Tested! The Mercedes-AMG GLC43 Needs You To Drive It Hard

AMG makes cars for those moments when you can drive a bit like a hooligan. The 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 feels optimized for those occasions; it’s powerful and athletic with a rowdy attitude. When you must drive sensibly, however, the GLC43 becomes cantankerous, responding severely to the constraints of civility and speed limits. In this small, sporty SUV, the question is whether those moments of opportunity vindicate its roughness the rest of the time. 

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Is the GLC43 a Real AMG? 

Let’s make this clear: the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 isn’t just a GLC300 with sporty-looking bits glued on. In becoming an AMG, the latest GLC43 gains significant hardware changes. Its engine, transmission, suspension, rear-axle steering, brakes, and tires aren’t shared with the GLC300. If anything, the GLC43 is closer to the GLC63 E Performance, which uses the same AMG-built engine as the core of its plug-in hybrid powertrain. 

That shared M139l engine is a turbocharged 2.0-liter I-4 augmented by two small electric motors. One spins inside the turbocharger, working to reduce lag and sustain boost off-throttle. The other is a belt-driven starter/generator, which supplements engine torque at low speeds. In the GLC43, output from this arrangement totals 416 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque, all sent through a nine-speed automatic transmission. AMG-tuned 4Matic all-wheel drive distributes approximately one-third of that to the front wheels, and the other two-thirds to the rears. 

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Getting Speedy in the GLC43 

Three primary driving modes—Comfort, Sport, and Sport+—are programmed into the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC43, each tangibly changing its feel and character. The Sport+ mode cues the car for top performance, including enabling its Race Start launch control for the quickest acceleration. We recorded a 0–60-mph time of 4.6 seconds, and ran the quarter-mile in 13.1 seconds at 106.5 mph. 

Those results are quick but not hugely impressive in an era when they’re matched by ordinary EVs and smashed by high-performance ones. But while electric motors lack the character of combustion powertrains, the GLC43 may have too much of it. The engine makes terrific power for its size. Its mild-hybrid system minimizes the downsides of turbocharging, responding rapidly to throttle inputs and achieving peak power just below redline. Yet, it’s clearly a four-cylinder; its buzzy, booming exhaust and digital cabin soundtrack don’t sound great and, as we’ve reported before, it has a coarse idle. 

AMG’s nine-speed automatic transmission can do a close imitation of the stuttering, slow-shifting automated manual transmissions that long ago fell out of favor in performance cars. Rather than a torque converter it uses a wet clutch, which often engages abruptly. The transmission responds well to heavy throttle inputs, but shift quality deteriorates in the Sport and Sport+ modes. An aggressive buck on the 1-2 upshift is followed by shoves on shifts through higher gears. That’s somewhat amusing in spirited driving but can be annoying everywhere else. The 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 would be more pleasant and likely quicker if these engineered theatrics were toned down. Using Comfort mode (as the main setting, or as a subsetting for the powertrain in the Individual custom drive mode) smooths the shifts, but the way it then dulls engine response feels restrictive. 

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Changing drive modes also alters the adaptive suspension dampers’ settings to noticeable effect. Fortunately, it’s quite livable regardless. In Sport+, the ride becomes very firm but rarely harsh while greatly improving body control, eliminating the roll and lazy rebounding the suspension allows in aptly named Comfort mode. Combined with quick and well-integrated all-wheel steering, it makes the AMG GLC43 eager to change direction. How tidy and accurate the handling is inspires the trust to throw the SUV around. At the track, the GLC43 circled the skidpad at 0.96 g average and completed our figure-eight course in 24.7 seconds at 0.79 g average, commendable results for a sporty crossover (our test vehicle was equipped with no-cost Michelin Pilot Sport 4 summer tires).  

Uncharacteristically for AMG, the brake feel in the GLC43 is crude. Rather than the expected direct, progressive action, the brake pedal is soft and vague. Almost no pressure is necessary to move it through the upper part of its stroke, meaning there’s insufficient feedback to know how much stopping force is being applied. This calibration requires a close focus on foot movement, not feel, to stop the GLC43 smoothly. Ultimately, the brakes are still effective—a 110-foot 60–0-mph stopping distance is short, and the brake pedal becomes appropriately firm and reactive at the bottom of its travel. As appreciated as that is on winding roads, unavoidable abrupt stops are reminders the GLC43 dislikes regular driving, relatively speaking. 

Mercedes Enough? 

The 2024 GLC43 has performance and pugnacity worthy of its AMG badge, yet many of the requisite Mercedes-Benz luxuries remain. Elegant and well-proportioned, with tasteful AMG touches, the exterior design leaves little to criticize. Entering the cabin, there’s an immediate impression of quality as the doors pull open with a slick and weighty feel, and latch shut with a substantial thud. Throughout the interior, materials and touchpoints feel solid, not something that can be said of every Benz SUV.  

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Although passenger space is sufficient, a few layout details inside can be improved. How the central air vents are located, high up on the dashboard, puts them slightly out of reach. Accessing items inside the sliding center console bin is made challenging by the high sides around it and bulky cupholders inside; putting a device in the tight wireless charging tray is like solving a puzzle. Touch-sensitive controls for the sunroof and HVAC seem always to be more finicky than physical buttons. 

Starting at $68,250, our 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 test SUV was equipped to just more than $73,000. Cosmetic options like $1,750 Patagonia Red paint and dope 21-inch AMG Y-spoke wheels for $1,100 enhanced the sporty aesthetics. Practical features such as the $600 high-resolution 360-degree camera proved useful, but $675 for built-in navigation seems needless when wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included. Additionally, for $600, Mercedes’ Distronic adaptive cruise control shouldn’t have such delayed responses to traffic ahead—and the fact that lane keep assist still isn’t included at this price is inconvenient at best. 

Seize the Moment 

In crawling traffic and casual cruising, the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC43’s edginess becomes a bit much. The SUV lets you know you’re not driving it hard enough for its liking. But when open roads appear, the GLC43 is delighted to hustle down straights and dig in through corners. There, machine and driver find the thrills they mutually seek. Such opportunities are uncommon in most people’s daily lives, but when they arise, the GLC43 shows what it’s all about.