Mercedes GLC Coupe SUV review

Verdict – is the Mercedes GLC Coupe a good car?

The Mercedes GLC Coupe is an even more stylish version of the standard Mercedes GLC, offering the same premium interior and comfy ride the more upright version is known for in a sleeker exterior package. In all honesty, though, we’re not sure why you’d rather go for the Coupe, given it’s less practical and more expensive than the standard car. If image is more important, money is no object and you’re taken by the Coupe’s styling, though, it could be the car for you.

Mercedes GLC Coupe models, specs and alternatives

The Mercedes GLC Coupe is the sleekly-styled version of the standard Mercedes GLC SUV which taps into the growing market for coupe-SUVs that once seemed like a niche prospect. It aims to offer the high, comfortable driving position and practicality of an SUV with flowing, sports car-inspired looks that are a little more unique than the boxy silhouette of more traditional bodystyles.

It’s a market that has grown quickly in recent years, comprising other premium models such as the BMW X4 and Audi Q5 Sportback, as well as the Porsche Macan. While these premium brands are more well-established in the coupe-SUV market, there are now even lower-end brands like Renault releasing its flagship Rafale model, so the bodystyle is evidently rather in-vogue.

Rather than fully redesign the GLC’s exterior, the Mercedes GLC Coupe looks much like the more upright model at the front, but it’s distinguished by a sloping roofline and aggressive stance towards the back. The Coupe is also 47mm longer than the standard SUV.

The GLC Coupe is available with a choice between three powertrain options equipped with mild-hybrid technology: two of these are based on the same 2.0-litre diesel engine albeit in a choice of power outputs, plus a sole petrol engine. 

The aforementioned engines are taken from the standard SUV range, but the plug-in hybrid diesel 300 de and petrol 300 e engines are absent for the Coupe – it’s unclear whether these will be introduced for this bodystyle later down the line. Bear this in mind if you’re choosing between the GLC SUV and Coupe as a company car, as the plug-in hybrid system in the SUV has lower emissions, putting it into a low Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) category.

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Despite the GLC Coupe’s sporting looks, make no mistake that it’s designed with comfort in mind first and foremost, and despite high power figures and decent performance specs on paper, it’s not particularly exciting to drive. That said, it’s a very refined car, with minimal road and wind noise, which will hold appeal if that’s what you’re after.

In the UK, the Coupe range kicks off with AMG Line, moving up through AMG Line Premium and with the AMG Line Premium Plus which we’ve driven topping the range. Prices can vary quite significantly depending on the trim, with the top-spec model more expensive than the AMG Line car by about £10,000 with the same engine.

Mercedes GLC Coupe alternatives

• BMW X4
• Audi Q5 Sportback
• Porsche Macan
• Range Rover Evoque

When it comes to fuel economy, the most frugal of the GLC Coupe models is the entry-level 220 d diesel version, which gets an official figure of up to 52.3mpg with CO2 emissions from 140g/km, putting it in the lowest BiK bracket of the Coupe lineup. That said, it’s difficult to recommend any version of the GLC Coupe for company-car buyers because the plug-in hybrid SUV models’ lower emissions put them in a much lower bracket. 

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The 300 d diesel model is not much worse despite its higher power figure, returning up to 49.6mpg and CO2 emissions from 170g/km depending on the trim.

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The GLC Coupe 300 is the least fuel efficient, but that’s to be expected when pitting petrol against diesel. Official figures put the 300’s fuel economy figure at up to 37.7mpg and its CO2 emissions from 172g/km, so it’s more efficient than the equivalent Audi Q5, Porsche Macan and Alfa Romeo Stelvio.

It’s a shame the GLC Coupe isn’t offered with the same plug-in hybrid diesel and petrol powertrains that are offered on the SUV version as these get official figures of up to 706.3mpg for the diesel and 565mpg for the petrol, plus very low CO2 emissions figures of just 11g/km and 12g/km respectively – that’s thanks to its capability of up to 84 miles to a charge of the battery, meaning you won’t use a drop of fuel for shorter trips around town if you keep it topped up.  

