Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupé hits the spot for a thrilling drive

THE MERCEDES-BENZ GLC Coupé has the look of the company’s sports coupes in a tall, more versatile SUV body.

AOSTA Valley, Italy—There are times when you need to have unquestionable confidence in your car. In the middle of a hairpin turn, while barreling up the Alps, was one of those times.

The road, pointing sharply up, was barely one-and-a-half-lanes wide, prompting us to wonder aloud to our driving companion, this surely is a one-way road, right?

We soon had our answer as coming around a blind corner, we were suddenly nose to nose with a ten-wheeler truck.

The car we were piloting was the new Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupé.

The GLC follows Mercedes’ new naming pattern for its SUVs. There is, of course, the G-Class, for Geländewagen, or cross-country vehicle; this is the granddaddy of them all.

There’s the more road-oriented, very large luxury GLS, with S as in S-Class size.

There’s the GLE, which implies that it is the offroader equivalent of the midsize E-Class.

And now the GLC, signifying the more compact C-Class. The coupé designation means that the car has a sporty, coupé-like body style.

The GLC Coupé does feature a cheese grater grille with a large Mercedes star (as seen on sports coupés like the AMG GT), LED headlamps, and most distinctive of all, the sharply sloping rear hatch.

Despite the coupé designation, it does have four doors—five if you count the hatchback.

Contrary to expectations, the Coupé has a more upright A-pillar, and is 8 cm longer than its more conventional SUV counterpart.

The GLC Coupé features a more avant-garde design scheme;

The roofline is lower, at just 1.6 meters, or barely 63 inches.

Even the optional metal-trimmed running boards add some sportiness to the looks, despite the higher ground clearance.

Notably, the rear window goes without a wiper, the airflow design ensuring that water doesn’t hit that sloping glass.

What’s striking about the inside is that it doesn’t look, feel, or even smell like the traditional Mercedes-Benz interior.

Of course, the interior of a 124 sedan still has its charm, including that deep leather aroma. But it’s refreshing that Mercedes has updated its interface for a more high-tech feel while still retaining some of the old-world richness of materials.

Michael Christof, in charge of product management of the GLC Coupé, says that the aim of the interior is to produce a feel-good, modern living space.

Colors and materials can be individually specified, with several dozen permutations available.

The navigation system gives a high-tech feel.

The punched metal grille in the door panels are part of the Burmester surround sound system. The 13-speaker, nine-channel amplifier audio delivers no less than 590 watts. Like the Matrix, we can’t really explain this to you—you just have to listen to this awesome system for yourself.

The standard keyless-go system allows us to start up the engine via push button; this fires up the inline-four engine. Despite the GLC 300 designation, the mill here displaces 2 liters.

With turbocharging, power is boosted to 245 horsepower. The nine-speed automatic gearbox delivers close ratios seamless shifting. Seventh to ninth gears are overdrive ratios, for better fuel economy on long drives.

The Coupé’s all-independent suspension with continuous damping adjustment, dubbed by Benz as Dynamic Body Control, proves its worth on the cobblestone sections. These are still prevalent in Aosta Valley, as the region has a history dating back to the ancient Roman era.

For an even more buttery-smooth ride, an air suspension system is available.

The GLC Coupé has a quicker steering ratio than the GLC, giving it a more nimble feel.

The car’s response to throttle and steering inputs can be customized. Available  settings range from Eco, which is the mildest, most environmentally friendly setting, to Sport plus, which unleashes the engine and tightens up the steering.

On the spectacular roads of Aosta, with the Italian Alps providing eye-popping scenery, the GLC Coupé was in its element.

Fun in any demanding mountain range course requires a lot of torque. The GLC Coupé delivers, in this instance, a meaty 370 Newton-meters, the nominal equivalent of a normally-aspirated 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine.

What’s key here is that peak torque comes in at just 1300 revolutions per minute, and stays on until the upshift.

All of the parts of the GLC Coupé’s meticulous engineering came together for us on that one hairpin turn.

As the downward-barreling truck slowed down (perhaps), we twisted the wheel to the right and lifted off the throttle for a second, guiding the car to a run-off shoulder that was placed precisely for these situations.

Then it was back on the main road, back on the power, back on our merry way up the mountain.

All seemed unfazed, aside from me holding my breath for a few seconds, and for my codriver to grip his armrest a little tighter. It was all in a second’s work for the GLC Coupé.

The SUV half of the equation hasn’t been forgotten. The 4Matic system provides permanent all-wheel drive, with the default torque split biased towards the rear wheels.

There’s enough ground clearance for the gravel and odd bumps in your estate’s driveway. You can even equip the GLC Coupé with a tow hitch.

Despite the sloping rear hatch, Mercedes measures the trunk space at 1,400 liters. Those liters are of a very specific shape, though, so anything long—suitcases and golf bags—have to be carefully packed.

The excitement of the drive peaked as we arrived at the town of Saint Vincent. We were within yodeling distance from the world-famous peaks of Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.

From the Turin area to this peak, at about 575 meters elevation, the turbo engine never ran out of steam, so to speak.

The GLC Coupé proved to be quite the ride up the Alps, its tight suspension, responsive steering, and powerful engine delivering the goods.

We couldn’t help but think that, thanks to its compact dimensions and striking looks, this Mercedes would be at home in any city environment, too.