Come snow or high water, a family must do its thing. For mine, we booked a room at Pokagon State Park, near the Michigan border, to escape January and warm our morsels in front of a fire in an historic inn. Of course, we also planned a couple of trips down the nearby toboggan run. Even with the 2025 Mercedes AMG GLC43 Coupe at our call, Mother Nature is testing our will.
We’re getting four inches of snow during Friday rush hour, shadowing our two and a half hours slog to the park. And, of course, we’re driving a 400-horsepower muscle car. Great. Beasts like this usually come with summer tires that slip like Paula Deene’s buttery fingers and dive towards ditches like Tom Daley slicing a pool. This one wears all-season tread.
We might be OK.
Sitting in my driveway as snowmageddon begins, it’s a handsome little devil looking angry about the snow with its toothy AMG grille with squinted LED headlamps. The lower facia scowls at the road. The GLC is Mercedes’ compact crossover and this one is the coupe version with faster roofline and rear hatch. It’s kind of a jacked up four-door coupe, planted over 21” AMG alloy wheels with red brake calipers peeking through.
After loading the cargo hold with all of my daughter’s accoutrement, we’re ready to go.
The road is the consistency of a crunched Drumstick, cone and all, inches deep. There’s a scattering of plows as we motor north, but they’re soon in our rearview mirror as we cut cornfields blowing snow. Driving is as much by feel as sight. Following semi tracks becomes route. I twist the steering wheel knob from Comfort to Slippery which keep the adaptive suspension in full waft while providing more aggressive traction control.
At least we’re cozy.
Flatscreen gauges and tablet-style infotainment screen provide the backdrop with Nappa Leather seats, sueded flat-bottom steering wheel, and carbon fiber trim taking center stage. Snuggle into the heated front seats, crank dual-zone automatic climate control, and look at snow fall through the panorama glass roof. The screen clicks into navigation, climate, and audio functions, but connecting devices through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto tickles Bermester audio.
Driven aggressively, the GLC43 behaves aggressively. But driven with a lighter foot, it behaves like a lamb. You’d never guess the 2.0-liter turbo-four with mild hybridization, connected to 4MATIC all-wheel-drive and a 9-speed automatic transmission, puts down 416 horsepower and 369 lb.-ft. of torque. It’s capable of ripping off 0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds, but not today. Rear axle steering shortens parking lot maneuvers and backroad cornering. Enjoy 18/24-MPG city/highway.
Without traffic, I could run 70 mph while the ‘Benz shifts power seamlessly between wheels. We exit about half-way to the inn for a drive-through snack and realize nothing has been plowed. Four inches of fresh mess. I ease into the anti-lock brakes to safely stop. Pulling out, rear wheels slip briefly before the fronts dig in. Total confidence.
It takes over three hours, but the Mercedes delivers. Freeways around Ft. Wayne are an unplowed mess, and I69 isn’t much better, but we spend the rest of the weekend resting fireside between quick runs down the toboggan. Daughter loves it! Returning on Sunday, I indulge the AMG’s back-thumping spirit.
I could do without some of the infotainment system complexities and proximity sensors that hissed at snow piles bordering the Starbucks drive-through, but complaints are few. Base GLCs start at $49,250 while our angry conveyor comes to a loftier $79,985. Also consider the Audi SQ5 Sportback, BMW X4 M, and Genesis GV70.
Storm Forward!
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