As we’re all well aware, small crossover SUVs are quite en vogue at the moment. They kicked wagons out of the sensible, reasonably-fuel-efficient family hauler segment a long time ago, and have also persuaded practical buyers away from spacious five-door hatchbacks. Sigh.

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This begs the question: since crossovers have essentially single-handedly killed these two segments (or, at least made them nearly extinct), can they at least stack up when it comes to being generally fun to drive? Usually, the answer is a firm no.

Except for small crossovers that possess wild, hand-assembled turbocharged engines under their hoods, all-wheel drive, race car-mimicking aerodynamic bits, loud exhaust notes, and four second 0-60 times. Or rather, just the one from Mercedes-Benz: the 2021 AMG GLA45 4Matic+.

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

Historically, I’ve always approached crossovers with a bit of hostility. Mainly because a lot of them look the same, and they don’t drive as well as their practical hatchback forefathers. However, recently this raucous little AMG—well, rally car—swayed me a bit, and proved that indeed, not all cars in this segment are bland. In fact, sometimes they’re quite the opposite.

The 2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic+ starts at $54,500, then after a myriad of aesthetic and luxury options, this tester comes out to $68,650 after Mercedes’s $1,050 Destination and Delivery Fee.

The GLA45’s Looks Stand Out Against The Competition

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

This latest, new-for-2021 generation is noticeably bigger than the previous one, which debuted in 2015. People call the old GLA45 a big hot hatch, but Mercedes marketed it as a small crossover because they surely wouldn’t have been able to sell them in the USA, sadly.

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However this new one is firmly in the crossover echelon of size, shape, dimensions, and more. But it still looks quite good: its new front end complements the rest of MB’s lineup quite well, the rear tail lights look great, and my tester’s optional 21-inch matte black AMG Cross Spoke wheels ($2,050) give it hearty motorsports-inspired chops. As does its AMG Aerodynamics Package ($1,500), which includes a more pronounced front lip spoiler, tiny dive planes, a pronounced rear spoiler, rear apron, and sharp diffuser blade.

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

This little AMG looks like a big rally car. The bulbous-yet-athletic overall appearance looks really good, and the contrast between its Iridium Silver Metallic paint ($720) and various black exterior accents looks quite sharp. I feel like it’s just screaming for some kind of vintage, throwback Mercedes racing livery, like the D2 DTM one from the mid-'90s. Its big brakes with quite-pronounced red calipers definitely help in this department as well.

A Spacious, Well-Appointed And Comfortable Interior

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

Inside, my tester closely resembles the AMG A35’s that I recently had the joy of reviewing. Heaps of leather, substantial-feeling piano black plastic, substantial-feeling switchgear, as well as a massive 10.25-inch digital dash and 10.25-inch touchscreen display all combined into one long panel.

The GLA45’s infotainment is Mercedes’s MBUX system, which is quite possibly the best system I've ever had the pleasure of messing with. It has extensive customizability, beautiful clarity and definition to its screen, and is very easy to navigate through. Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, and a sound system that has absolutely stellar audio quality also makes it quite hard to beat. The ambient lighting settings that you can customize are so fun, and really increase this big—er, rather little—crossover’s classy feel substantially.

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As far as interior dimensions go, the GLA’s interior is a generally spacious place to be. It has ample shoulder, leg, and headroom for all body types, and a generally airy feel to it. The seating position is a little high for my taste, but forgivable since it's a crossover. A good offset to this, like other modern Mercedes, is high door sills to remind you that you’re in something that’s a bit sportier than average.

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

Back seat space is as good as the front, which is kind of rare in this day and age, and the seats fold down to expand cargo room a good amount. The front seats themselves are very comfortable, have good bolstering, and feature lumbar support and memory. Unfortunately, they don’t have heating or ventilation.

What’s rather refreshing about this AMG is it's very easy for ingress and egress. Individuals who have mobility issues, or are just tired of hopping in and out of cramped sports cars, should really enjoy its big door openings and overall spaciousness.

Visibility is also quite good inside, with barely any hint of a blind spot, and an easy-to-figure-out sense of this big rally car’s overall dimensions. Between this, its ease of hopping in and out, as well as roominess, it’s essentially the best of both worlds: it’s a very daily-friendly all-rounder, and yet an absolute beast when it comes to acceleration, grip, and cornering. Rest assured: I had too much fun finding out the latter three.

The AMG-Tuned Engine Is An Absolute Rager

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

Beneath the GLA45’s muscular defined hood lives its mighty heart: a handcrafted 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four, which puts out 380 hpand 354 lb-ft of torque. Sent through its AMG 4Matic all-wheel drive system, this is enough power to shove the little crossover to 60 mph from a stop in just four seconds—four seconds, in a crossover SUV!

