Mercedes-Benz GLA 45 AMG: Review

The German cities of Affalterbach and Stuttgart are about 30 km away from each other. The latter produces the three-pointed star and the former puts them on a testosterone induced diet of rumbling V8s. In very little distance from the Mercedes-Benz headquarters, these stately Mercs are tuned by the nutters at AMG for a breed of owners that want an alter ego of a luxury car, and every so often, sportscars too. It’s a small breed and the gap between the two type of cars and owners is wide. Now though, AMG wants to bridge that gap and blur the lines between a hardcore AMG and a soft-core Mercedes. For that purpose, AMG has developed a 2.0-litre inline 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, that when plonked into a CLA, A-Class or GLA turns them into ’45 AMGs’, or initiations into the AMG clan. 

It’s a sacrilegious act in the eyes of purists who swear by the handcrafted V8 engines AMG produces and to an extent we got that before we drove one of these. But the M133, as this inline-4 is called, is a mini-monster in its own right as we found out. What we have here, is the GLA 45 AMG. It is the most practical AMG, for lack of a better word, and specifically for India, it seems to be the most usable performance car on paper. The only real rival it has is Porsche’s Macan turbo petrol but the Macan will be at the very least, about Rs 30 lakh costlier than this car, and doesn’t offer too much more in the bargain.  

So I’m waiting at the side of a highway south of Delhi on a Saturday morning for Mercedes to drop off the GLA 45 AMG for what is looking up to be a fantastic weekend treat. The driver executes a redline shift as I note the exhaust flaps pop out that little extra, and the bassy 2.0-litre AMG growls past me into the distance. Right then, time to spoil his fun and have some of mine. Soon, he pulls over as I catch up with this stunner and the early morning light gives me a good chance to gaze at this beefy compact SUV. 

Exterior design/styling

The GLA is quite the looker and we believe its styling alone will draw enough and more prospective customers into showrooms. With a good base to start from, there was little doubt that the GLA 45 AMG would be anything but a scorcher. On this white car, the first thing that catches the eye is the contrast red insert around the grille, drawing your attention to the muscular front end. That large Mercedes logo sitting like a hinge in the centre of the thick dual slat grille draws you in and the large air inlets and chunky brushed aluminium front splitter complete its aggressive look. 

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Move towards the side and you notice that the GLA 45 AMG is lower slung than its donor. If there’s any drawback, it’s in this car’s side profile, where it looks a bit too hatchback-like. Mercedes increased the ground clearance of the GLA for India by 30mm to 183mm but keeping in mind the 45 AMG’s sporting pretensions, this car stands at 168mm. Around the same as most Indian cars that makes it perfectly fine for our roads but doesn’t give it the ability to go off-road. The GLA 45 AMG is shamelessly made for the road though and it’s a good one at that. We’ll come to that as we cover the driving bits. Let’s move on to the rest of the design. 

In side profile, noticeable changes are the black painted wing mirrors and 5-twin spoke AMG 19 inch alloy wheels. The red brake calipers stand out as well. The GLA 45 AMG has matt grey sill panels to round it off. Towards the rear, two twin chrome exhaust tips mask single split exhaust pipes and a more elaborate diffuser is added on. Other bits like the large side stickers and red strips running on the mirrors and the rear diffuser are optional extras.

Rating: 4.5/5

Interior and Space

Holding on to the Alcantara lined steering wheel with the aluminium paddle shifters at your fingertips as you step into the GLA 45 AMG, it gives you that sense of purpose right away. This car borrows the same interior design template from the CLA 45 AMG, from the dashboard layout to the choice of materials to the AMG seats and that’s a good thing. What the GLA 45 AMG does better is give you a lot more space on the inside, relative to a CLA. Even compared to the GLA, the snug Recaro-AMG sports seats occupy lesser lateral space giving you a little extra room to play with. They are supremely comfortable and fairly adjustable to different body sizes, be it side bolsters, lumbar support or thigh support.

It’s not a very spacious cabin overall though, good enough for four adults with not much of claustrophobia creeping in. What does add to the sense of space is the large panoramic sunroof that lights up the black leather seats. A nice contrast to the dark interior is the brushed aluminium panel on the dashboard and the red topstitching on the seats and dashboard. Boot space stands at 421kg with the parcel tray off. Almost a third of it isn’t usable with the space saver buckled in. But let’s be fair here, you’ve got a fast car with enough comfort for four and a weekend’s luggage that can be taken to any place with half decent tarmac. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Features and equipment

The GLA 45 AMG is the top of the line GLA. It’s got all the features of the GLA that includes Bi-Xenon headlamps with DRLs, aluminium roof rails, a Harman Kardon surround sound system, sat-nav, 7-inch screen, reversing camera, paddle shifters, infinitely adjustable electric sports seats with memory function, a panoramic sunroof, all that you need. The AMG bits like the gear lever with the AMG stamp embossed on the leather and the AMG instrument cluster are unique to this car among other GLAs, as is the steering wheel. The only issue is a slightly dated looking screen and the clutter of buttons on the centre console, that don't quite gel with the overall interior design. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Ride and ease of driving

