SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Updated for 2020: Mercedes-Benz GLC SUV and Coupé

Five compelling reasons

Pics by Motorpress

Posted: October 15, 2019

Teens: In your own best interests keep this page under wraps until you have internalised the following “five compelling reasons” and are geared up to present an irrefutable business presentation to whichever parent ratifies capital buying decisions in your household.

1) New face: Revised grille bars, narrower headlamps with bolder DRLs, slimmer brake vents on SUVs, and chrome surround  for the lower air intake. The side view gains running boards while the rear end sports smoother design and new tail lamps. Most notable interior changes include deletion of the old rotary controller and installation of a larger touchscreen.

2) New or uprated engines: GLC 300 petrol models retain the 1991 cc turbo-four but it has been uprated to 190 kilowatts from 180 previously. Torque remains at 370 Newton-metres. What’s new are two versions of M-B’s 1950 cc turbo-four diesel with choice of 143 kW/400 Nm (220d) and 180 kW/500 Nm (300d).

New GLC SUVs and Coupés share all three engine choices, nine-speed automatic transmissions and 4Matic all-wheel drive. Performance and fuel consumption numbers are essentially the same for each engine, regardless of body style.

3) Cool stuff: Apart from the obvious, like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the MBUX (better translate that to “Mercedes-Benz User Experience” for the oldsters) has been upgraded to the latest generation. Even without the rotary controller, there are five different ways to interact with the GLC's infotainment system:
•    By touch control on the central multimedia display,
•    Using the buttons on the multifunction steering wheel,
•    With the multifunction touchpad on the centre console,
•    Using the gesture and movement recognition function of MBUX’s Interior Assistant,
•    By Voice Control; via steering wheel button or the "Hey Mercedes” prompt.

4) Cool colours: Apart from standard Black and Polar White, seven metallic finishes – Obsidian Black, Iridium Silver, Citrine Brown, Cavansite Blue, Brilliant Blue, Diamond Silver and Solenite Grey – will cater to most buyers’ tastes. For those wanting something special, there are three designo® colours as well; Citrine Brown Magno, Diamond White Bright and Hyacinth Red metallic.

5) Coupés are ‘way cooler: Every lesser being and his or her family rides around in an SUV, so why not display your uniqueness-of-brand by having a Coupé instead? They are slightly longer than the SUV versions and a touch lower, but are proper cars with boots rather than those bulky boxes the plebs use. Basic luggage volume before tipping seats is 500 litres while SUVs offer only 50 litres more; hardly worth getting one’s tights in a twist over, is it? There is a price premium of about R143 000, version to version, but the exclusivity is worth it, surely?

The parents already know about Mercedes-Benz’s safety- and luxury equipment, five-year / 100 000 km maintenance contract and all the classic options and accessories, so there is no need to repeat all that here.

SUV prices range from R786 100 to R842 800
Coupé prices range from R929 600 to R985 300

Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored, local press launch

We drove a previous-series GLC 250 in 2016

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.