GLC or Stelvio

[ekulluke]

Hello. I know this is not exactly prime PH fodder, but both are cars nonetheless.

I’ve got a Range Rover Sport at the moment. It’s a low mileage 2011 model, so nothing too fancy. I can’t hack the average 21mpg average any more and I’ve scratched the RR itch now so will be moving on.

I’ve semi-whittled it’s replacement down to a GLC250d and a Stelvio Nero (200bhp 2.0 petty engine).

Does anyone have any experience with either of these to sway me for/against them?

I don’t have a family, just me and the mrs. I’m in my early-mid 20s but have a Doberman and love motorbikes/mountain bikes hence the need for space.

Thanks in advance.

[Blanchimont]

I've driven a couple of Stelvios, and the 200hp one does feel a little weedy. The 280 petrol, or 210 diesel would be the ones to get.
The ones I drove were all brand new, but they felt solid, and seemed ok.

[ekulluke]

Blanchimont said:

I've driven a couple of Stelvios, and the 200hp one does feel a little weedy. The 280 petrol, or 210 diesel would be the ones to get.
The ones I drove were all brand new, but they felt solid, and seemed ok.

Fair comment. What makes you say they just seemed ok? It’d be a car i would hold onto for 3 yrs plus so would want to make sure it was up to spec, and sadly at the moment can’t go out and have a poke around one.

[Blanchimont]

ekulluke said:

Blanchimont said:

I've driven a couple of Stelvios, and the 200hp one does feel a little weedy. The 280 petrol, or 210 diesel would be the ones to get.
The ones I drove were all brand new, but they felt solid, and seemed ok.

Fair comment. What makes you say they just seemed ok? It’d be a car i would hold onto for 3 yrs plus so would want to make sure it was up to spec, and sadly at the moment can’t go out and have a poke around one.

They seemed on par to the german/Jap counterparts from a quality point of view. The ones I drove were brand new so it would be hard to comment on a longevity POV.

[aspender]

I owned a 280PS Stelvio for three years, and now have a Quadrifoglio. I've made observations in this thread: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Happy to answer any specific questions

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Had a GLC250d for a while, does everything it says on the tin, very capable. Swapped it for a newer GLC220d simply because it was a good deal, and was the right colour and spec. Can barely notice the difference between the two.

[ekulluke]

aspender said:

I owned a 280PS Stelvio for three years, and now have a Quadrifoglio. I've made observations in this thread: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Happy to answer any specific questions

Thank you that was a good read and I’m very jealous of the QF upgrade. My mrs has an Abarth 595 and the dealer we bought it from had one in and I couldn’t stop looking at it.

What’s the ride like in the 280? Is it crashy etc? It’s a bit of a shame the mpg is fairly low. I had a 430i last year and it averaged 27.9mpg over about 4000 miles. That’s probably as low as I can stomach as an average.

[ekulluke]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Had a GLC250d for a while, does everything it says on the tin, very capable. Swapped it for a newer GLC220d simply because it was a good deal, and was the right colour and spec. Can barely notice the difference between the two.

Thanks twig. What is the interior like quality wise? I always think they look great but the materials, on photos, seem like they could be sub par? What’s the equipment like? My budget extends to AMG premium plus so keen to know if it’s worth the £££

[cerb4.5lee]

Had a GLC350d for 4 years in august and covered almost 80k miles in it now. It has been an excellent family car to be fair. They aren't very interesting to drive, but they do the comfort/relaxed bit very well.

Interior wise I really like it(had a few BMW's and I like that the interior is a bit more interesting to sit in/look at in comparison), and I haven't had any issues with it build wise.

I'd certainly recommend the GLC.

[cerb4.5lee]

ekulluke said:

My budget extends to AMG premium plus so keen to know if it’s worth the £££

I think it is worth it. The upgraded stereo is nice, I also added side steps and the 360 camera which are really good too.

[aspender]

ekulluke said:

What’s the ride like in the 280? Is it crashy etc? It’s a bit of a shame the mpg is fairly low. I had a 430i last year and it averaged 27.9mpg over about 4000 miles. That’s probably as low as I can stomach as an average.

