Big, curvy, star-studded and, did I mention big? The new GLE Coupé, which mixes every flavour Mercedes have, is a cocktail of metal, style and technology that never fails to assert itself. How does it perform? We put it to the test.
Story: Jim Gorde
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
It’s a difficult job. Multi-tasking is one thing, but managing different profiles and being good at it requires a completely different level of commitment. That’s what happens when you want to combine sports-car dynamics with SUV capability. It’s like trying to mate a cheetah to a shark to create a really fast alligator-like amphibian that can swim as well as sprint without losing control. BMW tried it with the X6, and the first one, that was infamously styled, didn’t quite deliver 100 per cent on either front. The second-generation car fixed a lot and was a capable machine indeed, and Mercedes-Benz took notice.
The GLE-Class replaced the ML, and the GLE Coupé is a sloping-roof coupé-styled by-product which, thanks to several design elements, manages to have an enviable stance and impressive road presence wherever it goes. The large front grille with a single chrome slat, an expanse of a bonnet with matte black gills, ‘AMG’ badging on the panels (we’ll get to that later) and, needless to say, the roof-line that drops sharply and ends with ‘GLE 450’ and ‘4MATIC’ badging without any mention of ‘Coupé’.
Few cars identify themselves as competition for a specific model as clearly as this one. The GLE Coupé would fit into the BMW X6’s silhouette, tyres and all. The flared wheel-arches house massive 21-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero rubber: 275/45 fronts and 315/40 rears. There is more under the skin than is first apparent. The GLE Coupé is larger and more spacious on the inside too. More importantly, this is a Mercedes-Benz with AMG inputs. So it has Benz luxury and AMG sport credentials, but isn’t an out-and-out track monster.
The interior thoroughly impressed me. The quality of leather on the seats and around the cabin, together with the complementing wood trim, with the COMAND interface and information displays, all provide a posh feel that is amplified by the quality of cabin insulation. Be it road noise or boisterous traffic, hardly any sounds made their way into the cabin. The auto-climate kept the ambience cool to suit the mood as well. Ambient lighting is another cool feature, though, unlike the S-Class, it gets three selectable colours with five intensity levels.
The flat-bottomed steering wheel with chunky grips and paddle-shifters all add to the sporty quotient, as does the Dynamic Select knob. It offers one of five settings, including an ‘Individual’ and a new ‘Slippery’ mode along with Comfort, Sport and Sport+. This new mode auto-activates when you hit the button to raise the suspension. Interesting.
At the rear, the sloping roof deceptively hides head-room, unlike its competitor. There is enough room for two, even three adults, with part of the headliner almost scooped out to fit heads. The boot is also quite large with 650 litres on offer. Folding down the rear seats gives you 1,720 litres. It’s quite practical, once you’ve gotten over the fact that it is, in essence, a fastback SUV.
And fast it is. The ‘450’ engine is a 3.0-litre V6 BiTurbo unit making 367 PS and 520 Nm. The same engine qualifies for the ‘AMG 43’ in the new SLC, and that, in itself, speaks volumes of its capability. Peak torque kicks in as early as 1,800 RPM, and, in most drive modes, the gearbox keeps the engine bubbling at the right level, making instantaneous acceleration available at the flex of a toe. It may be part AMG but it doesn’t have a multi-clutch seven-speeder, no. The GLE 450 boasts of Merc’s in-house 9G-Tronic nine-speeder driving the 4MATIC all-wheel-drive system. While that is a sure-fire way of increasing efficiency, it’s quick, too!
