THE GREAT WHITE HOPE

摘要

MERCEDES IS PINNING ITS HOPES ON THE NEW GLC TO BE ITS BIGGEST MONEY SPINNER. WE ASSESS ITS CHANCES. YOU HAVE A 4000 kilometre limit on it," said the Mercedes-Benz PR. Quick bit of mental calculation. I live 40km from the office, so how many kilometres would the commute alone eat up over three months? 4800. Oh dear. That might present a bit of an issue. At this point, I will openly admit to being rather struck with new car fever. Sales people the world over must recognise the particular symptoms. The prospect claps eyes on the car and suddenly they lose all basic rationality. They just have to have it and will concoct all manner of warped justifications in order to do so. The white GLC 300, hunkered low over its multi-spoked 20-inch alloys, had me looking for a dotted line to sign on. Limits, schlimits. The GLC 300 is the vanguard for the rest of the all-new range, with 43 and 63 S AMG models incoming. Despite the badge, there's no longer a large capacity six beneath the bonnet of this one. Instead it's a humble 2.0-litre four pot, albeit one that can hawk up a very respectable 190kW and 400Nm. It wasn't so long ago that 190kW was what you got with the big 3.0-litre V6 in the GLC 350d, which was the flagship diesel variant and, it has to be noted, wasn't markedly more efficient.