2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 And 63 Bring F1 Tech To The Off-Road

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The four-cylinder takeover continues. AMG has revealed its interpretation of the latest GLC SUV and the bad news is that both the V6 and V8 engines in the old 43 and 63 models have been replaced by inline fours. The good news is that both versions make way more power than the SUVs they replace thanks to electric turbocharger tech borrowed from F1, the top-dog 63 PHEV offering as much muscle as a McLaren Artura.

If you’re familiar with the latest Mercedes-AMG C-Class sedans and wagons you’ll know these new powertrains already. The GLC is essentially a high-rise C-Class, built around the exact same platform, so it stands to reason that the SUV would also inherit the same engines.

GLC 43

That means the GLC 43 loses its turbocharged, mild-hybrid V6 and gains a 2.0-liter four, again with mild-hybrid assistance. The old V6-powered 43 generated a respectable 385 hp (390 PS) but the new 43 trumps that with 416 hp (421 PS), and that’s before you’ve factored in 13 hp (14 PS) coming from the starter-generator.

Related: 2023 Mercedes GLC Gets Hefty Price Hike To Accompany Redesign, Starts At $47k

As before, those ponies are sent to all four wheels through a nine-speed automatic transmission. Zero to 62 mph (100 km/h) falls from 4.9 to 4.8 seconds, which might not sound like a huge advance, and a 369 lb-ft (500 Nm) torque output that’s actually 15 lb-ft (20 Nm) down definitely doesn’t. But the four gobbles less gas and the addition of rear-axle steering promises to make the new SUV far more agile.

GLC 63 S E Performance

The GLC 63 S E Performance also uses the same basic M139L inline four and electric turbocharger tech, but it’s a far more serious – and far heavier – performance machine thanks to a bigger turbocharger and the addition of PHEV hardware for the first time on an AMG-badged GLC. The 63’s version of the 2.0-liter engine makes 469 hp (476 PS) and 402 lb-ft (545 Nm), which can’t match the 503 hp (510 PS) and 516 lb-ft (700 Nm) churned out by the old AMG GLC 63 S’s V8. But by the time the new model’s P3 hybrid system’s electrical boost has been been added the total output swells to 671 hp (680 PS) and a massive 752 lb-ft (1,020 Nm) of torque.

Electric assistance comes courtesy of a 201 hp (204 PS / 150 kW) electric motor located at the rear axle and helps the hottest GLC hit 62 mph in 3.5 seconds. That compares with 3.8 seconds for the old V8-powered GLC 63 and 3.4 seconds for the new C 63 S E Performance sedan running the same powertrain.

As with AMG’s other PHEVs, the C 63 and S 63, the hybrid system on the GLC 63 is there to boost performance, not let you drive across state on electric power. The tiny 6.1 kWh battery provides 80 kW of continuous power and 150 kW for up to 10 seconds, but only offers an electric driving range of 7.5 miles (12 km), which makes even the C 63 sedan’s 8-mile (13 km) range look generous. The gargantuan 4,927 lb (2,235 kg) curb weight also makes the overweight C 63’s 4,607 lbs (2,090 kg) scale reading appear marginally less horrific.

AMG GLC Coupe Comes Later

Arriving just over a year after the non-AMG GLC, the Affalterbach-tuned versions have been revealed only in upright SUV guise for now, though we can expect to see the sportier-looking AMG GLC Coupe before the end of the year. Both GLC 43 and 63 feature AMG’s trademark Panamericana grille with its vertical bars, but even if a 43 owner orders his without the model badge in the hope of making people think he’s forked out for the 63, there are a few visual clues to help us tell one from the other.

The 43 rides on 19-in wheels as standard and comes with 370 mm (at the front) cast iron brake rotors and four-piston calipers, while the 63 gets an upgrade to 20-in wheels, 390 mm carbon ceramic brakes and six-pot calipers. There are also some obvious differences at the rear, where the 63 features an enhanced version of the 43’s rear diffuser, plus quad tailpipes with a trapezoidal, instead of round, design.

A steering wheel covered in both nappa leather and microfiber marks out the 63 inside the cabin (the 43’s is just nappa leather), but not obvious until you start driving is that the 63 has eight driving modes to the 43’s five, active roll stabilization and can send up to 100 percent of its torque to the rear axle, whereas the 43’s front-rear torque split is fixed at 31:69 percent.

Mercedes-AMG offers Night and Carbon packages to black out some, or all of the GLC’s chrome trim and add some composite jewellery, while an AMG Styling Package adds more aero bits to ramp up the performance vibe. But for owners who really want to stand out there’s the Edition 1 launch model. Available only in the first year of production and in a choice of graphite grey magno or high-tech silver magno, it features garish yellow brake calipers, yellow seatbelts and interior stitching.

Mercedes hasn’t revealed prices or on-sale dates for the 2024 AMG GLCs but we’d expect to see both in showrooms by the year’s end priced at around $65,000 for the GLC 43 and potentially north of $90,000 for the GLC 63.