Insurance

The entry-level 220 d in AMG Line trim will be the cheapest to insure of the lineup, sitting in group 41, going up to 42 in AMG Line Premium Plus guise. The 300 petrol starts from group 43 in entry-level trim, increasing to group 44 in top-spec guise. The most expensive to insure is the 300 d diesel model, which starts from group 44 in AMG Line Premium trim and sits in group 45 for AMG Premium Plus.

Despite what its sporting coupe looks might suggest, there’s no question the Mercedes GLC Coupe is built with comfort in mind, rather than driver engagement. As a result, keen drivers might take issue with its lack of excitement on the road, but just like the standard GLC SUV, the Coupe is incredibly refined and comfortable.

Just like in the GLC SUV, the driving position is high, but visibility is negatively impacted to the rear, given the sloping roofline’s smaller rear window – even forward visibility isn’t great, but is helped by the ‘transparent bonnet’ feature on top-spec cars, which is intended for off-road use but is equally useful when manoeuvring into tight parking spaces. 

We drove the Mercedes GLC Coupe 300 with the 2.0-litre mild-hybrid turbocharged petrol engine, and the car was equipped with Mercedes’ AIRMATIC adaptive suspension and four-wheel steering – both features that won’t be available on the car in the UK cars for the foreseeable future. That’s a pity because our test car rode very well, and the rear-wheel steering was useful for tighter manoeuvres around town.

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All versions of the Mercedes GLC Coupe come with the brand’s 4MATIC all-wheel drive system and a nine-speed automatic transmission. It shifts smoothly, but there can be a slight delay when you put your foot down, even when using the manual paddles behind the steering wheel.

The powertrain lineup is somewhat let down by the lack of a plug-in hybrid model for the Coupe range, so buyers after a coupe-SUV that can glide around town in silence in pure electric mode will have to look elsewhere.

Both the GLC SUV and Coupe models come equipped with four drive mode settings comprising Eco, Comfort, Sport and Individual. Sport mode makes the car hold onto the gears for longer allowing for more sprightly performance and firmer steering. Eco prioritises a more frugal drive, while Comfort optimises the suspension to help iron out lumps and bumps in the road. Meanwhile, Individual allows the driver to configure their own settings based on their personal preferences.

Diesel models

Although many manufacturers have abandoned diesel as an engine option due to falling demand, Mercedes still offers the GLC Coupe with a 2.0-litre mild-hybrid turbocharged diesel in two power outputs. The entry-level 220 d comes with 194bhp, propelling the car from zero to 62mph in 8.1 seconds and onto a top speed of 140mph.

For a little more oomph, there’s the 300 d, which uses the same engine tuned up to 266bhp making it the most powerful GLC Coupe model available. Despite this, its zero to 62mph time is 6.4 seconds – 0.2 seconds slower than the 300 petrol model – and it has a top speed of 155mph.

Petrol models

The sole petrol model of the GLC Coupe is the 300, which makes use of a 2.0-litre mild-hybrid turbocharged engine with 255bhp. It sits between the two diesel engines in terms of pure power, but has the fasted sprint time of the lineup, managing zero to 62mph in just 6.2 seconds. Its top speed is just below that of the 300 d, at 153mph.

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When we drove the GLC Coupe our test car was equipped with this engine, which – despite being only marginally slower on paper compared with the equivalent Audi Q5 Sportback and Porsche Macan T – felt fairly sedate, likely because of the car’s comfort-focussed tuning and smooth, yet somewhat sluggish nine-speed gearbox. Turbo lag is virtually non-existent thanks to the mild-hybrid system’s assistance at lower speeds, however.

Plug-in hybrid models

The Mercedes GLC Coupe is not available from launch with plug-in hybrid powertrains like those offered on the GLC SUV and in the GLC Coupe in other markets, which seems like a missed opportunity making it a difficult car to recommend to business buyers. There’s no news as to whether they will eventually make it here for the Coupe.

