2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 review

• Doors and Seats

  

  NA

• Engine

  

  NA

• Engine Power

  

  310kW, 500Nm

• Fuel

  

  Petrol 9.7L/100KM

• Transmission

  

  NA

• Warranty

  

  NA

• Ancap Safety

  

  NA

Family Cars Guide

The new generation of AMG products isn't the first to see engines downsized, but they could be the most dramatic. In the case of the GLC43 SUV, it follows the lead of the C43 sedan in moving from a performance V6 engine to a much smaller 2.0-litre four-cylinder.

The promise is that performance isn't compromised, but the pressure to deliver vehicles that deliver lower emissions on test cycles means manufacturers are being pushed hard. Displacement taxes for engines over 2.0 litres in key markets like China also play a huge role in the shifting landscape.

So, whether AMG enthusiasts like it or not, the V6 engine is gone, but the power isn't. This engine, shared with cars like the Mercedes-AMG A45, punches out 310kW – up 23kW over the old, larger V6. Acceleration time has been trimmed by 0.1 seconds, with the 0–100km/h sprint taking 4.8sec, and claimed consumption has dropped from 10.4 litres per 100 kilometres to 9.7L/100km.

All positives then, right?

On paper, the new solution looks good, but specifications and emotions don't always align, so I spent a week with the new GLC43 to unpack what AMG's new era feels like from behind the wheel.

The Mercedes-AMG GLC43 slots into the middle ground of the GLC line-up. The GLC300 opens the range from $103,400 plus on-road costs, while the step up to the AMG GLC43 brings the starting price up to $135,315 plus on-road costs. If you're after peak performance, there's also an AMG GLC63 model kicking off from an eye-watering $191,814 before on-road costs – now the GLC range's only plug-in hybrid model.

Regardless of the variant you choose, all come with a 2.0-litre engine under the bonnet and all-wheel drive. Each step in the range is offered as a traditional SUV, like the one shown here, or as a coupe-style fastback, for an extra $6600 to $11,800 depending on the variant.

Even the entry point to the GLC range, the GLC300, comes with an extensive list of standard equipment including a powered tailgate, panoramic sunroof, aluminium side steps, powered front seats with memory, driver's head-up display, 360-degree cameras, adaptive cruise control, 20-inch alloy wheels, and AMG Line styling package.

On top of that, the GLC43 adds adaptive suspension, rear-wheel steering, a full leather interior (in place of faux leather), a premium Burmester sound system, matrix headlights, and a range of AMG features including upgraded brakes, drive modes, and exhaust, plus styling touches like a different steering wheel and AMG alloy wheels (still 20-inch).

Options are reduced compared to earlier Mercedes-Benz models, with most features included as standard, although upgraded 21-inch alloy wheels ($1500), carbon-fibre interior trim ($1700), and an AMG Performance Ergonomic Package ($6900) that includes upgraded sports seats and a suede-look steering wheel, are available – though none were fitted to the car shown here.

Although it's not quite an exact match, with higher performance (375kW/600Nm), the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio has a price not too far afield of an optioned-up GLC43 from $162,700. Unlike BMW and Porsche, Alfa Romeo lacks the 'entry-level' performance grade offered by rivals.

Pricing for the BMW X3 M50i xDrive kicks off from a more affordable $126,900, but with 280kW and 540Nm, it's slightly down on peak outputs. The Porsche Macan GTS feels right on the money as far as rivals, with 324kW/550Nm and a $141,700 price of entry. All prices are before options and on-road costs.

The GLC43 stops the tape at 4751mm long, with a 2888mm wheelbase, 1938mm wide, and 1634mm tall. If you chose the GLC43 Coupe instead of the SUV, overall length grows by 43mm, but the height is 32mm less.

Although the difference is less pronounced than it was in the previous generation, the wheelbase of the GLC is 23mm longer than that of a C-Class sedan. Handy for unlocking additional rear seat space.

The interior design differences between the GLC300 and GLC43 are subtle. The standard woodgrain dash insert looks conservative for a performance SUV, but provides an interesting contrast to the high-tech styling of the extensive LED backlighting.

Front seat comfort is a mixed bag. Mercedes persists with key seat adjustment buttons on the door trim, making them easy to reach, but they're a no-movement type of button that gives no feedback and can be frustrating to try and make adjustments to the seat height or tilt with. For a premium car adjustments are quite rudimentary, with no adjustable bolsters, though it is possible to extend the thigh support. Massage is not included, but seat kinetics are, which makes very small positioning adjustments every 10 seconds to help occupants remain energised.

A high-rise centre console creates a clear cockpit-like feel up front. A slide-away cover opens to reveal a pair of cupholders, a wireless charge pad, and an additional storage space to tuck a wallet, keys, or a small purse into. Although it looks like there could be a second tier of storage lower down, the console's sides are closed off.

