Welcome 2016, here is your first present – Mercedes has launched the beautiful GLE 450 AMG Coupe in India today for 86.4 Lakh INR. It was Mercedes who started the trend of 4 door coupes but it was BMW who applied it to the SUVs and now Mercedes has taken the game to next step by introducing what arguably is the best luxury SUV coupe in India.
First of the promised 12 launch lineup for 2016, the GLE coupe is based on the GLE SUV, and features a sloping roof line, à la S Class. The coupe comes with 21-inch wheels as standard and gets loads of tastefully applied chrome embellishments and a rakish front bumper with a single slat grill, to give the coupe a striking and aggressive stance. It also has AMG exterior styling, with AMG specific bits like spoilers, badges and aprons.
As like any other model from Mercedes, the GLE coupe is also bestowed with lot of tech, right from the intelligent LED headlights to the various assist features. The interiors are well appointed and offer comfortable seating for 5 adults.
The intelligent LED headlights automatically adapt to the weather, driving and lighting conditions and come with active light function and corner light function, which bend the lights and give better visibility while taking corners.
The interior is packed with all the bells and whistles one can imagine and sports a very luxurious trim that can impress the market easily. The interior is dominated by the brilliant 20.3cms high definition display that incorporates the navigation, AV, Internet and COMAND Infotainment system. The coupe comes with bundled Garmin MAP PILOT system is beautifully incorporated to the central display.
The driver and front passenger gets power adjustable sports seat, upholstered in ARTICO leather and offers good support for those long journeys. The seats and steering gets memory package that can store three different individual settings for seats, steering column and external mirrors positions. Additionally, the front passenger side external mirror can be programmed to be lowered automatically when reverse gear is engaged.
The cabin gets LED ambient lighting, with three color options and five intensity options. There is also a handy temperature controlled cup holder, to keep your warm drinks warm and cold drinks cold. the coupe comes with 3 zone automatic climate control system to provide warm or cold ambient to the passengers as per their taste, with separate zones for the driver, the front passenger and for the rear ones. Outdoor lovers will be happy to know that the GLE comes with a large electrically sliding panoramic sunroof with wind deflector.
A SPEEDTRONIC cruise control with variable speed limiter is also provided, which enhances the driving comfort of the GLE.
As with any other offspring of Mercedes, the GLE too do not skimp on safety offerings. The GLE 450 AMG Coupe comes with a host of active and passive safety features, and sports a plethora of assist features to help the driver in demanding situations. The adaptive highbeam assist will be a boon for our highways. The car can detect symptoms of drowsiness in driver by observing the steering and the driver's behavior, and helps the driver by raising audio-visual prompts.
The GLE also comes with ESP, and all time 4-wheel drive (4MATIC) coupled with the crosswind assist that helps particularly during difficult weather conditions and road conditions. The Crosswind assist also features automatic lane correcting brake actuations.
The 4ETS (electronic traction system) helps the car to gain traction under challenging conditions by preventing wheel spins by brake modulations and preventing the wheel spin in corners, in certain speed limits. The Coupe also features the much acclaimed PRE-SAFE occupant protection system that initiates preventive measures if the car detects an imminent collision, including automatic closing of open windows, reversible belt tensioning, etc. To add to these safety measures, the SUV also features a total of six airbags, including two adaptive airbags in the front. There are also large window airbags that keep both front and rear seat occupants safe in the event of an impact.
The GLE 450 AMG Coupe is powered by twin turbo 3.0 liter V6 engine, modified by the AMG to produce 362bhp of maximum power and 520Nm of peak torque, at 1800-4000 rpm range. This can propel the coupe from 0-100km/Hr in a mere 5.7 seconds – a testimony to the sportiness.
The engine is mated with a 9 speed automatic tranny with large gear ratios aimed at reducing engine speed and providing improvised fuel efficiency. This is something that our market will welcome with open arms. The 9G-Tronic also features less gap between gears, and is programmed to skip individual gears and multiple downshifts, to give faster shift times and responsive performance, during day to day driving and under hard acceleration. The engine also has intelligent Start-Stop button, which saves fuel by shutting off engines at red lights.
As expected, the coupe gets the AIRMATIC air suspension and Adaptive Damping System, which help the coupe to have sportier handling, while keeping the occupants in total comfort. This combination works on eliminating tyre vibrations and road noise, and by individually controlling the damping at each wheel according to the road conditions and driving styles. The pitching and rolling is controlled during braking and hard cornering. The suspension also features adjustable settles, which the driver can select using the COMAND module, and features automatic height reduction at high speeds to aid handling, depending on the transmission mode selected.
The DYNAMIC SELECT helps the driver to select from 5 different transmission modes and depending on the mode selected, the car individually controls different parameters of chassis, suspension, steering and powertrain. In addition to this, different modes also come with different tweaks in COMAND control display, engine sounds and driving lights, which keep the driver emotionally connected to the each selected mode. The adaptive suspension, coupled with the 4MATIC all time 4-wheel drive, give the GLE exceptional grip and control over any surfaces, on or off the road. The coupe also features the AMG spec transfer case with a permanent 40:60 brake force distribution ratio between front and rear axles, which helps the driving dynamics to a great extent.
While the GLE coupe launched in India comes with the AMG tag, in this model, the AMG specs are more related to visual tweaks than engine tweaks – which we hope Mercedes will remedy eventually when it will launch the more powerful GLE 63 AMG.
A diesel powered GLE coupe is also expected to be debuted soon.
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