GL-AMG

No V8, made-in-India, all-wheel-drive AMG compact SUV. Sacrilege? Or genius? We hop in the driver's seat to find out

- Dipayan Dutta

Obscenely loud, eye-watering performance, slick painted on tyres, a rear end that was twitchier than Nicki Minaj's posterior when the beat drops, bellowing more smoke than Snoop Dogg at a Cypress Hill concert. This is what AMG meant to us growing up. They were the ultimate enthusiast's cars, as in when you drove past a group of the opposite sex, you'd be greeted by sniggers and under the-breath jokes about insufficient appendages. It meant that the only reason to drive and own one was that you were a certified gearhead with a slipping grasp on reality.

Back in the day, a practical AMG was less likely than a Jewish Pope.

That all goes out the window with this new generation of AMG 35s. For one, they come with the lowest digits ever suffixed on an AMG. It is assembled in Chakan, 6600km away from AMG's home in Affalterbach, and its motor is picked off the line instead of handbuilt. It's got sensible road tyres with proper sections, and as a result, when you're not in Sport/Sport+ it can actually go over a speed breaker without shattering vertebrae. This Mercedes-AMG GLA 35 that's on this page also seats five and has an ample boot.

Long story short, this short rant should give you enough perspective on how I feel about "proper" AMGs. That is until I spent a couple of days with the GLA 35 and figured out that this is the only AMG to have if it's not the 8th car in your garage that you drive when the weather is just right.

The GLA 35 is subtle. In fact, in this optional (extra) shade of Designo Patagonia Red the GLA 35 looks positively dapper. It retains most of the crucial elements of the standard GLA.