I’ve got a surprise treat today: a well-equipped 2026 Mercedes AMG GLC 43 4MATIC. As a petrolhead and driving enthusiast, AMGs are right up my alley, and as a dad of two, the compact SUVs like the GLC just make sense. Put them together, and the AMG GLC 43 could be a home run! So why does it ultimately hit like a triple?
I can’t fault the GLC 43’s looks. My tester has an aggressive appearance, with battleship-gray paint, large 21-inch race-look wheels, a quad-pipe exhaust, and a faux diffuser. AMG has its fingerprints all over this GLC!
Inside, bright red leather seats pop in the black and silver cabin. The dash trim is accented with a novel metallic weave that is far more fetching than piano-black plastic. (Mercedes has been on a roll with its innovative interior trims.) Shiny metal covers the switchgear and highlights the vents. Accent lighting hides in every nook and cranny. Did I mention that the GLC is a luxury SUV?
I’m going googoo at the cabin dressings, but the AMG sports wheel wants me to sit down and get a grip. With its perforated leather handholds and cool metal paddles, the wheel looks the business.
But what business exactly? Judging the book by its cover, the $67k GLC 43 ($78k as tested with the aforementioned cosmetic upgrades, AMG Night Package Plus, and Driver Assistance Package) aspires to be a sporting and luxurious drive for parents who wish they were canyon carving rather than running the weekly grocery shop. Check, check, and check!
How apropos! What I want to do right now is find a great twisting mountain road and ring the living snot out of the GLC 43, but what I must do is join rush-hour traffic and get to a meeting.
After adjusting the GLC 43’s seat and mirrors for my lanky frame, I power up the Mercedes. The GLC 43 uses a mild-hybrid inline four-cylinder (I4) engine, which makes a throaty purr once it’s spinning and drinking dino juice. I put the SUV into drive and motor out of the lot.
It is a brisk morning, and I’m happy to find a seat heater button on the door. Soon, the red hides on the seat and the black leather on the steering wheel are warming up. The leather grain on the wheel is smooth and supple, while the seat upholstery is waxy and coarser.
Mercedes makes comfy, well-sculpted thrones, so long as one avoids the company’s AMG sports seats. I settle in for the thirty-minute drive, finding the GLC 43 seats are delightful, with deep cushions, good lumbar support, and ample wiggle room between the side bolsters.
In fact, overall, the cockpit is ergonomically excellent, with controls and screens falling easily into hand.
I admit that the litany of capacitive touch buttons on the AMG sports steering wheel is overwhelming at first. It takes a few seconds to suss out the four sections of controls. There is one group for cruise control, another for navigating the gauge cluster screens, a third for the infotainment settings, and a final section with radio and phone commands.
The steering wheel also has two glowing LCD knobs for the drive modes. The right knob can be twisted to switch between Individual, Slippery, Comfort, Sport, or Sport+. The left knob is split top-and-bottom and can be tapped to control the exhaust valves, suspension damping, stability control, and more.
I chose to leave the GLC 43 in Comfort for my first impressions.
As I wind my way through town, I appreciate the GLC 43’s form factor. The compact SUV gives me a high seating position, helping me see over parked cars and across intersections. Its generous ground clearance removes any worry of rubbing a bumper as I traverse the storm gutters that crisscross the streets. The suspension has that taut control that is the hallmark of a sport-tuned suspension, but it isn’t firm or jolting on city streets. In fact, it’s surprisingly comfortable.
And the steering? While it was super light and assisted in the parking lot, but has found some heft at 30 mph. It is reactive, too: when I twist my wrists, the GLC 43 leaps laterally, yet somehow avoids nervousness when we are traveling straight.
My hands listen for feedback in the wheel’s rim and find whispers from the coarse pavement texture and mild thumps from the road cracks. There is aggressive 265/40 rubber on the front wheels, yet the GLC 43 tracks true, ignoring the ruts and uneven cambers that pull on the tires.
When I step on the throttle, the 2.0L engine purrs deeply and whisks me away with prompt acceleration. This I4 benefits from 13 hp of hybrid boost and a clever, electrically assisted, turbocharger that fills in much more.
