2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE53 Coupe review: Astonishingly nimble

The 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE53 Coupe is amazingly pleasurable, but I will need to get the styling out of the way first. No subject what your emotions are on crossover-coupes — in this article at Roadshow we like to contact them “coupeovers” — we can all concur that the new GLE53 Coupe is much better looking than the previous-generation GLE43 Coupe. This is partially many thanks to the truth that the aged GLE was hardly ever intended with the coupe variant in mind at first, but this new generation was. The new Coupe’s roofline is sleeker, the proportions are nicer and the rear finish as a whole just appears to be like a whole lot better.

Mercedes only offers the new GLE Coupe in AMG varieties, with the GLE53 finding the requisite Panamericana grille with an aggressive front bumper, system-coloration wheel arches, quad exhaust strategies and a small lip spoiler. My GLE53 exam auto is completed in the $one,515 Designo Diamond White coloration, which appears to be like awesome but just isn’t quite exclusive sufficient to warrant the rate tag.

The Coupe’s powertrain is the same as the standard GLE53 SUV and therefore the same as AMG’s other 53-badged styles. It truly is received a three.-liter inline-six with a turbocharger, an electric powered supercharger and an EQ-Strengthen forty eight-volt mild-hybrid procedure that provides an more 21 hp and 184 lb-ft. Full output is 429 hp and 384 lb-ft, and the engine is mated to a 9-velocity automatic transmission and all-wheel travel. As with each individual other software of this engine, the I6 in the GLE53 is clean and responsive. (Mercedes quotes a 5.two-2nd -to-sixty-mph time, and that feels conservative.) This GLE53 has the $one,250 Effectiveness Exhaust procedure, which is the appropriate volume of loud and will make some wonderful pops and bangs.

The 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLE53 Coupe appears to be like a whole whole lot better than prior to

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Big wheels make and split it

Although the GLE53 arrives with 21-inch wheels as common, this one has a $two,750 established of staggered-width 22s, sized 285/40ZR22 up front and a whopping 325/35ZR22 at the rear. Wrapped in Yokohama Advan Sport summer tires, these large wheels give the GLE53 an aggressive stance and are both equally the very best and worst component of the auto. Allow me reveal.

As you could possibly surmise from the wheel sizing the GLE53’s experience can be quite choppy, specifically on negative Michigan roads, but in Consolation mode the air suspension does a quite very good work soaking up even the worst bumps and potholes. Even worse than the experience, even though, is the tramlining that takes place on the highway, specifically if it truly is a rough surface area. I have to do extra steering correction than usual when I am just driving in a straight line, even though it just isn’t as aggravating with the adaptive cruise handle and steering support activated.

But on the flip aspect, it truly is frankly insane how very good this SUV is on a twisty street. There is so much grip from the huge wheels and sticky rubber, and the GLE53 normally feels surefooted with the variable all-wheel-travel procedure ready to split torque between the axles. There is in close proximity to-speedy electric power offered when you’re coming out of corners, and the 9-velocity transmission fires off rapid shifts. You can carry so much velocity by way of turns — a whole lot extra than you would anticipate.

To enable end its 5,300-as well as-pound heft, this GLE53 is outfitted with the $two,five hundred AMG Superior Effectiveness Braking Technique. The GLE53 has fifteen.8-inch front rotors with two-piston calipers and thirteen.six-inch rear rotors with solitary-piston calipers as common tools, but this optional set up adds six-piston front calipers and boosts the rear disc sizing by an inch. The brakes are quite jerky at small speeds all-around city and the wheels accumulate a ton of dust, but the greater stopping electric power although driving rapidly is tremendously appreciated.

Every thing you could inquire for, and extra

I am usually vehemently in opposition to interiors with uncomplicated, all-black coloration techniques, specifically on a model-forward auto like the GLE Coupe, but this exam auto at least has the $4,800 Exclusive Nappa leather-based choice with contrasting stitching and $one hundred sixty Gray Oak wooden trim with a awesome matte finish. It appears to be like very good, and every little thing inside the GLE is of substantial quality. The seats are comfy, specifically with the massaging functionality that is component of the $two,100 Energizing Consolation Moreover Deal. The Coupe’s sloping roof suggests you get less cargo room than the common GLE SUV, but not by that much, and rear headroom and legroom is nevertheless wonderful. MBUX continues to be one of my favourite infotainment techniques, and the GLE53 will get some wonderful AMG-certain shows and settings.

This GLE53 is outfitted with a ton of optional attributes and offers — there are practically 22 more-price tag merchandise on the window sticker — some of which are needed, some of which are frivolous and silly, but all of which I delight in. The $one,950 Driver Help Deal Moreover delivers helpful active-safety attributes like the aforementioned adaptive cruise, although the unquestionably needed $five hundred Parking Help Deal adds the 360-degree camera procedure, which incorporates a awesome above-the-wheel watch. 

The most ridiculous merchandise on the options record are most likely the $350 Magic Eyesight Manage (extravagant windshield wipers) and the $200 MBUX Inside Assistant (movement-activated inside lights). But my favourite choice is the $180 heated and cooled cupholder deal. That could possibly audio pointless, but like heated armrests — which coincidentally are component of a separate $one,050 deal on this GLE53 — at the time you’ve got utilized them, you can hardly ever want to travel a auto without the need of them.

A Toyota Camry’s value of options

It will get more difficult to rave about how very good this GLE53 is at the time you get to the as-tested rate. Although the GLE53 Coupe starts at $77,550 including destination — presently $4,150 extra than a standard GLE53 — this one tops out at $104,564. Admittedly it has just about each individual probable choice, but that is nevertheless a whole lot of scratch for a midsize SUV with a six-cylinder engine. Then once more, if you want a V8, the 603-hp GLE63 Coupe starts at an even-extra-high priced $117,050 prior to options, so…

The GLE53 Coupe’s closest competitors are the BMW X6 M50i and the Porsche Cayenne S Coupe. Although the X6 M50i has a twin-turbo V8 engine with just about 100 extra horsepower than the GLE53, it expenditures ten grand extra than the Mercedes to commence and doesn’t travel as perfectly or glance nearly as very good. The Cayenne S, on the other hand, is a small sharper to travel and a small better-looking than the GLE53, but the Porsche’s foundation rate is above $90,000 and it doesn’t occur close to currently being as perfectly outfitted as the AMG.

The GLE53 is my decide on of the existing coupeover litter. It truly is the most perfectly-rounded vehicle in its course, and when optioned properly, the rate just isn’t too astronomical. Absolutely sure, individuals could possibly not realize your style-forward crossover-coupe decision, but at least you can have the last chortle from at the rear of the wheel.