What’s more: it’s so easy to toggle a race start, which is essentially AMG’s version of brutally-good launch control. Once this is done, hang on for dear life and bask in all of the glorious noise. The turbo engine produces an excellent baritone roar, even if some of its soundtrack is pumped in fake noise. The eight-speed AMG SpeedShift DCT smoothly snaps off gear changes with a glorious, pronounced “PUCK” sound. It feels like you arrive at 60 mph faster than four seconds, which is probably due to the torque. There’s a lot of symbolism behind a crossover that’s only about a second away from a McLaren 620R in this department.

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2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

This engine is simply a joy at all times. Even though torque peaks at 4,750 rpm, there’s still tons of it to be enjoyed lower on the tachometer; this means scooting around town with all the gusto is unavoidable. As are very illegal passes on the highway; it’s too easy to see triple-digits on the speedometer while getting around some idiot who’s hogging the far left lane at 60 mph. Then, besides its mighty inline-four roar, very audible turbo sounds provide an excellent, horsepower-filled accompaniment. They’re especially audible when cruising with the windows down, which means you'll never want to roll them back up while this beastly little turbo-four is running.

Offering Stellar Grip And Handling

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

The AMG GLA45’s glorious soundtrack is also nicely amplified off of rock walls along some of my favorite twisty mountain roads above Los Angeles, which is where I spent a lot of time during my week with it. Carving through fun successions of cambered, tight stretches of tarmac is so much fun behind the wheel of this little crossover.

This all certainly makes sense from an engineering perspective: between its all-wheel drive, four-wheel independent multi-link suspension design, AMG Ride Control adaptive dampers, and rack-and-pinion steering, it’s a real corner monster.

What I find rather surprising is how well the GLA45 rides in Race Mode, which is essentially the stiffest suspension damping, most aggressive shifts, and most aggressive throttle tuning. The ride isn’t terrible, but I think there’s one simple explanation why: the tires are 255/35/21 Yokohama Summer tires on an 8.5-inch-wide rim. This means there’s an above-average amount of sidewall present to help soak up rough road surfaces.

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You can absolutely sail this big little AMG through a series of short esses, and then brake really deep into the tighter stuff like a pro. The brakes are strong and provide excellent modulation and feel, and then when it’s time to move onto the next corner, corner-exit grip and acceleration is outstanding. Treating it like a grippy front-wheel drive car leads to flawless trail braking, too, and between its grippy tires and all-wheel drive, you can be a little messy with throttle inputs and still smoothly scoot right through corners.

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

When you aren’t feeling lateral G enthusiasm, the dampers can be quickly set to Comfort and provide an all-around comfortable, even-more-daily-able ride. Plus, due to the GLA45’s pretty short overhangs and high ride height, it rolls up and over steep driveways, drainage ditches, and other tarmac inconveniences quite well.

My only small criticisms are related to the GLA45’s sheer size. In very tight, low-speed corners, you start to feel the negative aspects of its 3,850-pound curb weight and dimensions. Understeer creeps in, and its otherwise great maneuverability suffers. This is kind of forgivable, though, because it’s thoroughly classified as a small crossover. If it doesn’t get overwhelmed until extremes are met, then this thing is otherwise pretty damn good at corners.

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

Then there’s the steering, which has a few centimeters of nothing on either side of on-center. By that I mean there’s a bit of play, which is okay for a crossover, but not ideal for an AMG car. This actually might be tied to its bigger tires; if that’s the case, it’s a reasonable trade-off as the ride is really quite good in all adaptive damper modes. Like I said, these are small criticisms, and they barely make a dent in the GLA45’s otherwise brilliant handling, acceleration, spaciousness, and all-around daily-ability.

Quite Possibly The Perfect Daily Driver

2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic
Image: Peter Nelson

As far as one small crossover that will do it all, the 2021 Mercedes AMG GLA45 4Matic is very hard to beat. I know, I mentioned at the beginning that I’m usually quite critical of crossovers in general, but this thing really changed my mind. It’s proof that this segment can be made to handle, mob through corners, and rip away from stop lights as well as much more focussed hardware. It’ll also carry more passengers, more comfortably, than other platforms with similar performance specs.

On the flipside, the downsides of its size are surprisingly minimal. Even its fuel economy is impressive for something that’ll hit 60 mph in a flat four seconds: it’s rated at 20 mpg city and 27 mpg highway. Now, if only other automakers would follow suit and come up with their own fun crossovers that are geared towards enthusiasts.