I doubt anyone at Mercedes intended the E63S wagon and GLC 43 SUV to be cross-shopped, but here I am hopping back-to-back between this pair of oddballs. It is because of the wonder of depreciation that there is a reason to compare these cars. An E63S wagon has an MSRP of $100k, which is a significant $40k more than the GLC 43. However, three-year-old wagons are available for less than $70k, making the comparison to a well-equipped 2018 GLC 43 less ridiculous. Plus, when you compare these vehicles based on the purposes they serve, there are a lot of commonalities. Both vehicles offer a mixture of sporting flair, luxury and practicality. Both vehicles can carve a canyon or gracefully play Santa’s sleigh on a long Christmas highway slog from LA to San Francisco. So from the perspective of my family needs and my enthusiast wants, either Mercedes can do the job.
(Honestly, I should be comparing a GLC 63 to the E63S, as then both vehicles would have the top dog bi-turbo V8. However, the GLC 63 was only just announced, and it’s not available to drive at dealers. Also, the GLC 63 is likely to cost more than a $70k pre-owned E63S wagon.)
Circling the GLC 43 on foot, the size and format of the SUV is immediately familiar; I’ve been cruising all week in a 2017 Audi Q5, and the GLC has a nearly identical footprint (and fairly similar styling too). I do like the dollop of aggression that AMG adds to the GLC’s exterior appearance. The GLC that I am about to drive has the standard 20-inch wheels. I prefer the styling of the 21-inch wheels instead, but I’m not sure I’d shell out for the upgrade.
Inside the GLC 43’s cabin, the space for passengers is Audi Q5 matching again. The rear seat can accommodate two adults and a center-mounted child seat, and the outboard adults will still have enough shoulder and elbow room between the child seat and the door. Front seat passengers have a good room, though space is encroached upon by the large center console that swoops down from the infotainment screen to the center armrest. I loved this swooping design element in the C63S sedan, as it allows Mercedes to showcase its beautiful cabin materials. Current generation Mercedes have some of the prettiest interiors available, with matte-finished aluminum brightening speaker grills, air vents, and HVAC switches. Switchgear has solid clicks and detents to give you tactile confirmation of your inputs. Plastics and leathers are of high quality. (Admittedly, the leather in the E63S wagon is much softer to the touch.)
Another pro to the GLC over the pre-owned E63 is the availability of Apple Carplay and Android Auto. These systems give your smartphone control of the car’s center screen and have much more interesting and useful navigation and multimedia software than what is provided in the manufacturers’ own infotainment systems.
I have to go all the way to the GLC’s rear bumper before I find disappointment. With me is the 25-inch roller suitcase that I use for benchmarking truck space. In the Audi Q5, this suitcase can be stood on its side, and the hatch will still close. But in the GLC, the automatic tailgate bumps the suitcase’s upper corner and refuses to shut. Limited to laying large suitcases flat on the floor, the GLC can only fit two bags under the privacy cover while the Q5 can swallow three. (There is ample underfloor storage in GLC, but I’m not sure how you’d put that to use.) Both cars are shamed by the E63S wagon, which can pack in three large suitcases and a rollaboard or two as well. For my annual Christmas run to Northern California, the presents would likely be spilling into the GLC 43’s passenger compartment.
We load up the family and dealership chaperone for the test drive; the salesman insists on riding shotgun. Everyone comfortably situated, we fire up the GLC 43 and head for the street. With the GLC 43’s elevated ride, I have good visibility of the cross traffic, and I don’t have to take the silly diagonal exit that the E63S required to avoid scraping its undertray.
Coming out of the Audi Q5 (an SUV with steering so light it almost feels broken), the GLC 43’s helm is a revelation. It is well weighted, neither heavy nor light, and feels appropriate to a car with sporting pretensions. As is the norm today, it lacks the effervescent feedback of old hydraulically-assisted steering, but the ratio is agreeable, and the GLC 43 turns in quickly when commanded. M3 drivers will be satisfied; E63S will think their wagons are lazy.
A bit surprising to me is the decent road feel coming through the GLC 43’s suspension and seat. Actually, there’s is more information in the GLC 43 than in the E63S. I can’t explain how the tall SUV on thick tires delivers a better connection to the road than the slinky wagon, but it does.
The good suspension feel doesn’t come at the cost of comfort or control. The GLC 43 has an adjustable air suspension that is capable of smoothing broken roads. It’s as comfortable as the Audi Q5 yet has body control similar to the E63S.
Most surprising (and hilarious) is the GLC 43’s exhaust note. This GLC 43 is equipped with Mercedes’ optional sports exhaust, and boy does the vehicle’s aural character change when the flappers are open. Race up and down through the gears, and you’ll find more cracks and pops than you’d have at an NYC Wiseguys Association Father’s Day picnic. GLC 43 is jubilant, if shouty, and one-ups the Ford Focus RS for volume. Jaguar F-Type S owners will feel at home, and that is the highest praise I can give to a turbo V6 soundtrack.
The 3.0L V6 isn’t all bark and no bite. Call it to action with a kick to the throttle and the GLC 43 scoots and skedaddles. It’s fast enough that I’m only willing to use part throttle due to the kiddo in the backseat. But at part throttle, it feels more alert than, and just as fast as, the E63S. (The SUV’s 500 lb weight advantage must help. It certainly helps the fuel economy.) The wagon was a bit lazy to respond to throttle input, but the GLC 43 is not. This SUV would be a playful car to blitz through urban LA traffic, especially since you can bomb through the city’s storm drain crisscrossed streets without parting the undertray from the front bumper.
The GLC 43 is equipped with Mercedes’ new 9-speed automatic, but it doesn’t respond to the shift paddles with the promptness of a DCT. Like the E63S and its prior generation 7-speed automatic, there is a half-tick wait between clicking a shift paddle and getting the next gear. It’s acceptable but not revelatory.
So how does the 2018 GLC 43 match up the 2014 E63S wagon? In the suburban environment in which I test drove these cars, the compact SUV measures up quite well. After you accept the loss of the E63S wagon’s massive trunk and ever-present V8 rumble, you’ll find the GLC 43 feel more lively and be better shaped for the urban obstacle course. And the GLC 43 is more luxurious, too, since it is a generation ahead in interior design and tech.
The GLC 43 is the newfangled way of commingling performance and practicality. Wagons and hatchbacks don’t sell, but crossovers do. (Don’t tell the public that a crossover is just a lifted and butched-up wagon.) Yesterday’s V8s had too great a thirst for the firewater, so today, we are getting gussied-up V6s with turbos replacing displacement and synthesized exhaust notes. While the old guard will think the new recipe is blasphemous and audacious, I actually find the GLC 43 bodacious: The run-of-the-mill family SUV has been infused with a wisecracking pugnacity. The AMG’s firecracker exhaust will piss off your homeowner’s association every time you spit out of the cul de sac. And, since the GLC 43 is an SUV, the crumbling urban landscape becomes your playground. Three cheers for Mercedes-AMG for making a crossover that even a jaded car enthusiast can love!
Mike's Steering Column 