[Auto] Why driving a Mercedes GLC from Delhi to Bhopal on the Mumbai Expressway is better than flying

[7aMoDi]

The country’s expressways deserve good cars, and the Mercedes GLC 300 makes for a great touring car.

Written by Roshun Povaiah

January 8, 2024 12:00 IST

 

Mercedes Benz GLC

 

I love road trips and it’s my preferred means of travelling between cities if time permits. A recent event in Bhopal had me sitting on the fence – should I fly, take the train or drive? Since the event was followed by a weekend, the choice was obvious. Drive. The choice was even more compelling because travelling to Bhopal from Delhi, now offers an alternate (and faster) route via the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway going via Kota, rather than taking the traditional Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi, Bhopal route. The distance is just a tad over 800 Km. With the mode of transport sorted, I needed a vehicle that could do this drive comfortably. Enter the Mercedes GLC, that had just been launched a few months earlier. A call to Mercedes-India had a gleaming Mojave Silver GLC 300 4Matic arrive for me to take on this road trip. With its 66-litre fuel tank brimmed, I set out early on a Thursday morning. The plan was to drive down the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway – a large part of which is already operational. From Sohna (near Gurgaon) to Lalsot in Rajasthan, 220 Km of the planned 1,200 Km Expressway is operational. Another 200-odd km is also operational in Madhya Pradesh, but that’s a drive for another day. From Lalsot, I would have to detour on the old NH 52 via Tonk, loop around the edtech town of Kota, and join the older route at Biaora in Madhya Pradesh for the last leg to Bhopal.

 

As soon as I got on to the Expressway, the Mercedes GLC was in its element, with its 2-litre turbocharged petrol motor, assisted with a 48-volt mild hybrid system purring and pulling along cleanly. The 9-speed automatic lets it really stretch its legs, with 120 kmph coming up at a lazy 1700 rpm. Setting cruise control (it does not have adaptive cruise control) at 118 kmph to avoid the warning beeps and stay under the limit for the Expressway, saw the GLC munching miles for breakfast, while just sipping on fuel (with an indicated 15+ kmpl on the display). Before I knew it, 220 km was dispatched in about 2 hours 15 minutes. There are plenty of speed cameras on the route and it’s best to keep the car within the limit. Rest stops are few and far between, but I did find an operational one just before the Dausa exit – which has a restaurant, fuel pump and even EV charging points. From there it took another 8 hours to get into Bhopal, including stops, covering 830 km in a shade over 11 hours.

 

The GLC 300 is a great touring car and just the right size. It has a 620-litre boot that can swallow plenty of luggage. The 15-speaker Burmester sound system is just what long, boring highways need to liven up the scene. All-round visibility is good. The panoramic sunroof gives the cabin an airy feel. What’s to love is the way the car behaves. Precise steering, compact dimensions and the good ground clearance with a fairly stiff suspension ensure a sporty drive that can easily handle rough roads. The 4matic system is a bonus, if you venture onto a sandy trail or take a short cut like I had to through dug up roads towards the South of Bhopal. Yet there are somethings that didn’t quite sit right. For all the tech the car pumps in, I would have like adaptive cruise control to be on the list. It does have automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane-keep assist. In fact, once I got into city limits – and Bhopal is a pretty crowded city – I had to ensure I turned off AEB, because it was pretty intrusive, slamming on the brakes every time an auto or scooter got in my way.

 

The other issue is the touch controls. Call me old-school, but I do like physical buttons to push which can easily be relegated to muscle memory. And the steering controls are touch too, which can be a little troublesome, activating menus or adjusting volume when you were just taking a turn. Even adjusting the climate control is controlled by the large portrait like touchscreen display in the centre console. And yes, with the kind of expressways we are getting in India these days, peppy cars with quick overtaking manners like the GLC really feel at home. If you have a few hours to spare, a road trip is better than a boring flight or train trip any day.

 

https://www.financialexpress.com/auto/reviews/why-driving-a-mercedes-glc-from-delhi-to-bhopal-on-the-mumbai-expressway-is-better-than-flying/3358126/