The 2025 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S E PERFORMANCE is the physical manifestation of a world that’s moving towards electrification. It is a car built for a world that demands lower emissions but refuses to give up horsepower. It is significant not just because it replaces the outgoing V8-powered GLC 63, but because it completely rewrites the rulebook on how to make a fast SUV, albeit in the most technologically complicated and interesting way possible.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
My overall impression after living with this machine is that it is an absolute triumph of engineering over physics. It is an excellent performance SUV that excels on paper in ways that make your head spin. But, and this is a big but, it lacks the one thing that made its predecessor an icon: that V8 soundtrack. This car is smarter, faster, and sharper, but it is a bit like replacing your charismatic, wine-drinking uncle with a nuclear physicist. The conversation is smarter, but you might miss the old stories.
Powertrain and Driving Dynamics: 9.5/10
If you enjoy reading technical manuals or bragging about thermal efficiency at dinner parties, this is your car. Under the hood sits the M139l engine. The “l” stands for longitudinal, meaning they took the engine from the A45 hatchback and turned it ninety degrees to fit the rear-wheel-drive architecture. It is a 2.0-liter inline-four. Yes, a 2.0-liter. In a car that costs over six figures. But before you scoff, know that this small yet mighity engine pumps out 469 horsepower all by itself. That makes it the most powerful series-production four-cylinder engine on the planet.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
How did they do it? They essentially stole tech from their Formula 1 team. The engine uses an electric exhaust-gas turbocharger. In a normal car, you stomp the gas and wait for exhaust pressure to build up to spin the turbo. That creates lag and it’s annoying. In this car, a tiny electric motor is mounted directly on the turbo shaft. It spins the compressor wheel to 175,000 rpm in the blink of an eye, long before the exhaust gas arrives.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
But that is just the appetizer. The main course is the “P3” hybrid system on the rear axle. This isn’t a hybrid like a Toyota Prius. It is a performance weapon. It houses a 201-horsepower electric motor, an electronically controlled limited-slip differential, and get this, its own 2-speed transmission. The electric motor engages first gear for violent launches and then shifts to second gear around 87 mph to keep the acceleration pulling hard at Autobahn speeds.
All told, the system output is a staggering 671 horsepower and 752 lb-ft of torque. To keep all this from melting, the 6.1 kWh battery uses a direct liquid cooling system where a non-conductive fluid flows around each of the 560 individual cells.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
The Driving Experience: 10/10
So, what happens when you unleash 671 horsepower in a family SUV? Chaos. Beautiful, controlled chaos. The acceleration is linear and relentless. Because the electric motor pushes you instantly while the electric turbo spools up the gas engine, there is zero dead zone in the powerband. It just goes. The 0 to 60 mph sprint is dismissed in about 3.4 seconds, but the sensation is different from the old V8. The V8 felt like a sledgehammer; this feels like a railgun.
However, we have to address the elephant in the room: the sound. AMG knows that a four-cylinder engine naturally sounds a bit like a vacuum cleaner fighting a blender. To fix this, they developed a system called “Real Performance Sound.” It is not fake, exactly. There are actual sensors in the exhaust system that pick up the real engine noise, clean it up electronically to remove the ugly frequencies, and then amplify it through the speakers. It sounds angry and futuristic, like a pod racer from Star Wars, but it lacks the soul-shaking vibration of the old 4.0-liter V8. It is loud, but it is not emotional.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
Where the car redeems itself is in the handling. I cannot stress this enough: the development of the driving dynamics is excellent. This thing weighs over 5,100 pounds, but it drives like it is on rails. The secret sauce is the AMG Active Ride Control. Instead of traditional metal anti-roll bars that just sit there, this car has electromechanical actuators that actively twist against the body roll in corners. Combine that with standard rear-axle steering, and you have an SUV that hunts apexes like a sports car. You turn the wheel, and the nose darts in immediately. It feels razor sharp.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
I took it through a sequence of tight S-bends, and where a normal SUV would be wallowing and protesting, the GLC 63 just hunkered down and gripped. It feels like it could do anything. It is at home on the track doing lap after lap, which is a ridiculous thing to say about a car with a liftgate and cupholders, but it is true.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
Exterior Design and Features: 8.5/10
My test car featured the coupe roofline, which I admit looks fantastic. It gives the car a hunkered-down, aggressive silhouette that screams “I am not here to pick up groceries,” even though that is exactly what it will be doing 99% of the time.