How do you electrically power a turbocharger? Well, Mercedes sandwiched a pancake motor between the turbo’s turbine and compressor wheels, and when there aren’t enough exhaust gases to spin the turbine, the electricity does the job. The results are as clear as a California sky; the highly boosted GLC 43 accelerates without hesitation from any rpm.
At the highway on-ramp, I put the SUV into Sport+ mode and floor the throttle to see if the GLC 43 can back its AMG badges. With the drivetrain set to kill, the GLC 43 scats, romping up the ramp with a healthy shove. Able to dispatch 0-60 mph runs in 4.7s, the GLC 43 is a quick machine! (Though AMG has left room for the much hotter GLC 63 S E-Performance, which does the deed in 3.5s.)
I guide the speeding vehicle through the ramp’s S-curve, and the GLC 43 cleanly follows my inputs. The 4,550-lb SUV is impressively well controlled, putting its power to the pavement with zero drama and following my steering like it had laid rails onto the highway.
Then it is straight onto the brakes for the highway merge. I scrub off the accumulated speed and slip into the slog of commuters heading to San Francisco.
After a little fiddling with the steering wheel buttons, I activate the Distronic lane-following cruise control (part of the $1950 Driver Assistance Package) and sit back as the GLC 43 guides itself towards the city. Distronic surprises me by activating the turn signal and moving into the faster left lane; the system does more than lane-following and traffic pacing!
Yes, Mercedes is quick on Tesla’s heels in developing semi-autonomous systems that can handle the commute. However, unlike Tesla’s Autopilot, the GLC 43 requires hands on the wheel. If Distronic can’t sense my fingers for more than 15 seconds, it displays a warning and threatens to disengage.
In the fleeting moments where the highway is moving at full clip, the GLC 43’s cabin is luxuriously well-insulated from road roar. There is a mild tire-noise whir and well-controlled wind rustle, and the thick doors keep out all but the loudest tumult from other traffic. Sitting in the smartly finished Mercedes, I’m comfortable and ready to let the GLC 43 drive me across California.
It is a boon that my commute will take me to Berkeley rather than San Francisco, because the way to Berkeley includes a pass through parkland. I exit the highway and climb into the wooded hills with the GLC 43 set to the most aggressive drivetrain settings and the most comfortable suspension setting. This split-personality combination is my secret sauce for best results on California’s twisting, blemished back roads.
And “blemished” is a mild way of describing the first park road. It is slumping and crooked in all sorts of odd ways, but the GLC 43 powers over the chop without care. The AMG-fettled suspension both avoids transmitting sharp impacts as hard kicks and quells vehicular float over large undulations. The GLC 43 still has Sport and Sport+ suspension settings in its quiver, but they seem unnecessary when Comfort mode is so competent!
The second park road descends down the far side of the hill and links sweepers and kinks with short, bumpy straightaways. The GLC 43 impresses on the downhill blitz. I can feel a modest amount of weight transfer when I vector the SUV into corners, but body roll is smoothly controlled, giving me high confidence in the SUV’s grip.
And, oh, that grip! The fat Pirelli Scorpion Zero all-season tires (265/40 front, 295/35 rear) stick like scrambled eggs to an unseasoned cast-iron pan. I fling the GLC 43 around by the scruff of its neck, and it scythes through the corners, diligently tracing my desired arcs, holding course no matter how the road surface writhes underneath.
The GLC 43 is hooked up and laser guided on the way out of turns, too. When I feed in the power post-apex, there is no sense of front-end wash or rear-end slip. In fact, the GLC 43 drives like a Neiman Marcus hot hatch, as its foolproof agility and four-cylinder soundtrack provoke memories of torque-vectoring tricksters like the Ford Focus RS and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.
On the few straights long enough to flex the GLC 43’s muscle, I floor the throttle and ride the power to the red line. The acceleration swells significantly by 4k rpm, then pulls with increasing vigor to 6.5k rpm, at which point the 9-speed AMG Speedshift automatic spits off an upshift. (Redline is painted at 7k rpm, but the transmission frequently shortshifts.) When scooting into the next gear at high rpm, the GLC 43 lets out a harsh and obnoxious fart that rattles the cabin. Even German engineers find flatulence funny.
