Mercedes GLC review: The £45,000 SUV is up against the Jaguar F-Pace and BMW X3 – but is it worth your money?
The Mercedes GLC is great to look out and with a V6 diesel means you'll be a demon at the lights. But is it really worth the rather steep £45,000?
MERCEDES GLC stands for good-looking car
I’M sure Mercedes was not thinking this when they named the GLC – but it really is a Good Looking Car.
It sits in one of the most overcrowded, over-subscribed-to segments in the market – that of the mid-sized SUV – but it stands out from the crowd with styling inspired by the damn tasty C-Class.
If you want some spice, you can opt for the AMG43 or 63 petrol versions.
But the V6 diesel-powered GLC 350d is far from puny.
It will knock out a healthy 255bhp from a 3-litre engine, which isn’t as comfy on the wallet as the four- cylinder 220d or 250d but means you can hold your head up at the traffic lights alongside a Beamer X3 or Jaguar F-Pace.
And for a car this size, you never really need anything that exceeds the GLC’s 6.2 seconds 0-62 time.
Anything faster starts becoming an expensive pi**ing contest.
Handling-wise, I recommend you splash out the extra £1,500 for air suspension.
It’s one of those things people are tempted to save on to afford other optional extras, but it makes the GLC a cornering king – far more agile than its size should allow.
Body roll is at a minimum and response is almost sharper than the engine’s power requires it to be.
Plus there’s nothing better than hearing the hiss of the air decompress as you walk away from it on the drive.
Inside, it’s beautiful, as all Mercs are. The sumptuous interior makes it easy to part with the £45K Mercedes is asking for.
The in-car tech is second to none and perfectly intuitive to use.
It takes a lot to make a big noise with yet another SUV, but Mercedes has delivered a car worth saving up for here.