Advertisement

2016 Mercedes-Benz GLC: First Drive

What it is: 2016 Mercedes-Benz GLC, five-passenger compact luxury SUV

Price Range:  $38,950 and up

Competitors: Audi Q5, BMW X3, Lexus RX

Alternatives: Volvo XC70, Acura RDX, Audi Allroad

Pros: Comfortable, full of technology, tows 5,300 lbs, and can haul adults easily in the back seat

Cons:  The U.S. won’t get the amazing off-road package (that’s only $750!) available on models in Europe.

Would I Buy it with My Own Money: Yes — no ifs, ands or buts.

American enthusiasts are finally getting one of their deepest desires, and it only took a former engineer for the CERN atomic particle accelerator project to get it done.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sure, the wagon may go under a different name, and ride a little high, but it’s a wagon (just squint), and it’s coming at the end of the year. Meet the new Mercedes-Benz GLC – the God Particle of luxury cars.

Uwe Ernstberger is the head of product for the Mercedes C, E, and S Class vehicle lines. He began his career as an engineer working at CERN, the Swiss particle accelerator that discovered the Higgs Boson among others. After a turn at McKinsey where he did some work for Mercedes-Benz, he was hired into the German automaker, where he has been ever since. His focus of late is on the launch of Mercedes’ new mid-size SUV, the GLC, and from what we’ve seen, he’s helped created an alchemical vehicle — the stuff that might just kill off our desire for the wagons of yore.

Mercedes-Benz announced the GLC at the Detroit auto show this year. The new SUV falls between the midsize GLE and new small GLA, and replaces the boxy (though personally beloved) GLK. The GLK was polarizing, with its tiny backseat, lower-grade interior, a square body many people hated, and a price tag that put it at the high end of the compact luxury SUV market. In spite of all of that, the GLK was still a bestseller, with more than 650,000 vehicles sold worldwide.

The new GLC, announced in line with Mercedes’ new naming convention where all SUV’s get a “G” at the beginning of the model name, is bit of a hodgepodge of Mercedes architecture, but it is essentially based on Mercedes-Benz’s C-Class. Compared to the boxy GLK, the GLC is much more svelte-looking both inside and out, and comes standard with Mercedes’ suite of safety features. The new GLC is taller and longer (by 2 inches and 4.7 inches respectively) than its predecessor, but is 176 lbs lighter than the GLK. The exterior design makes new GLC more aerodynamic, and while EPA ratings haven’t been released yet, Mercedes claims it will be far more efficient than the GLK. Plus, it’s downright good-looking.

The new GLC will come to the U.S. in four models: two gasoline versions, a diesel, and a plug-in hybrid version. All four versions will get Mercedes’ new 9-speed, paddle-shifted transmission, the same one that’s in the GLE Coupe we drove last month. The base, gasoline powered, two-wheel drive GLC 300 and the all-wheel drive GLC 300 4Matic will both get a 2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder that puts out 241 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque. In late 2016, the GLC 300d will launch in the U.S. followed by the GLC 350e plug-in hybrid in late 2017.

In the Alsace Valley we had a chance to try out the European version of the new GLC. Europeans have to make do with the GLC 250, which gets a full 30 horsepower less than the one that will be available in the States come November, but otherwise, it’s largely the same as the American model. The interior is luxurious and clean with quality materials and optional open-pore wood. Compared to the finishes of the GLK, the GLC feels like a luxurious private jet.

Mercedes also updated the touchpad interface between the two front seats. First the touch-enabled controller now allows for characters to be drawn on its face, and pinch gestures can be used to zoom and change view on the head unit in the center of the dash. This makes the COMAND infotainment system much easier and more intuitive to control. Mercedes also included an Apple Lightning adapter in the center armrest—no more fumbling with cords and connectors to get your phone plugged in.

Using the Drive Select interface, the driver can control the dynamic ride and steering feel of the new GLC, when equipped with the optional air suspension. When so equipped, it comes complete with four standard modes and one customizable setting: Sport+, Sport, Comfort, Eco, and Individual. In Sport, the ride is lowered and dampers are stiffened, and in Sport+ the GLC lowers another 0.6 inches, and road feel is translated even more directly to the driver.

From the outside that the GLC is a fairly large crossover — with a towing capacity of more than 5,300 lbs— but behind the wheel, it feels like a surefooted, speedy wagon. The torque split is 45/55 front-to-rear, and the GLC handles both long highway straights and curving mountain roads with grace and comfort.

The diesel version of the GLC is a torquey little kick in the pants. The GLC 250d is just as good as its gasoline counterpart, with a little extra oomph at the bottom end of the power band and almost no additional engine noise or stink. The diesel wagon-SUV will come with a 2-liter turbocharged diesel engine that should put out around 204 hp and 370 lb-ft of torque (numbers have yet to be finalized for the American market). Sadly, we won’t see this version in the states until late 2016 as a 2017 model.

The GLC 350e, the second of Mercedes-Benz’s plug-in hybrid SUVs, was equally pleasurable and easy to drive with its haptic pedal (which lets you know if you’re driving in a sufficiently “green” manner) and four additional modes. It uses essentially the same hybrid plug-in system that is in the S-Class hybrid, the GLE hybrid, and the C-Class hybrid. Here in the U.S. we won’t see it until 2017 (as a 2018 model). The GLC 350e will put out a combined 320 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque and go up to 34 km (21 miles) in all-electric mode.

It’s not all bright and shiny things with the GLC, however. First, the U.S. market must wait quite a while for the full slate of models to arrive. The other bit of bad news? No off-road package for you: While the US models will be available with increased approach and departure angles, they won’t get the phenomenal off-road package that allows for tricks like controlled hill descent, rock crawling and articulated wheel movement.

That said, the all-wheel drive version can certainly handle a little bit of gentle off-road work without the special off-road package, even if the worst most will see is just trying to get up the driveway in winter. Think of it as a wagon for all seasons.