Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 Coupe review: The everyday AMG

The only change to its interior is the new part-leather part-Alcantara steering, similar to the one in the AMG C43 (click here to read our review). The steering gets two dedicated shortcut controllers on each side; the right one is used to change the drive modes of which there are five – Comfort (default), Sport, Sport+, Individual and Slippery; using the left controller, you can change its suspension maps, open or close valves in its exhaust, raise or lower its ride height, turn ESP on or off and switch off automatic engine stop-start. Our test car was specified to look and feel rather luxurious for an AMG, with its beige and black colour scheme, wood inlays and silver inserts. Expectedly, fit-finish and quality are top-notch, typical of what you’d expect in a car which costs as much as this. And this AMG doesn’t come at the cost of sacrificing comfort either. The front seats get heating and cooling, albeit the cushioning is firm. Space at the rear is plenty, so you will be able to ferry your family and friends, however, its seats don’t feel as luxurious or as plush as the standard GLE SUV. At the heart of this AMG is the M256M 3-litre, 6-cylinder (twin-scroll) turbo-petrol engine, which it shares with the GLE 450 and GLS 450. But on the AMG, performance is dialled up to make 435hp and 560Nm, an improvement of 55hp and 60Nm over its ‘mainstream’ SUV counterparts. And with the 2024 update, it now gets a new second-generation integrated starter generator, which provides an additional 20hp and 200Nm to further enhance responsiveness. Being rather aggressively tuned, throttle responses feel sharp, which forces you to be gentle on the accelerator in bumper-to-bumper traffic, however, once you’ve worked your way around that initial spikey acceleration, this AMG can serve as a competent daily driver. With an aggressive driving style, it builds speed at an astonishing rate and feels deceptively quick – 0-100kph takes just 5 seconds, and it will go on to hit a top speed of 250kph (limited). Even though hitting illegal speeds is effortless, while shedding speed rapidly, you will feel its near-2.3-tonne mass. Braking performance though is spot on thanks to its massive 400mm disc in the front and 370mm at the rear. What’s impressive is that while this AMG is sportier to drive and feels tighter than the standard GLE SUV, ride quality is surprisingly forgiving for an AMG, which rides on 21-inch wheels. It is equipped with air-suspension and gets adjustable damping settings – Comfort, Sport and Sport+, which you can change independent of drive modes. The car feels sharpest in the two Sport settings, and for a car this big and heavy, it incredibly shrinks its size and weight, and feels quite enjoyable to drive. Its 4matic+ all-wheel drive system, massive tyres and quick-ratio steering only improve the experience when cornering with verve. What’s more, even though ground clearance is more than enough for our roads, you can further raise its ride height to venture on a mild off-road trail. And for those rare occasions, it has got some clever off-road readouts on the infotainment screen, and there’s also the option of an invisible bonnet function to identify stones or smaller obstacles beneath the car. The Mercedes AMG GLE 53 Coupe is big, looks distinctive and feels desirable for what it offers – sportscar-levels of performance with the practicality and usability of a full-sized SUV. At Rs 1.85 crore (ex-showroom), it sits above competitors like the Porsche Cayenne Coupe and the Audi Q8, but it’s close to 100hp over said rivals and comes with a long list of standard equipment. So, as it stands, the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 4Matic+ Coupe is a lot of car for a lot of money too.