The rear seats are positioned slightly behind the door aperture, so while the door is compact, seat space is not. The elevated rear bench gives rear passengers a decent view out, and leg, head, and shoulder space are all quite generous. Space is decent for the medium SUV class. The outboard seats offer comfy seating and supportive sculpting, but the middle seat is a bit awkwardly padded for longer trips, with a transmission tunnel impeding foot room.

Rear passengers get air vents through the back of the console, but no individual climate controls. There's small storage here too, bottle holders in the doors, and a fold-down armrest with a pair of cupholders.

Behind the rear seats there's 620 litres of storage space, another ace the GLC holds over the C-Class (which claims 455L), plus the GLC allows easy seat folding from inside the boot, alongside bag hooks and further down a small storage section and tie-down points. There is additional storage under the boot floor and the GLC's tyre repair kit too.

The infotainment system in the GLC43 is shared across the range. This means an 11.9-inch touchscreen that works in concert with a 12.3-inch digital driver's display, with inputs via touch, steering wheel controls, and voice inputs.

Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are supported, plus the inbuilt system covers Bluetooth, AM/FM/DAB+ radio, satellite navigation, and an embedded SIM for connected services and over-the-air updates.

The system is user-friendly, and mostly easy to use. The screen is responsive to touch inputs, and the on-screen menus and layout offer logical navigation. Because Mercedes has removed physical climate controls, these occupy a permanent display space on the bottom on the screen.

It's also possible to navigate the infotainment system and driver's display using the touch-sensitive steering wheel. These controls are infuriatingly difficult to use. Simple left-right, up-down inputs are often misread, and getting to where you intend is often filled with re-entering commands and using the back-button often.

Display options for the instrument cluster allow you to choose from modern race-style displays, or more conservative additional dials, with a good range of into available to view as you drive.

The Mercedes Me smartphone app allows you to pair to your vehicle and access vehicle stats and diagnosis service, arrange service bookings, or access features like digital key support, vehicle status and remote access, remote heating and ventilation and more.

Access to the standard Mercedes Me inclusions is complimentary for the first three years, but opt-in additions can be purchased or renewed at any time. Your Mercedes dealer can walk you through more of what's included on your particular vehicle.

The Mercedes-Benz GLC received five stars when tested by ANCAP in 2022. However, this rating applies specifically to the GLC300, which was the only variant available at the time of testing.

As a guideline, the non-AMG GLC was awarded 92 per cent for adult occupant and child occupant protection, 84 per cent for safety assistance and 74 per cent for road user protection. As with many modern cars, the pedestrian protection score was impacted by strong vehicle A-pillars (windscreen pillars) that form part of the car's occupant-protection safety cell.

The Mercedes-AMG GLC43 features 10 airbags (driver, passenger, driver's knee, front-centre and front-head, front-side and rear-side airbags on both the left and right side of the car).

Mercedes-Benz offers a comprehensive array of standard safety equipment on the GLC43, and indeed, the whole GLC range.

Standard features include autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane-keep assist with lane centring (for highway conditions), adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert functions with collision avoidance braking, front and rear parking sensors, and a sharp 360-degree camera system.

There's a speed sign recognition system that seemed accurate in my testing, and you can link this to the cruise control or speed limiter to help keep you on the right side of the law. The lane-assist systems seem a little less authoritative than some rivals, which is handy if you need to dodge a pothole or move over for wide vehicles.

I tended to find the adaptive cruise control very late to slow for traffic ahead, and while it jumps heavily on the brakes it still managed to pull up surprisingly smoothly. Still, for me, I'd rather take over earlier and slow more gently for a less stressful drive.

Mercedes-Benz Australia provides a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty across its range for private owners. In the case of cars used commercially, including ride-share, delivery, or rental, a 200,000km warranty cap applies.

Servicing packages are available when buying your GLC43 priced at $4420 for three years, $5520 for four and $6245 for five years. That's high, when BMW offers five years of service coverage from $2675.

Insurance was quoted at $3937 per year for comprehensive cover based on a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Those same details returned a lower $3025 quote for a BMW X3 M40i (with the newer M50i not listed yet) or a higher $4507 for a Porsche Macan GTS.

On paper, the engine downsizing has dropped the GLC43's official fuel consumption to 9.7 litres per 100 kilometres for this new-generation model. The previous V6 claimed 10.4L/100km.

In practice, consumption varied wildly. On open-road runs it was possible to record figures in the sevens, with the GLC43 showing how frugal it can be in steady-state cruising conditions. For a short trip around town, like the home-school-supermarket triangle, the trip computer showed that short-hop stop-start driving can push consumption past 20L/100km – and that's without even trying.

