Small SUVs are nothing new, ever since the world became fascinated with high-riding vehicles, smaller, city-friendly variants have always been an option. Something that is a relatively new concept is a small SUV that’s packing more than 300kW, and blurs the lines between everyday practicality and a race car.
As you’d expect, this segment is very niche, with just a couple of brands building vehicles like this, but we can imagine that there a more to come. Today, the car in question is the Mercedes-AMG GLA45 S, and although it’s on the expensive side at $134,880, it’s an epic package that will leave you grinning ear to ear.
Though you might not be familiar with this GLA 45 S, you’ll probably be aware of AMG’s A45 S. As the name suggests, the GLA is just a more practical version of Mercedes’ hyper hatch. Power comes from the same turbocharged 2.0-litre engine, and it’s not exactly short of it. 310kW and 500Nm are the two figures that make this GLA an epic drive, and help it rocket to 100km/h in just 4.3 seconds. You’ll notice that this figure is slightly down on the A45’s sub-four second 0-100km/h, but as you can imagine, this is largely due to the extra weight that comes with being a larger SUV.
On the road, the GLA does an excellent job of hiding this extra weight and practicality through its crisp handling and staggering acceleration. As standard, it gets AMG’s ‘Ride Control’ active suspension system with electronic damping. On one side of the coin, this provides incredibly direct handling with almost no body roll at all, but on the flip side, it’s not exactly a smooth ride. Even in its most “comfortable” setting, the ride is harsh by modern standards, and isn’t overly forgiving.
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Like the smaller A45, the sound that this GLA makes is just epic. I can imagine that a fair bit of it is artificial, but even so, this isn’t glaringly obvious, and all the pops and bangs will become a guilty pleasure.
Because this small SUV walks a strange line between grocery runs and track days, it also gets a high-performance braking system as standard. At the front, this means you get six-piston calipers that clamp down on 330mm rotors, and single-piston calipers at the rear. Carbon ceramic brakes aren’t an option here, but I honestly think that they would be a bit much.
On the inside, the GLA 45 looks slightly less extreme than the outside, but that’s only if the high-performance seats bucket seats aren’t optioned. Despite the look of these buckets, they are actually very comfortable, and the bolstering works well. As for the rest of the interior, the GLA gets a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system, and the same sized digital cluster. Wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto connectivity is also available.
In terms of practicality, there’s plenty of head and leg room in both rows of seating. As usual, the middle seat in the back should only be reserved for children, as this isn’t a very wide SUV by any means. There’s plenty of room for luggage behind the rear seats, and there should be little issue in stashing a couple of suitcases back there.
In terms of safety tech, the GLA gets everything active system you’d expect from a modern luxury car. This includes adaptive cruise control, active brake assist, lane keep assist, plus many more. The parking assists are also very impressive with its stunning rear-view display.
As mentioned before, this GLA 45 sits in a rather niche segment, only really coming against Audi’s RS Q3. Both of these small SUVs are modelled on the brand’s hyper hatches, and possess far more power than they’d ever need. Both SUVs have their pros and cons, especially with the Audi’s awesome five-pot engine, but I’d put the AMG down as the more ‘hardcore’ option of the two. Then there’s always the slightly less potent performance SUVs such as AMG’s own GLA35, or Volkswagen’s new Tiguan R – both of which are packing around 225kW.
As a whole, this GLA 45 is an interesting machine. Being both a family-friendly grocery getter and a track day hero isn’t something that a lot of vehicles face, but this does both without breaking a sweat. The harsh nature of the suspension is one downfall that could be a deal-breaker in some cases, and that’s where the GLA35 would be a better pick. But from a fun-having point of view, you’ll struggle to find a more enjoyable (and expensive) small SUV.
2022 Mercedes-AMG GLA 45 S
ENGINE: 2.0-litre turbo
POWER: 310kW/500Nm
GEARBOX: 8-speed automatic, AWD
ECONOMY: 9.6l/100km
PRICE: $134,800
