made you completely forget the GLC’s SUV-roots, there is another little button on the console that, when activated, opens up the exhaust system for a wonderfully exhilarating sound of every one of those 385 horsepower screaming for attention. Engaging a performance mode does the same thing, but the switch means you don’t have to be in track mode to get the impressive sound.

The AMC tuned suspension with airshock support that is instantaneously activated and quick steering that is a trademark completes the performance enhancements that AMG has implemented. If you settle for not overdoing it on the gas pedal, you could reach the EPA estimate of 24 miles per gallon in highway driving, with 18 city, but you could find restraint once you get the hang of striking a majestic pose as you drive

From its nose, the Mercedes AMG GLC43 personifies performance. The heart of a sports sedan and the soul of an SUV gives the AMG-altered GLC43 a blend of both.

around to your appointed tasks, opening up the exhaust for short bursts of performance satisfaction.

The reminder that this quick, swift, great-handling vehicle can do still more than the hot-sedan image, is indicated by the 4Matic designation, which is Mercedes for all-wheel-drive. Only this AWD system is another AMG masterpiece, so it’s all working to keep the vehicle stable and traction firm and certain in all conditions, even with lowprofile high-performance tires mounted on those stylish 21-inch alloy wheels.

Oh yeah — this is an SUV, after all. Just a swift, comfortable, potent accelerating, high-performance AMGenhanced SUV.

Actually, it is the best of both, rather than a compromise that fulfills neither. Does that make it worth its $63,000 sticker price? Well, that’s the standard price fo ran AMG GLC43 Coupe. Once you add on some captivating options, such as active steering, active distance assist, brake assist, blind-spot assist, lane-keeping assist, blind-spot and cross-traffic assist, parking assist, multimedia addition, LED lighting all around, and the Burmeister surround sound system. you have increased the sticker price to $75,955.

That’s a lot, and if you chose with restraint you could probably buy a small SUV and a small sporty sedan for that money. But you would not get both of them in one package.

Besides, you can get it in Brilliant Blue Metallic.