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. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


City wagon with country soul: 2016 Mercedes-Benz GLC 250 4Matic

Comfortably enjoyed plain

Posted: 31 March 2016

The numbers
Basic price incl. CO2 tax: R651 920
Engine: 1991 cc, all aluminium, chain driven DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder, turbocharged
Power: 155 kW at 5500 rpm
Torque: 350 Nm between 1200 and 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 7.3 seconds
Maximum speed: 222 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 9.7 l/100 km
Tank: 66 litres
Luggage: 580 to 1600 litres
Off-road: See text
Warranty and maintenance: 6 years / 100 000 km

The original Mercedes-Benz Geländewagens (terrain vehicles) were rather like German Land Rovers – tough, rugged and not the most handsome – sort of like today’s G-Class.

Moving with the times, M-B revamped Geländewagen’s compact successor, GLK, re-issued it in three sizes and named them GLC, GLE and GLS. That’s G for Geländewagen, L as a linking letter and C, E or S for the cars upon which they are based. In other words, our review GLC was a modern SUV based on the C-Class sedan.

That doesn’t mean it’s exactly the same size; the SUV is 30 mm shorter than the car even though its wheelbase is 36 millimetres longer. Height and width dimensions are where the extra space, and there’s plenty of that, come from – GLC is 80 mm wider than the C-car and 196 mm taller. Clever repackaging means you can fit in a lot more luggage and your passengers have space to stretch.

Our tall backseat driver rated accommodations decently sumptuous while noting that there was more than adequate head-, knee and foot room. The seat backs fold 40:20:40, meaning there’s a load-through for those days when you’re toting a couple of two-by-fours home from the hardware store. Facilities are also pretty neat on the days you aren’t. Consider the office tray and two cup holders in the fold-down armrest, file holders behind the front chairs and a set of aircon repeaters with temperature and fan controllers.

There are four power plants - two versions of the 2143 cc turbodiesel rated as 220d and 250d, and two iterations of the 1991 cc turbopetrol unit named 250 and 300. 4Matic all-wheel drive is standard and all are fitted with a nine-speed, 9G-Tronic transmission with Agility Select built in. Before you say: “I hope it isn’t that iffy nine-speed that found its way into Jeeps,” you can relax. It isn’t - and in fairness to M-B’s erstwhile subsidiary, Chrysler seems to have fixed that particular box of cogs in the meantime.

Default drive torque is split 45:55-percent, front to rear, via a planetary differential while the single-stage transfer case is no longer integrated into the automatic transmission but flange-mounted onto the 9G-Tronic as a separate system. The all-wheel-drive powertrain offers 50 newton metres of torque pre-lock between front and rear axles.

Standard equipment across all models includes, among many other items, Attention Assist, ESP, Adaptive Braking with holding function, brake drying in the wet, Adaptive Brake Lights flashing, brake wear indicator, ESP Curve Dynamic Assist, hill start assist, electric parking brake, ABS, Collision Prevention Assist Plus, seven airbags, crash-collapse pedals and tyre pressure monitoring.

As always with Mercedes-Benz, the base price gives you a well-equipped car with options to add almost anything your wish fairy can dream up. That includes inner and outer styling packs, better sound systems, nicer seats, satnav, sunroof, suspension upgrades, improved lighting, smarter air conditioning, driver assistance systems and a bewildering choice of wheels.

Because GLC is a recent addition to the range, it features the new and less cluttered inner face of Mercedes-Benz. That means new vents, fewer buttons to take your attention away from driving, and a more modern look and feel.

Like many other South African vehicle importers and distributors, MBSA is secretive about off-road specs but here’s a brief look:
Standard GLCs are delivered with steel springs and adaptive dampers, while Dynamic Select provides five different driving profiles for steering, engine and gearbox. These are: Eco, Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Individual.

GLC has 181 millimetres of ground clearance in standard trim and up to 227 millimetres for Off-Road package-equipped models with Air Body Control suspension. That one’s maximum angles of approach and departure are 31 and 25 degrees while normal steel-sprung models are rated at 22 and 23 degrees. Breakover angles are 17 and, respectively, 20 degrees for standard cars and those with pneumatic suspension and off-road package. Fording depth is 300 mm for all.

Our test car didn’t have Air Body Control at R15 000 or the optional R9500 off-road package, so we stayed away from devilish dongas and relentless rocks. Our Tenderfoot trail with its mild washaways and loose shale hillclimb was no match for it, however. GLC just dealt with whatever we aimed it at.

Boot space is more generous and more accessible than on the first-gen GLC (that we didn’t see here) thanks to a 580-litre loading area (110 litres bigger), a wider-opening hatch, less intrusive wheel-housings and a lower door lip (71 cm). Once all seats are down, luggage volume increases to 1600 litres; 50 more than the old one.

On-road performance is great, doing the zero-to-100 km/h dash in just over seven seconds and going on to a top speed of 222 – not that you would ever set such a hooliganistic example to your impressionable children, mind. Road holding, considering this is basically a big and tall C-class, is very acceptable.

Briefly, the M-B GLC is a quick, spacious and luxurious SUV with basic off-road capability for almost-grown families who like visiting less-accessible camping spots. It can comfortably be enjoyed “plain” although what’s tickable in options boxes could be tempting.

Test car from MBSA press fleet

Our review of the GLE 350d 4Matic is here

We take a light-hearted look at the 2020 update here

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 as well.

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 I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once 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. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
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