I drove a $97,000 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S Coupe to see if it can be an SUV and a sports car — here's the verdict

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November 6, 2018 4:48 PM

The Mercedes-AMG GLC Coupe S starts at $80,750 and is powered by a 4.0 liter, biturbo V8 that produces 503 horsepower.

The
The top-spec performance variant of the GLC lineup is the
The Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S Coupe is powered by the 4.0 liter, biturbo V8 that produces 503 horsepower.
According to Mercedes, the GLC 63 S Coupe can do 0-60 in just 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 174 mph.
The base 2018 GLC 300 Coupe starts at $47,300 while our GLC 63 S Coupe starts at $80,750. With fees and options, our top-of-the-line test car came to an as-tested price of $97,330.

In all honesty, I've never been a huge fan of the SUV coupe. It's a vehicle that is, to me, compromised at its very core. The need to be an SUV raises its center of gravity and thereby spoils its capabilities as a performance machine. While the performance-oriented tires and fastback rear end detract from its ability to go off road and carry cargo — two core competencies of SUVs.

This unholy union of luxury coupe and SUV is a somewhat recent phenomenon. Even though there had been a few oddball mashups in the 1980s and 1990s, the SUV coupe did reach mainstream status until the latter part of the last decade when BMW released the X6.

To my dismay, it proved to be a success. Especially in what are arguably BMW's two most important markets — the US and China.

Since then, Bimmer followed up with a second-generation mid-size X6 and a compact X4 coupe.

Naturally, Mercedes-Benz couldn't let its arch nemesis go on unchallenged. Which is why Mercedes answered with the new compact GLC Coupe and the mid-size GLE Coupe.

Both vehicles are sleeker coupe variants of MB's existing GLC and GLE SUVs.

Recently, the good folks down at Mercedes drop off a brand new 2018 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S Coupe for Business Insider to check out.

We were able to spend a week with the performance flagship of the GLC lineup with hopes that its excellence will force me to reconsider my disdain for the SUV coupe genre.

The base 2018 GLC Coupe starts at $47,300 while our GLC 63 S Coupe starts at $80,750. With fees and options, our top-of-the-line test car came to an as-tested price of $97,330.

Here's a closer look at the 2018 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S Coupe:

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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