Mercedes is known for its beautifully designed and high-quality interiors, and the same can be said for this latest GLC Coupe model. Its interior does a good job of giving off the premium feel its badge represents. The GLC Coupe’s cabin is the same as the GLC SUV’s, which features a 12.3-inch central touchscreen and 11.9-inch digital gauge cluster in front of the driver.

Infotainment and navigation

The GLC and GLC Coupe get the most recent version of Mercedes’ MBUX infotainment system. When we tested it, we found it worked well on the whole, with great screen resolution and a premium feel, although on a hot day we found the screen got very warm, causing the system to suffer from a delayed response to our inputs.

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Equipment

The GLC Coupe’s premium image and price means it comes fairly well equipped as standard, especially given the lower spec Avantgarde trim level sold elsewhere in Europe is skipped for the UK. UK cars start from the sportier-looking AMG Line trim, with the entry-level car getting 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights with Adaptive Highbeam Assist, privacy glass, heated sports seats, dual-zone climate control and wireless smartphone charging. 

The mid-range AMG Line Premium model swaps out the 19-inch wheels for different 20-inch five-spoke ones to give a slightly different look. It gets a memory function for the electronically adjustable front seats and steering column, plus heat and noise insulated glass, keyless entry and go, a dashcam, traffic sign recognition tech, MBUX augmented reality navigation and a ‘transparent bonnet’ which allows for improved visibility of the terrain through the infotainment screen when off-roading.

AMG Line Premium also adds the Mercedes Digital Light system, which is an innovative system enabling the headlights to react to changes in the road up ahead, adjusting the height of the beams depending on the terrain, and it can specifically block out dazzling light for individual cars up ahead while keeping on the high beams. On AMG Line Premium Plus, this gets an added projection function, which shines information from surrounding road signs onto the tarmac ahead of you.

AMG Line Premium Plus also gets real leather upholstery, compared to the other trims’ Artico man-made leather, a different set of 20-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic electric sunroof, four-zone climate control, a premium Burmester sound system, a head-up display, and 360-degree camera.

As a result of the Mercedes GLC Coupe’s sloping roofline, there’s less interior and boot space than in the standard GLC, but it’s not as cramped as you might expect. While rear passenger space is good, the Coupe’s design does mean it lets in less natural light than the standard model.

Boot space

The GLC SUV’s 620-litre boot drops to 545 litres in the Coupe version, so it’s still a good size, despite the car’s sloping roofline. It’s likely helped somewhat by the Coupe’s slightly increased length, so the result is a sportier design which doesn’t affect practicality as negatively as it could have. It’s also one of the most generous boot capacities offered amongst rival coupe-SUVs, sitting just ahead of the BMW X4’s 525 litres and much larger than that of the Porsche Macan’s 488-litre boot.

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With the seats folded down, the 545-litre boot increases to 1,490 litres, so there should be plenty of space should you need to transport larger items. All Mercedes GLC Coupe models come with a powered tailgate, allowing the boot to be opened and closed automatically at the touch of a button.

As the latest Mercedes GLC Coupe is so new, it’s yet to appear in our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, but the brand as a whole has performed poorly in recent years. Mercedes was behind many of its luxury rival brands in 25th place out of 32 manufacturers in 2023.

All Mercedes models come with a three-year unlimited-mile warranty on par with that of BMW and Porsche, and slightly better than Audi’s three-year 60,000 mile warranty.  

Reliability

Although there isn’t enough reliability information for the GLC SUV or Coupe yet specifically, 28% of Mercedes owners as a whole reported a fault with their car in the first year of ownership, which is slightly worse than average. A large percentage of these faults were related to their cars’ electrics, and a higher percentage of issues were engine-related compared with those of many rivals.

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Safety

While the GLC Coupe model hasn’t been crash-tested specifically, the GLC SUV on which it’s based was tested by Euro NCAP and achieved an impressive five stars. The GLC Coupe also comes with a comprehensive suite of safety technology, so it looks like it will be a very safe car to drive.