Spirited driving, similarly, puts the pressure on consumption. Because my commute covers a long run into the office, consumption was decent, but not spectacular, at 11.2L/100km on test, but inner-suburban drivers can expect to return higher figures.

The high-output nature of the engine also means that Mercedes-Benz specified the use of 98-octane premium unleaded petrol. The 62-litre fuel tank offers a 639km range at the claimed consumption, but in my week with the car, that came in closer to 550km of potential range.

AMG's high-performance 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine has a fairly broad deployment across the Mercedes-Benz range. You can find versions of it in everything from the A-Class, all the way to the SL roadster and GT Coupe, with A-Class, GLA, GLB, CLA, and C-Class in between all using the same basic package, with different outputs and levels of hybrid assistance.

In this instance it comes paired with a 48-volt mild hybrid system, plus an electric turbocharger (to build boost earlier and avoid lag). Peak power is 310kW at 6750rpm, while peak torque is 500Nm at a relatively high (for a turbo engine) 5000rpm.

That runs through AMG's multi-clutch automatic, which uses a clutch pack in place of a torque converter (as found in the GLC300) for a sharper drive.

While there's a decent punch of performance to uncork, you have to work to unleash it.

Left in Comfort mode, the GLC43 tries its hardest to be a mild-mannered SUV. Its accelerator pedal mapping lacks urgency and the transmission tries hard to imitate a more forgiving torque converter transmission. This means getting off the line results in a slow launch and the pronounced sounds of a slipping clutch pack until everything is hooked up.

The transmission is usually well behaved, but a few times the transmission would clunk and shudder changing gears, most often in situations where conditions change, like switching from a rolling stop to back into the accelerator. Still, even in calm part-throttle acceleration up to 50 or 60km/h, the gearbox would slam between gears without warning.

Rolling up through Sport and Sport+ modes creates a more harmonious experience. More weight to the steering and firmer suspension help set a sports car tone, with sharper gearshifts that work for high-speed flowing roads. The exhaust noise also picks up, with pops and burbles for a scaled-up hot hatch soundtrack.

Whereas the old V6 GLC43 was able to shift more seamlessly between suburban sleeper and apex hunter, the new car falls down a little at the former but does at least hold up the latter part of the deal. It's all a touch digital, though. The involvement and hands-on nature of AMG's past feels somehow more sanitised here.

The firm ride varies between being able to ride out long-travel bumps and dips in the road surface, while also having almost no travel over little jitters and joins in the road surface, sending them back into the cabin.

With four-wheel steering as standard, but a limited 2.5 degrees of rear turn-in, the GLC43 is able to tighten its turning circle slightly. The claim is that rear wheels turn opposite to the fronts at low speeds, while at higher speeds rear wheels turn with the fronts to assist stability.

As is so often the case with systems of this nature, there's an unnatural shift felt through the car at the point of initial steering input, or as the wheels pass through straight ahead when moving side to side.

It's the polish and poise of the driver assist systems that make this a more liveable daily driver. Find the right road and dial in your performance settings and the GLC43 works as an oversized hot hatch of sorts.

It's reassuring to know that, despite the AMG treatment, the GLC43 also retains a degree of utility. You can tow up to 1800kg of braked weight behind a GLC, or 750kg unbraked.

The 535kg payload is perhaps a little slim to account for the weight of passengers, cargo, and any ball weight into the mix, but should be enough for most owners if the load is only family plus a boot full of gear.

Not without controversy, AMG's move to an all-2.0-litre engine line-up in the GLC marks an interesting transition for the brand.

The plug-in hybrid replacement for the flagship GLC63 might be a leap too far for purists who valued that car's V8, but arguably the GLC43 is now better positioned for those in the pursuit of performance. Buyers who care less about extracting their car's dynamic edge may actually be better served by the calmer and more comfortable GLC300.

The performance on tap sounds and feels different to the previous V6, but there's still an edge to the 2.0-litre GLC43. The challenge is uncorking it. Without the accessibility of the previous model, the new model demands determination.

It's not as involving or hands-on as the previous-generation car. It's more polite. More politically correct.

If that sounds like the effort/reward ratio you're after, the GLC43 could be for you.

The next step on the purchase journey is to check the Mercedes-Benz website where you can browse or build your new car. You can also find new, demonstrator, and used Mercedes-Benz cars for sale at Drive Marketplace.

When it comes time for a test drive, it would be worth seeing how the GLC43 stacks up against the GLC300. There's also a lot of emotion available from behind the wheel of a BMW X3 M50i or Porsche Macan GTS, so these should be on your radar too.

If you want to stay updated with everything that's happened to this car since our review, you'll find all the latest news here.

Family Cars Guide

Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.

Read more about Kez Casey