Despite being a SUV that by definition is supposed to give a commanding view of the road ahead, you sit fairly low in the GLA 45 AMG. The seats can be adjusted so you sit higher, yet even at its highest point, your line of sight isn’t high enough for an SUV. That said, you don’t need to get into a neck stretching exercise unless you are driving on broken patches. When you are though, the GLA 45 AMG impresses with its passable ride quality for such a sporty car. The suspension is not as stiff as in the CLA 45 AMG according to Mercedes, and as the GLA is higher off the ground, it is a far more usable car. AMG’s sports suspension setup also ensures you don’t lose out on the dynamics front. The front struts are fitted with stiffer steering knuckles, you get bigger anti-roll bars and the multi-link rear axle is newly developed for this car as well for a surefooted ride at all times. Compact dimensions and quick acceleration make it a very easy car to drive in traffic - it’s just point and shoot kind of a car, and it does that every time you demand of it without any drama whatsoever.

Rating: 3.5/5

Engine and Performance

Lift up the hood and the handcrafted inline-4 shows its maker’s mark, and you’d think, this guy is moving up the ranks in the AMG engine department with a goal of the V8s in sight. He can’t mess up now, can he. The massive twin-scroll turbocharger gets the 2.0-litre petrol engine’s output to a staggering 360PS at 6,000rpm and 450Nm of torque from 2,250-5,000rpm. It’s not the most powerful 4-cylinder engine in the world anymore with Volvo claiming that title with their yet to be launched Drive-E engine (a 450PS belter!) but there’s little doubt about this baby AMG’s repertoire. This engine is mated to AMG’s speedshift 7-speed dual clutch transmission. 

It offers three driving modes – Comfort, Sport and Manual. You don’t want to be driving in comfort mode unless you are in doubt of making it to the next fuel station. It dulls down throttle responses and keeps you in a high gear most of the time, good for cruising on the highway or pottering around town. But why cruise when you can time warp? Slot it in sport or manual mode and the GLA 45 AMG becomes a blisteringly quick compact SUV. It has a claimed 0-100kmph time of 4.8 seconds and a top speed limited to 250kmph. And all the performance is available without a fuss. It will not scare you silly as you bury your right foot down. Small stretches of open road are good enough to touch speeds of 150-180kmph and stay in total control of this AMG without your palms sweating. What surprised me is that as I was engrossed in getting the best of the engine while I tried to run the tank dry, I didn’t miss the V8 exhaust note one bit. 

A neat party trick are the exhaust flaps that pop at a redline shift and induce a chuckle every time you hear them. Drive hard and the engine growls louder than usual, not too intoxicating but joyous enough for a 4-cylinder mill. There is no more power or level of performance you will need in our road conditions for an everyday car. 

Rating: 4.5/5

Handling and braking

Walk around the rear of the GLA 45 AMG and you see the 4Matic badge pasted on. The otherwise front wheel drive MFA platform built SUV in this AMG guise transforms itself in the handling department. Power still goes to the front wheels all the time until the rear wheels demand torque and when they do, up to 50 percent of it is made available for precise control all the time. Aiding in the precision is the directing steering. It is such an easy car to drive fast, it can get addictive.

And pushing the GLA 45 AMG is easy, knowing that the brakes are there to fall back on. The vented, cross-drilled brakes offer fantastic bite as does the grip from the 235/45 R19 Continental rubber. AMG hasn’t gone overboard with wider tyres than those on the lesser models in the GLA lineup and that seems to be a wise decision. While the GLA 45 AMG is majorly about performance, it is also going to be a everyday car and that requires acceptable levels of efficiency as well.

Rating: 4.5/5

Price and fuel Efficiency

The GLA 45 AMG will command a premium over the CLA 45 AMG and so we expect Mercedes to price this car around Rs 75 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi. As far as efficiency goes, it shouldn’t be your concern if you are considering any AMG for that matter. But just for the record, it returns 13.33kmpl in the European driving cycle. Expect a consistent single digit figure in the real world.

Rating: 3/5

Verdict

It’s a good time to own a performance car in India. There are decent roads around major cities and owners with deep enough pockets to use them regularly. But why restrict yourself to cities? The GLA 45 AMG offers the opportunity to take a powerful car out of town without much worry and is a ridiculously logical fast car at that. There quite frankly isn’t a more dynamic performer southwards of a crore of rupees on offer in India yet and just for that, the GLA 45 AMG gets a big thumbs up in the Indian context. What it also does is opens up the astonishing world of AMGs to a wider audience. Mercedes is betting big on AMG in India in the coming years and the GLA 45 AMG is just the right initiation into the brand.

Rating: 4.5/5