SUV Review: 2022 Mercedes-AMG GLB 35

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As a performance model, the 2022 Mercedes-AMG GLB 35 uses dramatic sights, sounds and sensations to create a memorable experience for its audience. This is a crossover that targets enthusiast drivers looking to take in a show from behind the wheel. 

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As an AMG product, enthusiast drivers pay big bucks to get into this show, and they’ve got high expectations from the performance they’ll be taking in: how it sounds, how it looks, how it engages them, and how it makes them feel.

As a crossover, the GLB 35 also has to be sufficiently comfortable and accommodating when it’s time for a family vacation, the daily commute, or the drive to Sunday brunch with your grandmother who probably doesn’t enjoy a good Launch Control start as much as you do.

This low-riding, highly boosted ‘ute sure has to wear a lot of hats.

After over 1,500 kilometres of testing and shooting in rural backroads settings, as well as over 800 kilometres spent touring the highways connecting Toronto to areas further north, I’ve come away with a few impressions I hope will prove useful for drivers in locales like mine.

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The GLB 35 has a few tricks and treats that make it well suited for rural or northern drivers, as well as a few potential concerns you’ll want to be aware of.

Seriously, it’s a riot to drive. 

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The 2-litre, 302-horsepower turbo four pulls strong from very low revs, and keeps wads of torque at the tips of your toes. Peak twist clocks in at 295 lb-ft, available in full from 3,000 RPM. The result is a compact powerplant with a rich and meaty torque curve that pulls strong at redline, a rich, racy, and boosted four-cylinder soundtrack following in its wake.

The high-performance gearbox executes precisely rev-matched upshifts at speeds that become even more mind-blowing when drivers notice they occur with virtually no axle drag or feedback from the driveline. You can even gear this thing down into first without feeling so much as a squirm from beneath. Using the paddle shifters, drivers can conduct their own sort of combustion-powered orchestra, and it’s really a lot of fun. 

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In the GLB 35, AMG’s Speedshift is installed. This is an 8-speed dual-clutch setup with no torque converter or human-operated clutch-pedal to slow down flow of torque to the tires. Drivers experiencing Speedshift for the first time are advised to go have a good play: the transmission won’t execute a paddle shift unless it’s safe, and if you forget to click up at full throttle, the rev-limiter has your back, complete with bright-red warning flashes in the instrument cluster.

So, go have some fun. While you do, the engine’s pleasing and precisely tuned growl is your constant companion.

Steering is heavy and fast for an arcade-racer feel, and the suspension keeps the body tightly sprung against the wheels in a way that reminded this driver of something in a coilover-equipped track hatch with an aggressive setup. On braking, I wished for a touch more precision from the pedal under light pressure, though stopping power and the driver’s ability to modulate the applied braking force grow sharply, the deeper drivers dive into the pedal. Put another way, these brakes feel the most on-the-ball when you’re working them hard.

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With torque on demand, gearshifts on demand, immediate steering response, and all-wheel drive (AWD) with a lockable rear axle built for orchestrated operation with the traction control system, drivers get a high-performing thrill ride with point-and-shoot grip, satisfying torque, and hair-trigger reflexes that feel more ‘hot hatch’ than ‘compact SUV’. 

The feisty combination of thrust, traction, and drool-inducing gearchanges has a way of stirring smiles. Those same reflexes contribute to easy browsing of winding northern two-lane highways, where it’s easy to place the machine confidently within its corner with minimal work at the wheel.

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But the GLB 35 can switch from thrill to chill with the flick of a dial: in this case, one with an integrated colour LED screen that sprouts out from the steering wheel.

The GLB’s Comfort setting tells the engine, transmission, shocks and throttle to simmer down.

While cruising in ECO mode on the highway, the engine is very reasonable on fuel, short-shifting its way to minimum revs as quickly as possible. Sure, it’ll put premium unleaded away quickly if drivers can’t stay out of the boost, but most of the time, it’s not busily tearing through its fuel supply like a space-bound rocket-thruster and that’s a good thing.

Switch drive modes from wild to mild, and you’ll even hear the engine quiet down, feel the transmission switch from hair-trigger to laid-back, and feel the suspension relax beneath you as if someone walked up and started giving it a shoulder massage.

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Now, the GLB 35 more eagerly uses more of its suspension’s travel, thanks to the Ride Control system’s ability to optimize individual wheel damping in real time to actively smooth the ride and mitigate unwanted body motions. 

