Hard-core coupe flagship of new Mercedes-Benz GLC mid-size SUV set for monster performance
The all-new 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 Coupe will be ready to lock horns with some of the world’s fastest and most powerful SUVs when the performance flagship of the new-generation GLC hits the streets early next year.
And it’ll do so without the thunderous twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 it carried before.
Instead, the supercar-quick mid-size luxury SUV should be powered by the same outrageous plug-in hybrid powertrain as found in the Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance sedan.
In the monster C-Class, the powertrain combines a wicked-up 350kW version of the A 45 AMG’s 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine with a 150kW rear-mounted electric motor.
Combined output? A cool 500kW and 1020Nm, which is enough to ensure the GLC version will be cosmically fast.
But you may not know it at first glance, because the AMG scorcher is unlikely to have the ‘look at me’ visuals of a Lamborghini Urus, for instance, instead looking something like these unofficial renders from Nikita Chiuko, posted to Instagram.
What you see here are based on spy photos snapped last month at the Nurburgring – the car’s natural habitat – along with the new-generation Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe that broke cover in March 2023.
The 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 Coupe is expected to ride on big 21-inch alloy wheels as standard and will gain a subtle AMG body kit with redesigned front and rear bumpers and side skirts.
AMG’s impending road rocket is likely to brandish a similarly bold Panamericana grille to the new C 63 AMG, complete with vertical slats.
Expect to see quad trapezoidal exhaust pipes at the rear, a sporty diffuser and modest boot lip spoiler, just like in the renderings.
A potential debutante at the 2023 Munich motor show in September, the range-topping, Porsche-slaying SUV from Affalterbach will probably weigh around 350kg more than its predecessor, matching the weight penalty of the latest C 63 hybrid.
But it will be quicker than its predecessor – significantly so.
The Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance rips from 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds, so by that measure the current GLC 63 AMG’s 0-100km/h sprint of 3.8sec could theoretically drop to 3.2sec.
It would only need to scrape in with a 3.6sec 0-100km/h dash if it wanted to best the current quickest mid-size SUVs on the market, the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT and Tesla Model Y Performance EVs with their 3.7sec benchmark times.
More conventional rivals, such as the BMW X4 Competition, Alfa Romeo Stelvio Q, Audi RS Q8 and Maserati Grecale Trofeo, currently claim 3.8sec 0-100km/h acceleration times, so it’s safe to say the new GLC 63 AMG will outgun its European rivals.
Advanced suspension tech pioneered by the AMG GT Black Series is likely to make the grade, which could also see the new model take a tilt at a new lap record around the Nurburgring.
Chuck in huge carbon-ceramic disc brakes and a range of clever high-performance driveline tech and you’re looking at what could become one of the world’s fastest SUVs.
If the GLC 63 does makes its debut later this year, it could be on sale in Australia by late next year.
Watch this space…
Digital images: Kolesa.ru
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Keyword: Wild 500kW Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 takes shape