Cons: Can’t match the Porsche in the corners, firm and noisy ride
The GLC 63 Coupe’s biggest enemy is its five-door sibling because that car offers the same performance from the same intoxicating V8 engine.
But if you’re smitten by the swoopy, divisive styling of the coupe, the car’s desirability will be almost unmatchable. It’s packed with the luxurious perceived cabin quality you’d expect from Mercedes-AMG and it also beats the Porsche Macan Turbo to 62mph by half a second – although it can’t match that car’s dynamic abilities.
Its firm, noisy ride will limit its appeal to less enthusiastic drivers. However, the retention of an emotive petrol V8 in a mid-sized performance SUV, when some rivals have turned to six-pots, will be enough to draw some people to the GLC 63 Coupe’.
Read our Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S review
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Pros: Surprisingly high grip levels, keen cornering balance
Cons: Firm ride, not the best to drive
BMW is a fairly recent addition to the ranks of manufacturers making hot SUVs at the smaller end of the market. While there has been an X5 M and an X6 M for several years, this is the first time those cars have had smaller counterparts.
They’re oddly serious, buttoned-down counterparts, too.
Using fixed-height steel coil suspension rather than air, and seeking to carve out dynamic identities as higher-rising versions of the M3 and M4 rather than any-occasion luxury SUVs with a performance flavour, the X3 M and X4 M are firm-riding, keen-revving, six-cylinder options that seem desperate to recover some sporting credibility in what many would consider a doomed attempt.
The two cars have identical axles and chassis tuning and use the same M5-derived four-wheel drive system, which combine to make for surprisingly high grip levels and keen cornering balance. Even so, they’re not the easiest cars to handle on the limit – and neither do they offer the broadest dynamic playbook in the class.