If there's one thing we can all be grateful for in a world of turbocharged performance cars, it's the relative ease with which they can be tuned. An ECU tickle here, an exhaust there and some intake tweaks on top can liberate the sort of horsepower improvement that would make an N/A engine blush. And, well, speed matters, so we should all be grateful for that fact.
Especially when it comes to a turbo engine as good as Mercedes' hot-V 4.0-litre V8. For €2,500, specialist Lorinser - who you might remember from repurposing old Swiss military G-Wagens - will free up another 81hp and 93lb ft for cars like the GLC 63 S Coupe, just through its plug-and-play 'PowerModul'. That means peaks of 591hp and 609lb ft, and 0-62mph in 3.8 seconds. Lorinser is keen to point out, too, that this upgrade is available for the non-Coupe GLC 63 S, as well as other vehicles with this engine.
Which is all well and good, although it sounds a bit like every other tuned SUV story that emerges all too regularly. Where the Lorinser GLC is a little different, however, is in its wheels. Because, yes, they're enormous (21 inches) and expensive (€2,900), but the LM2R rim is deliberately designed to evoke a classic Mercedes-Benz wheel design. And that's quite a cool thing to do. With a large centre area, and the short mock double spokes they are redolent of the wheels seen on W124s, W140s and W201s. And while those cars would never have even offered black wheels, let alone anything close to 21-inches, a nod to Mercedes-Benz' illustrious past is no bad thing if you ask us. Lorinser says the wheels are "very dynamic, powerful and lively", with "an extremely self-confident appearance". And, let's be honest here, a self-confident appearance is exactly what this sort of car is going for in the first place...
While Lorinser introduced the LM2R last year - it looks particularly good on an S-Class, actually - it's only now that they've been adapted to fit on the GLC. Given their appearance here, don't be surprised to see them modified for the rest of Mercedes' SUVs in due course. Not like Lorinser would be short of choice. Imagine them squeezed under a GLB...
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