Mercedes-AMG Dumps 4-Cylinder GLC43 For 443-HP Inline-6 GLC53

Another four-cylinder Mercedes-AMG has bitten the dust. The German automaker is sunsetting the lackluster little inline-four found in the AMG GLC43 in favor of the "emotional" turbocharged and electrically supercharged inline-6 we already know and love. The updated crossover is now called the Mercedes-AMG GLC53 4Matic+, and as with prior AMG GLCs it comes in both traditional SUV and crossover-coupe form factors.

I'm sure this news is very exciting to anyone who bemoaned the fact that an AMG SUV was powered by a four-popper. Well, cry no more, before the twin-charged 3.0-liter inline-6 puts out a beefy 443 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque (or up to 472 lb-ft for 10 seconds with the overboost function), and it's mated up to an AMG-tuned nine-speed automatic transmission and 4Matic all-wheel-drive system. It can be had with an optional electrically controlled rear limited-slip differential and drift mode — a first for an AMG SUV — to really turn the goofiness up to 11.

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We first saw this motor, internally dubbed the M256, in 2017, and it has been used by a number of different cars in both -Benz and -AMG forms. The GLC53's motor is essentially the same as what's in the CLE53 coupe and convertible, but thanks to a new cylinder head and intake camshaft, as well as improvements to the intake and exhaust ports, the GLC53 makes more torque than the CLE53, which tops out at 443 lb-ft with overboost. That effort is also aided by a larger volume intake system and a new intercooler. We recently reported that this motor will soon show up in a new AMG C53, which will serve as a sort of middle-ground replacement for the C43 and C63 until a new (possibly V8-powered) C63 debuts.

In any case, power is up considerably from the old AMG GLC43, which got by with 416 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. Because of that, the 0-to-60-mph time is down considerably. Mercedes-AMG says it now takes just 4.1 seconds to hit 60 mph from a standstill, 0.6 second quicker than the old car, when using launch control with the optional AMG Dynamic Plus Package, which raises the GLC53's top speed to 167 mph — giving you all the more opportunity to listen to that new inline-six.

There are plenty of drive modes to choose from, five to be exact: Slippery, Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Individual. If that's not quite enough, please feel free to get the aforementioned AMG Dynamic Plus Package, which adds Race and Drift modes. Like all AMGs, the driver can customize just about every parameter of the car's driving characteristics — including its engine noise, if you get the optional AMG Real Performance Sound exhaust system. It also changes up the tuning of the car's AMG Ride Control adaptive dampers and its three-stage steering system (with 2.5 degrees of standard rear-axle steering), among a slew of other characteristics. 

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Additionally, an AMG Dynamic Select button lets you pick three levels of how extreme you want your family crossover to be, from Basic, Advanced and Pro. It can tailor things like stability control, traction control and the all-wheel-drive system to fit whatever mood the driver is in.

I'm sure you noticed the little "+" at the end of the GLC53's name, which means it has Mercedes-AMG's fully variable all-wheel-drive system that can switch between all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive whenever it needs to. Torque distribution is based on the driving situation, so when AWD isn't required, the front axle completely decouples to increase efficiency. Of course, this means that in Sport (and above) settings, torque distribution becomes more rear-biased. Click it into Drift mode, it goes into RWD-only.

Most of the AMG GLC53's changes happened under the skin with this update. Both the regular crossover and the Coupe look almost identical inside and outside to the cars they replace, save for the new engine.

One thing that is new (and exclusive) for 2027, though, is the Golden Accents package. It can be added to either Obsidian Black Metallic or Graphite Grey Magno GLC53s, and as you may have guessed, it brings a hell of a lot of gold accents to the car in the form of AMG graphics and details on the 21-inch AMG forged wheels. These Techgold details are contrasted by black brake calipers with white AMG lettering and AMG brand design elements in black.

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On the inside, the gold continues with accents on the seat bolsters and contrast stitching; the door panels and dashboard get the same treatment. Hell, Mercedes-AMG even took the time to weave some of that gold into the carbon fiber dashboard inlays. That's class, habibi. Buyers can also pick out the AMG Night Package, which — crazy, I know — blacks out everything including the mirror caps, tailpipes, door handles, radiator grille and AMG emblems.

There were a few changes for 2027, though. The front fascia now has a larger splitter and more sparkly high-gloss black paint. There's a larger AMG rear lip spoiler for both the SUV and Coupe, the side airflow breakaway edge around the optional air outlets of the rear bumper are now high-gloss black, and last but not least, the rear diffuser is now high-gloss black.

Mercedes-AMG

If you're the kind of guy who didn't want to pull the trigger on the AMG GLC43 because the inline-4 was weak sauce, but you didn't quite have the cash for the full-fat AMG GLC63 (that also has a four-banger), then the GLC53 might just be the car for you. Mercedes says it'll be showing up at dealerships sometime in the second half of this year, and while pricing hasn't been announced yet, I'm betting it'll be somewhere around $75,000 for the SUV and $81,000 for the Coupe. That fits in nicely between the current GLC43 and GLC63.