2015 Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe Review – Iron Fists In A Hulking Iron Glove
The skinny: Not for the faint-hearted, the thumping new GLE Coupe from Mercedes-Benz takes a leaf out of BMW's style book - the one it used to create the polarising, but very successful, X6.
Essentially, the style idea is to take a bold coupe-like shape, then jam it atop the platform and mechanicals of the GLE SUV. The result is something new for MB, and another sports coupe-cum-SUV crossover to terrorise just about everything else.
BMW is now up to its second generation X6, the vehicle that pioneered the SUV coupe, so there's some catching up to do for MB.
Vehicle Style: Large luxury SUV coupe
Price:
GLE 350d $121,900 - GLE 63 S $198,900 (plus on-roads)
Engine/trans:
GLE 350d 190kW/620Nm 3.0 6cyl turbo diesel | 9spd automatic
GLE 450 AMG 270kW/520Nm 3.0 6cyl turbo petrol | 9spd automatic
GLE 63 S 430kW/760Nm 5.5 8cyl turbo petrol | 7spd automatic
Fuel Economy:
GLE 350d Claimed: 6.6 l/100km | Tested: 10.4 l/100km
GLE 450 Claimed: 9.4 l/100km | Tested: 11.8 l/100km (highway)
GLE 63 S Claimed: 11.9 l/100km | Tested: 17.4 l/100km
OVERVIEW
The SUV coupe is still fairly new, in that it has few imitators - this strange marriage of SUV and sweeping fastback roofline.
Pioneered by the BMW X6, but now its Mercedes’ turn to have a shot. The result is the GLE Coupe, and like the GLE SUV this one features all-wheel-drive, seating for five, and a range of petrol and diesel engines.