I’ve always had a soft spot for Mercedes-Benz. The sheer luxury they offer simply bowls me over. While hardcore performance cars are often what I usually find myself behind the wheel of, every now and then, it is nice to sink back into the lap of luxury. And that’s been the case with the Mercedes-Benz GLC 220d in our long-term fleet. It was my daily driver for a few weeks, and I must say it always put a smile on my face each time I walked up to it to start my long commute to the office.

I really like the styling of the GLC, which is just right and not over-the-top; it looks smart and has a good road presence, too. What I like even more, though, are the interiors. The inside complements the exterior perfectly, beginning with a neat and smart dashboard. However, I have to mention that for an otherwise minimalist cabin during the day, I found the ambient lighting a bit overwhelming with all sorts of colours on the dashboard and around the cabin. Thankfully, it can be toned down to a single colour or the brightness can be reduced. While there have been mixed opinions about it among my colleagues, I personally like the pinstripe pattern, which goes well with the matte dark wood insert on the dash.

I also like the large 11.9-inch touchscreen, which is conveniently placed with a slight tilt towards the driver, making it more driver-centric. I also like the fact that most controls are integrated into the central touchscreen, along with a single bar of buttons for quick access to driving modes, park-assist, hazard lights, and volume controls. It sure looks neat, but feels loose when used.

Something that I am really particular about in cars is the seats, especially the driver’s, as that’s where I spend most of my time. I must say that the GLC’s front seats were perfect for me. The cushioning is on the firm side, but I really like the side bolstering, which offers great support. I also found the brown leather seats perfectly suited for everyday use, without having to worry about them getting stained or dirty easily. What I found very useful was the seat memory feature, which allowed me to store the seat position, steering reach/rake, and wing mirror position every time I had to swap cars with my colleagues. Another aspect I really appreciated was the Burmester audio system, which delivered top-notch, crisp audio quality. Also worth mentioning are the side footboards, which made it easier to get in and out of the GLC.

Another feature that is very helpful is the 360-degree camera, which also offers a simulated under-bonnet view using the front camera. What’s even more interesting is the GPS-activated 360-degree camera, which begins to relay a feed as soon as the GLC arrives at a saved GPS location. This is convenient if your parking spot is in a tight space. One oddity I did notice is that Google Maps via Apple CarPlay is projected on the whole screen, while when using Android Auto, it shows up on only half the screen.

The GLC proved to be a perfect mile-muncher as it offered an estimated range of over 800km on a tank of diesel. This made it a go-to choice for long road trips for me, and I enjoyed the way it drives. There’s a healthy dose of torque, and the tall gearing means the GLC 220d was happily stretching its legs on highways. The 9-speed torque converter gearbox worked seamlessly and was fun to toggle between gears via the paddle shifters every once in a while for some enthusiastic driving. I found the suspension to be on the firm side, but it was never uncomfortable. The chunky 55-profile tyres were a boon on bad roads, providing extra cushioning where needed.

The GLC is equipped with Level 1 ADAS, which includes lane-keep assist and active brake assist. While these features are good for safety on highways, I found the active brake assist too intrusive and sensitive for our cities. Annoyingly, every time I turned it off via the settings, it would come back on with each ignition cycle.

But these grouses aside, the GLC is really a well-sorted package and I had a comfortable time using it as my daily driver to work and on some enjoyable drives out of town. It is headed back to Mercedes now, and while I am a bit sad to see it go, on a greener note, we’ve got the Mercedes EQE SUV in the long-term fleet. More on it soon! 

Also see: 

Mercedes GLC and GLE coupes could be axed in the future

Mercedes GLC long term review, 8,700km report

2024 Mercedes AMG GLC 43 Coupe video review

It was one of those perfect drives, a rare window of relative emptiness on India’s busiest highway. A mid-morning dash to the BU Bhandari showroom for the launch of the Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 was the easiest Mumbai-Pune trip I’ve done in a long time. Making the drive particularly relaxing was the new addition to Autocar India’s fleet, the all-electric Mercedes EQE SUV, which got its first highway outing.

It took just two hours and six minutes in the ultra-smooth (and quick) EQE SUV to go from the Autocar HQ to the BU Bhandari Showroom on the Pune bypass. That’s less than what many office folks take to get home on a typical working day in Mumbai. It does help that the AtalSetu has brought our office closer to the edge of Mumbai, and a 10:15am departure was a sweet spot (or time). The early-morning highway rush was over, the toll plazas had no long queues, and even the Lonavala Ghat, which is choked most of the day (and night) on Google Maps, was surprisingly ‘blue’. Traffic flowed without holdups, even on the steepest sections where trucks otherwise block all lanes while trying to ‘overtake’ at a crawl.

The Atal Setu is always a great place to try out the ADAS system on any car. The wide and perfectly marked lanes and the gentle curves on this 21km sea bridge were perfect for checking out the EQE SUV’s ‘Level 2’ ADAS capability. That meant letting the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), which I have set at 99kph (just below the 100kph speed limit), and the Lane Keep Assist do the work while I sat back and relaxed with just a light hand on the wheel, enjoying the harbour’s breathtaking views.

The Lane Keep Assist worked brilliantly, keeping the big Merc centred nicely in the fast lane. When changing lanes, I was impressed with how the ACC reacted smoothly. When you signal and shift into the overtaking lane, the ACC provides strong and linear acceleration without abrupt power surges to match the new lane’s speed.

