we're here with the 2018 where Sadie's Benz AMG gla45 or as we've
affectionately been calling it around the office the snot rocket
now this slimy green colored hatchback is properly quick does 0 to 60 and 4.3
seconds has a top speed of 167 miles an hour and that's 375 horsepower from a
turbocharged four-cylinder engine and the GLA 45 does fast very well it's not
concerned about everyday chores like carrying people or cargo it just wants
to go fast and that's what it does well the GLA technically falls under Mercedes
SUV lineup but really it's more patch back it has a lower ride height than the
regular GLA which is already questionable SUV so this is just really
more of a hatchback the most SUV like part of this vehicle is the power rear
liftgate which is a nice feature it remains a GLA class on the inside so
it's tiny calling the backseat snug would be kind and then up front you have
these optional sport seats that are a little bulkier than the regular seats in
the GLA class so they take up a little more room and they are super aggressive
seats the bolsters just dig into your sides and they aren't adjustable but
even in their most relaxed state the bolsters are always there if you have
wit concerns this is not the vehicle for you but if you're thinking of the GLA as
a practical purchase well then you're doing it wrong because this is one bad
booger our test car has all of the optional performance packages so you're
looking at that performance package that unlocks the top speed of 167 miles an
hour with the performance suspension the performance exhaust we have just this
wide range of optional packages that turn this into
little snot rocket that it is but that comes at a price to the tune of 71
thousand dollars for this car when the exhaust is uncorked in these performance
modes that AMG has a snarling snorting exhaust it's base E and volumous and
very unique for a four-cylinder engine and I apologize for the starting
reference and all the knows references in Berga references you can hear in this
video
now all of those packages give the gla45 additional range and adjustable
suspension firmness and exhaust noise and those are selectable through the
driving modes and the driving modes make a big big difference in this car some
cars they don't you can't really tell the difference between a comfort mode in
a sport mode but that's not the case in the GLA 45 when you flip this thing in a
race mode it changes the character like that immediately the RPMs rise to about
over a thousand rpm from around 750 or so and the exhaust loud ends and the car
starts to vibrate and it just has this ready to go attitude when you put it in
Sport Plus or race mode almost like you know a younger brother who's getting
ready to put the finger up to the nose and hock a loogie on your little sister
it's just ready to go and boy does it go and on the track is where this car
really shines especially in race mode
it has almost an unflappable presence to it it just is very solid you can give it
a ton of gas out of the corners and it sticks it does lean a little toward
understeer but this is a front-wheel drive based vehicle and the all-wheel
drive system does drive around in front-wheel drive
most of the time and will transfer power 50/50 between the front and rear this
model does have that optional limited slip differential though it's not the
smartest all-wheel drive system it doesn't have mechanical torque vectoring
rear axle it can't transfer all power to just one wheel but honestly I didn't
think of it as that much of a hindrance on the racetrack where it felt very
stable and very planted it does have an electronic torque vectoring system
though that will break individual wheels to create a yaw moment and help you
rotate around the corner on the track overall though I didn't feel like it
needed any super fancy all-wheel drive system it did exceptionally well on the
small track that I was driving on acceleration is also a strong point of
this car that 0 to 60 of 4.3 seconds is rightfully quick and it feels like it
does in your pins but beyond outright acceleration I thought there was great
responsiveness from this engine in the Sport Plus and race modes in the comfort
in regular sport modes it's a bit disappointing very numb not responsive
but once you dial it up and those more aggressive race modes the engine comes
to life and that accelerator pedal is crisp and responsive and I think what's
most impressive though is that with the dual clutch automatic transmission the
7-speed in this it's really responsive from a stop to so
if you're in Sport+ or race mode and you just stomp the accelerator a lot of dual
clutch cars might lag a little bit before they get you going but this car
slips the clutch it gives those engine revs a big jump and boom you're off and
it's glass and that's without using the launch control
so the AMG gla45 great on the racetrack if that's really where you want to drive
this car though not on bumpy city roads where as you can see where I'm driving
it is rough it is a hardcore vehicle especially in the sport plus and race
modes comfort mode doesn't really dial it down
a whole lot it's still a very aggressive vehicle and it's not one that I would
want to drive in the city for very long it's rough it's noisy it feels like a
dedicated performance vehicle which is not a bad thing especially because this
is the least expensive AMT you can buy proper AMG non AMG Sport and
that just comes with the territory this is an aggressive vehicle and it's not
something I would daily drive in the city if you have nicer more scenic
smoother roads this might be the car for you but around here in the Chicago area
where we're testing it's not something that you want to drive every day let's
circle back to that seventy one thousand dollar price tag $70,000 is a lot of
money for this car and there are a lot of good tramp cars for $70,000
take your pick mustang gt350 camaro zl1 Alfa Romeo 4c bmw m3 all of them feel
really good at that price range this though does not and that's okay because
it's fully kitted out you can get all the good important performance parts on
this car for around fifty six thousand dollars and that's probably the one that
you want to look out no one should be buying a $70,000 GLA class one option
you can't first sure skip though is the seven hundred and twenty dollar
kryptonite green because it just reminds me of a sinus infection
you