Wheels Australia – August 2019

48 whichcar.com.au/wheels

Drives

ARMAKERSoftendo

incrediblyperplexing

thingsthatmakeno

sense.WitnessPontiac’s

bizarrelystyledAztec,the

W8-poweredVolkswagen

PassatandtheHoldenViva.

WecouldaddtheMercedes-Benz

GLKtothatlist.Basedontheprevious-

generationC-Class,it wasDaimler’s

answertotheBMWX3,alltheway

backin2008,whenthebreedwasstill

merefledgling.Andyetsomebodyin

Germanydecidedtherewasnoneedto

engineera right-hand-drive,all-wheel-

driveversionfortherestoftheworld.

Nodoubtheadsrolledoverthat,as

rivalssuchastheAudiQ5andVolvo

XC60lappedupbuyers– unbothered

byanypeskyBenzcompetition– for

sevenlongyears.

Itssuccessor– renamedtheGLC

• madenosuchmisstep.Launched
  inlate2015,it stormedupthesales

MERCEDES-BENZ GLC 300

charts, even usurping the C-Class as the

company’s Australian bestseller (and

globally its second best). Today, Daimler

truly owns this segment.

Now it’s GLC facelift time, and

Mercedes has subtly massaged the

styling, with a bolder front end (a big

thumb’s up), cooler LED lighting and,

oddly, lashings of extra chrome. It’s

also junked the clunky old COMAND

multimedia system for the latest, voice-

activated MBUX system (which is a

little too eager to answer when not

called, and occasionally glitchy) and

noticeably stepped up the material

finishes (at last). Don’t get too excited,

however, because the dash remains a

generation behind the latest A-Class in

terms of appearance, and functionality.

The real big-ticket changes came

under the skin, thanks to an all-

new 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo

petrol engine family, offered in

entry-level 145kW/320Nm GLC 200

Engine1991cc4cyl,dohc,16v,turbo

Maxpower190kW@5800-6100rpm

Maxtorque370Nm@1800-4000rpm

Transmission9-speedautomatic

Weight1805kg

0-100km/h6.2sec(claimed)

Fueleconomy7. 4 L / 10 0 k m

Price$75,000(estimated)

OnsaleAugust 2019

C

Rideimprovements;MBUXmultimedia;

strongerperformance;bettereconomy

Not Mercedes’ latest multimedia

interface; ageing cabin; no diesels

PLUS MINUS

BESTSELLER NOW

WITH MORE PACE

ModelGLC 3004Matic