The front end is dominated by the Panamericana grille with its vertical chrome slats, a nod to the 300 SL race cars of the 1950s. It is bold, muscular, and does a great job of sucking in the massive amounts of air needed to cool the magma-hot engine.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
The wheel design on my tester was fantastic—massive 21-inch forged alloys that barely contained the bronze carbon-ceramic brake calipers. The stance is wide, the fenders are flared, and the whole thing looks tense, like a sprinter in the starting blocks. It is eye-catching in the best way possible.
Interior Design, Tech, and Ergonomics: 9.0/10
Inside, Mercedes continues its dominance in “wow factor.” The interior is top notch. You are surrounded by a mix of carbon fiber, Nappa leather, and ambient lighting that can be set to 64 different colors. At night, it looks like you could be at a high-end nightclub in Berlin.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
The seats are firm but supportive, designed to hold you in place when you are testing those lateral G-forces. The steering wheel is the latest AMG Performance unit with the twin-spoke design. It looks great, but I have to lodge a complaint about the capacitive touch buttons. They are finicky. Trying to adjust the volume with a slide of your thumb while bouncing over a pothole often results in muting the stereo or skipping the track. Give us back real buttons, Mercedes!
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
The tech is headlined by the massive vertical touchscreen running the MBUX system. It includes the “Supersport” display mode for the instrument cluster, which features a giant central tachometer that looks like a radar target. It adds to the fighter jet vibe. There is also a dedicated “Track Pace” app that logs your lap times and telemetry, perfect for analyzing exactly where you were slow on your commute to the office.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
One interesting detail regarding ergonomics: because the battery is over the rear axle, the trunk floor is slightly higher than in the standard GLC. You lose a little bit of cargo space, but let’s be honest, if you are buying a 671-horsepower coupe-SUV, maximum cargo efficiency probably isn’t high on your priority list.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
Pricing, Fuel Economy, and Practicality: 10/10
This is not a cheap date. The 2026 GLC 63 S E PERFORMANCE starts north of $93,000, and with options, you are easily staring down a $110,000 sticker price. You are paying for the complexity. You are paying for the fact that this car has more cooling radiators than your house.
The official MPG numbers are better than the old V8, hovering around 20 mpg combined, but if you drive this car the way it wants to be driven, you will be on a first-name basis with your local gas station attendant.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
Practicality is a mixed bag. The coupe roofline cuts into rear headroom for tall passengers, and as mentioned, the trunk is shallow. But it is still an SUV. You can fold the seats down, throw in a couple of suitcases, and cross a continent at warp speed. It is practical in the sense that you don’t need a trailer to get your track car to the track, because your track car is also your daily driver and that’s the beauty of it and why it get’s a 10/10 score.
Final Thoughts & Overall Score: 9.0/10
The 2025 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S E PERFORMANCE is a complicated machine to summarize. If you look at the history of AMG, it started with the “Hammer”, a sedate E-Class sedan stuffed with a massive V8. It was simple, brutal, and charming. This new GLC is the exact opposite. It is complex, surgical, and digital.
It is an engineering marvel that commands respect. The way it integrates the electric motor to fill the torque gaps, the way the suspension deletes body roll, and the sheer violence of its launch control are things you have to experience to believe. It is razor sharp and drives like it’s on rails. But for the purists, the loss of the V8 is a wound that hasn’t quite healed. The car is technically superior in every measurable way, but it requires you to rewire your brain. You have to stop craving the rumble and start appreciating the tech.
Kyle Edward, Autoblog
Who is this car for? It is for the person who owns the latest iPhone Pro Max, not because they need the camera, but because they love knowing they have the best processor. It is for the driver who wants a car that feels like it was built by DARPA rather than a hot rod shop.
My verdict? It is worth buying, absolutely. But you buy it with your head, not your heart. It is a weapon of mass precision, a glimpse into a future where performance is defined by software code and electric volts. It might not sing the same song as the old days, but man, does it dance.