Not at all crashy. Not much different to the Guilia which I've driven quite a bit too. It copes with B-Road type surfaces well. It's not as cushy as something optioned with air suspension I'd imagine (e.g. XC60) but I'd rather have the Stelvio dynamics. I remember us driving a Q5 before we went for the Stevio and that felt entirely disconnected, which you certainly don't feel in the Stelvio.

[ekulluke]

cerb4.5lee said:

Had a GLC350d for 4 years in august and covered almost 80k miles in it now. It has been an excellent family car to be fair. They aren't very interesting to drive, but they do the comfort/relaxed bit very well.

Interior wise I really like it(had a few BMW's and I like that the interior is a bit more interesting to sit in/look at in comparison), and I haven't had any issues with it build wise.

I'd certainly recommend the GLC.

Thanks Cerb. Good to know. Is the ride wallowy or body roll heavy? I’m not expecting it to suck the ground but my RRS feels like A cruise ship rolling around.

[ekulluke]

aspender said:

Not at all crashy. Not much different to the Guilia which I've driven quite a bit too. It copes with B-Road type surfaces well. It's not as cushy as something optioned with air suspension I'd imagine (e.g. XC60) but I'd rather have the Stelvio dynamics. I remember us driving a Q5 before we went for the Stevio and that felt entirely disconnected, which you certainly don't feel in the Stelvio.

Thanks. And good to know re: Q5 as I had been considering it. I do feel I go in circles. Sometimes I want estate (C43 AMG or S4 avant) then go back round to the SUV (GLC or Stelvio as discussed here).

[cerb4.5lee]

ekulluke said:

Thanks Cerb. Good to know. Is the ride wallowy or body roll heavy? I’m not expecting it to suck the ground but my RRS feels like A cruise ship rolling around.

It is pretty composed to be fair and it doesn't roll too much at all. It is only around 1900kg(the 250d will be lighter than that too) in comparison to my old X5(2200kg) and your RRS though. I generally drive it in a relaxed manner though because that seems to really suit it. I tried throwing it around when I first got it and it wasn't really its thing.

It has also offered almost 40mpg overall, which I don't think is too bad at all. It would be interesting to know what the 220d/250d offer mpg wise, more than that I guess?

[RammyMP]

cerb4.5lee said:

ekulluke said:

My budget extends to AMG premium plus so keen to know if it’s worth the £££

I think it is worth it. The upgraded stereo is nice, I also added side steps and the 360 camera which are really good too.

The lower model doesn’t have Apple CarPlay if that matters to you. It would to me, I’d expect in a car costing circa £40k.

[ekulluke]

RammyMP said:

The lower model doesn’t have Apple CarPlay if that matters to you. It would to me, I’d expect in a car costing circa £40k.

It would Rammy. Do you know if all the GLC premium plus models have it? Inc 2016/17 models?

[RammyMP]

ekulluke said:

RammyMP said:

The lower model doesn’t have Apple CarPlay if that matters to you. It would to me, I’d expect in a car costing circa £40k.

It would Rammy. Do you know if all the GLC premium plus models have it? Inc 2016/17 models?

I don’t know about the older ones, I know the new ones don’t.

I had a test drive in the lower powered diesel GLC about 2 years ago and struck it off the short list as it was noisy and the engine seemed to rev quite high when accelerating.

The dilemma was the better spec and higher power models were over £40k so the tax goes from £150(?) a year to £450.

[anonymous-user]

Is a 10-15mpg improvement really going to make a huge difference in the running costs? Do you do huge yearly mileage?

[cerb4.5lee]

RammyMP said:

I had a test drive in the lower powered diesel GLC about 2 years ago and struck it off the short list as it was noisy and the engine seemed to rev quite high when accelerating.

The dilemma was the better spec and higher power models were over £40k so the tax goes from £150(?) a year to £450.

I don't like the £460 to be fair on the GLC350d, especially because it is a diesel and generally they are usually fairly cheap to tax. At least it isn't the £580 that I pay for the 370Z though!

I hate VED!

[ekulluke]

ajap1979 said:

Is a 10-15mpg improvement really going to make a huge difference in the running costs? Do you do huge yearly mileage?

Probably not. I do about 6k a year (in a normal year). Don’t get me wrong it isn’t a deal breaker, it’s just a nice to have really.