These sound games are not new to the GLC 43. The V6 from the first-generation GLC 43 clattered like a machine gun on the overrun. In 2026, scaring pedestrians is frowned upon, so today’s GLC 43 tones down the lift-throttle pyrotechnics. They are still there, but are greatly subdued.
As I wring out the engine, I can tell that Mercedes is piping a synthetic soundtrack into the cabin. The deep low-rpm purr rises in pitch and urgency with the revs, heralding the surging power and building my excitement. The engine song may be augmented, but it’s effective at quickening my pulse!
I’m so excited that I could easily forget my meeting, but reality strikes when the road dumps out in town. Thankfully, the GLC 43 calms as well as it excites. The last few miles to the office are quiet and coddling, with the GLC 43 hushing the urban hum and fluffing Berkeley’s speed bumps. By the time I arrive, my pulse has settled.
Work goes well, but I’m distracted by the excellence I’ve just experienced. The GLC 43 is a rare machine that marries practicality, dynamic excellence, and comfort. This mix of abilities led me to purchase a 2014 Cadillac CTS-V wagon, another vehicle that feels as special in town as it does on a back road.
I get three more days with the GLC 43 to expand and solidify my impressions of the Mercedes.
On the school run, my kids let out appreciative wows when they see the GLC 43’s red leather interior. The back seats work wonderfully for my 5-year-old’s child seat, and even tall adults find ample legroom and headroom behind my driving position. (I’m 6’ 2”.) The only second-class seat in the GLC 43 is the center-rear one: it has limited hip room, reduced head room, and shares foot space with the left and right passengers.
The GLC 43’s trunk is generous. With the privacy cover removed, I can fit four 26″ checked bags or six rollaboards in the trunk. Under the floor is a sizable cavity where backpacks or soft items can be stowed.
I largely loved the GLC 43 while using it for errands, but I did discover a few minor niggles with its otherwise impeccable manners. The GLC 43 has rear steering, yet its turning radius is mediocre, nevertheless. I also felt occasional drivetrain hesitation when leaving stop signs.
Regardless, the GLC 43’s dynamic excellence compelled me to try it on all my favorite local roads.
On the tightest and lumpiest tarmac, the GLC 43 danced like a Focus RS, making impeccable moves and subtly vectoring torque across its rear axle. The SUV was nonplussed by back-to-back second-gear twists, adeptly managing its two-ton mass and pirouetting out of the corners like a much lighter vehicle.
On fast—and also lumpy—sweepers, the firmer Sport and Sport+ suspension modes were handy. They banished the hints of float over high-speed bumps that Comfort mode allowed. To my surprise, Sport and Sport+ suspension modes also retained enough compliance to be enjoyed on the drive home, too. (Sometimes Sport+ is tuned exclusively for the track.)
The GLC 43’s brakes were fade-free, but my tester had a smidge of slack at the top of the pedal throw. Tighter initial responses would have been nice when driving with gusto.
For the fun of it, I flapped the shift paddles when driving with gusto instead of letting the gearbox pick the cogs. The paddles react quickly to clicks, with just a half-second gap between the paddle request and transmission response. The GLC 43’s first few gears are closely stacked, so I had plenty of opportunities to explore the top end of the rev range and snap off upshifts.
After trying the Mercedes on all kinds of challenging roads, I was of mixed minds about the GLC 43’s drivetrain. Mercedes marketing says the 2.0L four-cylinder hits like a V8, and they are hardly exaggerating; the engine may be small, but its hybrid assist and electrified turbocharger give it the response and stamina of a large-displacement engine: 416 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque are heady numbers from 2.0L! Unfortunately, it also drinks like a V8, returning 19 mpg city and 26 mpg highway (22 mpg combined) in EPA testing.
But AMG has a long history of making V6s and V8s with stellar soundtracks, and next to those engines, the 2026 GLC 43’s rally-car song is second best. As good as it is, the I4 lacks the excitement of AMG’s larger engines.
Regardless, the GLC 43 is the modern, high-riding interpretation of the sporty do-it-all. It’s dad’s daily, a comfortable commuter, a road trip royal, and a canyon carver all in one. With its generous interior, excellent build quality, incredible dynamics, and astonishing suspension, the GLC 43 casts a big shadow on the competition. It monstered everything I threw at it, and left me with high respect for AMG and the GLC 43.
Mike's Steering Column 