From the driver’s seat, the result is improved ride comfort levels that remain consistent on a wider range of road surfaces. That’s important in my locale, where road surface conditions are often very bad and where sporty SUVs on fixed suspensions tend to show a major ride comfort weakness that strikes them from the lists of many. 

I appreciated the GLB 35’s Ride Control suspension system the most on the rough, uneven, and crumbling backroad and highway surfaces common in my area. These same surfaces commonly spell ride-comfort disaster for sporty crossovers like the GLB 35, though they coaxed far less noise and feedback from beneath my tester than I was expecting.  

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Similar SUVs riding a fixed suspension tend to bounce and rebound more dramatically over these roads, sometimes topping out or bottoming out the suspension and emitting unpleasant sounds. Others deliver a gut-punch ride when the roads get very rough. 

With the GLB’s Ride Control suspension acting as a filter between the wheels and the body, these sensations are largely reduced. Jarring impacts are nicely softened, and usually do little to upset the position of the body over its wheels. Here’s a high-performing SUV that can handle some backroads driving without a major upset to ride comfort, noise levels, or a feel of durability and toughness. 

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On surfaces where most high-performing crossovers don’t ride very nicely, the GLB 35 AMG rides pretty well. It’s all thanks to that suspension wizardry that allows it to change from go-kart to highway cruiser at the flick of a dial, while optimizing handling and ride quality in real time along the way. 

After a million kilometres spent testing vehicles up here, I’d happily call this suspension tech the star of the GLB 35’s show, because it all but eliminates the stress of driving this sort of vehicle on these sorts of roads. 

Of course, there are some compromises.

Interior noise levels fail to match the consistency of the ride quality, thanks mostly to sticky, high-performing tires that can become unnecessarily noisy over coarsely-textured pavement, and whose gummy-bear like consistency is prone to picking up sand and flinging it all over the vehicle’s underside at lower speeds.

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The big wheels and low-profile tires mean drivers will have to be wary of potholes, and since the GLB rides low, shoppers after off-road capabilities have much better choices for their bucks.

It’s all enjoyed from a signature take on the modern Mercedes cabin, itself gleaming with metal trim and glossy displays and carefully crafted, LED-backlit accents throughout. On first impressions, this cabin is engaging from a glance, and rewards further inspection of the various textures and materials used on key touch-points.

All graphical displays are glossy, cleanly animated, and high-end in appearance. Sharp-as-a-tack text makes things easy to read at night, though some drivers will wish for a larger and more prominent central display screen, and less blockage of on-screen elements by the steering wheel which covers it partially.

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The sleeper sport seats look fairly standard kit, but exhibit deep, soft bolstering once drivers get seated. It’s the familiar hug of a sport bucket seat, with under-the-radar looks that’ll easily get past that apprehensive significant other who’d prefer you buy something more sensible.

In the rear seat, your writer (5’10, 200 lbs.) found generous legroom, sufficient headroom, good outward sightlines, and adequate nearby charging and storage provisions. Rear seatbacks fold flatly with a quick tug on a release strap, and there’s a pass-through between the rear seats for your skis or snowboard, too. Most should be able to manipulate the rear seatbacks with one hand and minimal work, they didn’t cause me any stress.

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Further back the tailgate isn’t powered, but a cammed hinge action means it pretty much closes itself once you pull it about halfway down with the handle on each side.

If you’re a northern Ontarian, you’ve probably got a dog. After all, who else will protect you from squirrels during forest hikes?

I found the cargo area setup ideal for my 9-year old Golden Retriever, Ghost, who could confidently jump both in and out thanks to a low load-in height and rear cargo floor that’s flush with the lower edge of the cargo opening. Carpeted surfaces are easily cleaned of dog hair with a household vacuum’s roller brush, too. 

Rural drivers will also appreciate the Multibeam LED lighting system — one of the best in the segment. It’s easy on the eyes, reaches far into roadside culverts after dark, and delivers illumination that boosts confidence and reaction time, while reducing eye fatigue. If you’ll do a lot of driving after dark on unlit highways, this lighting system won’t disappoint.

Shoppers in locales like mine can consider the GLB 35 a functional choice that combines a knockout cabin with a highly flexible performance experience. While quieter-riding, more powerful and more off-road capable SUV options are available for the money, I’d happily call it a strong recommendation, thanks in no small part to some of the best lighting and suspension tech I’ve tested on northern highways — and how the GLB 35 is brimming with addictive reflexes that keep smiles within striking distance at all times.

Enjoy the show.