While the ADAS in the Mercedes EQE SUV is highly advanced, it has some limitations, especially when dealing with erratic drivers who slice across lanes like it’s a normal thing to do. If some idiot abruptly cuts into your lane from a sharp angle, the ADAS can struggle to react promptly. This is not the case with just the EQE SUV – no ADAS is fully capable of handling such unpredictable events, which is a reminder of why the tech can only assist and not replace the driver.

Mercedes’ Active Brake Assist, while a great safety feature on paper, can become a nuisance – and even a potential hazard – in Mumbai’s chaotic traffic. Designed for controlled environments, it doesn’t quite account for the unpredictability of pedestrians darting across roads or scooters weaving through tight gaps. The system often triggers unnecessarily, slamming on the brakes at the slightest hint of an obstacle. In such congested conditions, this overly sensitive response can be more dangerous than helpful. These fierce and abrupt stops are hugely unnerving for the passengers and could catch a driver behind you off guard, increasing the risk of rear-end collisions. It’s best to switch the Brake Assist off, which you have to do every time you start the car.

The monsoons have made mincemeat of the Nhava Sheva road, which connects the Atal Setu to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, and on such surfaces, the EQE SUV is out of its comfort zone. To be honest, it doesn’t quite live up to its SUV credentials and isn’t comfortable dropping in and out of potholes like its IC engine brethren. That’s because the softly sprung EQE SUV uses up its suspension travel quite easily, and deep ruts and craters crash through. In fact, it’s best to use ‘Sport’ drive mode as the default setting. The suspension feels overtly soft in Comfort and Normal modes, which is fine when you are crawling in rush hour, but up the pace a bit on even a slightly smooth road, and you’ll find the EQE SUV tends to wallow and feel floaty. In Sport mode, the suspension tightens nicely to give a more settled ride, which is what you want on the highway.

Two areas where the EQE SUV stands out are performance and range, and both are interlinked because, with great range, you can enjoy the performance without keeping an eye on the SOC meter.

Plant your foot down, and this big and heavy SUV lunges forward with an intensity that can take you aback but in a very pleasing way. The EQE SUV gathers with velvet smoothness, and before you know it, you’ve sailed past the speed limit. On the Mumbai-Pune expressway, which is now infested with speed cameras, it is hard not to get a speeding ticket. To stay out of trouble, I limit my indulgence to short jabs of the accelerator pedal just to enjoy all the 408hp and 858Nm of torque that puts most IC engine SUVs to shame.

I averaged 66kph on the 140km drive to BU Bhandari, which is pretty good if you consider that this included slow, non-expressway sections. Not that the expressway raises your average speed dramatically because with so many cameras staring at you, I’m forced to show a lot of restraint! With 332km range left, I didn’t need to use the Pune Mercedes dealers’ on-site 180kW fast charger, but it’s good to know that it’s there and that the dealership is happy to let non-Merc owners plug in as well. Located just off the Pune bypass, it’s an incredibly convenient place for EVs on a long-distance trip to Mahabaleshwar or beyond to quickly top up their batteries.

The return journey was equally uneventful. Using the regen down the Lonavala Ghat, I could extend the range even further, which, on this round trip, I calculated to be 504km. That is a truly impressive figure, considering how hard I was driving the EQE SUV. In fact, there was enough charge left in the battery (36 percent) for me to make another trip to Pune!

The other area where the EQE SUV shines is refinement. The EQE SUV is not just quiet; it’s like being inside a luxury vault on wheels. The adaptive air suspension noiselessly glides over any surface, and then there’s the acoustic insulation, which Mercedes has absolutely nailed. Road, tyre and wind noises, even the electric motor’s faint whir, are gone. The cabin is like a calm oasis, and that’s what makes the EQE SUV special. It is luxury in its most serene form.

Also see:

Mercedes EQE SUV vs Audi Q8 e tron vs BMW iX vs Jaguar I Pace comparison video

Mercedes CLE review: Breezy cruiser

New Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance to launch on November 12

Honda has filed a patent for a twin-screw supercharger, similar to the one found on the Kawasaki H2.

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Other World Computing (OWC) has launched the Thunderbolt 5 Hub, which promises to elevate device connectivity for Macs, PCs, and even tablets like the iPad Pro. This new hub delivers an impressive 80Gb/s of bi-directional data speed -- double that of Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 -- and supports up to 120Gb/s for users needing higher display bandwidth. With just a single cable, users can expand their device’s ports to include three Thunderbolt 5 ports and a USB-A port, making this hub a productivity game changer. For tablet users, the OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub is especially transformative, turning an iPad Pro… [Continue Reading]

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Google has added a new promotion type to Google Merchant Center named "Sale events." Sale events are a type data that you can submit on Google and are shown on non-product-centric surfaces. This seems to be available in the US for free Merchant Center listings right now.

This was spotted by Dario Zannoni who posted about it on LinkedIn and wrote, "A new "Sale Event" promotion type has been released in Google Merchant Center."

The help document says:

Sale events highlight a general sale happening in your store on different Google surfaces. Events don't show up on product listings, both organic and ads.

Unlike promotions, events aren't mapped to offers. Since events aren't directly mapped to offers, you can use ranges for discounts, such as 'Up to 40% off,' which isn't allowed with promotions.

Dario Zannoni shared this screenshot:

He wrote, "Standard promotions in Merchant Center require linking to specific products, which can make them challenging to implement. Now, Google has introduced a new promotion type called "Sale Event," which is not tied to individual products. Instead, it can be used to advertise general sales, like "All items discounted up to 70% off" or "Special discount: 10% off on golf bags.""

For more details, check out this help page.

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