Compromise nothing

What we like:

Superbly built and feels more like a rear-wheel drive car most of the time

What we dislike:

No gear lever to rest your left hand on; COMAND still needs work

How does it feel to drive? In a word – excellent.

It rides with what can only be described as a characteristic Germanic solidity; feels every bit as expensive as it is and brings a sense of composure and control that is prized amongst the rich and successful which in turn has made Mercedes quite the same.

The AMG Line brings with it sports suspension which while not adjustable is very well adjusted for the task of delivering great handling and body control without compromising ride comfort. It’s much on the firmer side of things for sure, but it never gets to the point where you’d call it quits and get out of the car even on old back roads and industrial parks with plenty of potholes.

One of the first things you’ll notice with this car is just how heavy it feels. The brakes while possessing good feel and plenty of initial stopping power struggle when you stomp hard at the last minute where you can tell the car is packing some serious inertia.

While the car sits at a reasonable 1735 kg on the kerb, it sits pretty high up because it comes loaded and ready to take on the big outdoors. In the real world however, this equates to being easy to make the car break traction if you turn it in too eagerly even at speeds that even larger sedans will shrug off. This can actually be quite fun on a twisty and secluded stretch of road because the car while is all-wheel drive it is very tail happy with 55% of maximum power sent to the rear.

The chassis is stiff as you’d expect and much like the AMG GLE Coupe is deceptively fun to drive despite what its looks suggest. It’s also easy to control and predict, which add more to the GLC’s credit.

There’s a whole host of modes to select from driving dynamics to off road control and downhill speed regulation; the car surprisingly doesn’t quite feel underpowered with 211 and 350 horses and torques respectively.

If there’s one let down though, it would be the gearbox. More accurately described as a 7+2G-TRONIC you never really get to use all the gears because it starts in second and ninth is only engaged when you exceed the speed limit quite a bit. And because the engine cruises at around 1750 rpm, you don’t get to save fuel from particularly low engine revs unlike the kind of technology found in an 8-speed BMW X5.

So while the nine ratios in the gearbox are quite irrelevant here, it remains the only negative in an otherwise perfectly brilliant. How about finding how much it will set you back each month?

Credits: Story and Photos by Alvan Sio