Mercedes-AMG GT 43 2025 review – £100k four-cylinder lacks Affalterbach soul

In the not-too-distant past, Mercedes-AMG’s lineup was almost exclusively powered by V8s, but that’s far from the case in 2025. With the C63 now four-cylinder and even the most potent E-class dropping to six, things have changed dramatically, and not even the flagship GT line has gone untouched. While the middling GT 55 and range-topping GT 63 still get V8 power, the entry-level Mercedes-AMG GT 43 we have here has its cylinder count cut in half.

To those not in the know, it’s no less than an out-and-out super GT, with enough V8-fuelled performance to concern a supercar and a six-figure price tag to put it out of reach for most. The latter is all that is true with the AMG GT 43 though, as while it still costs from £105,435, it borrows its powertrain from a hot hatch. We find out if it’s worth that sum by driving it for over 600 miles on Britain’s roads.

> Mercedes-AMG A45 S 2025 review – the ultimate hyperhatch?

Engine, 0-62mph and technical highlights

It’s not unheard of to share powertrains between models of various price points, but there’s no power bump here to justify the £40,000 price difference between it and its A45 S relative. Output from its 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder stands at an identical 415bhp (plus a 14bhp mild-hybrid uplift) to the hot hatch, with power to the rear alone giving it a significant traction disadvantage – a 4.6sec 0-62mph time puts it a whole seven tenths behind its more accessible counterpart, with a 174mph top speed only 6mph ahead.

It’s not just the hit to mechanical grip that hurts the GT 43 on-paper. For whatever reason, this car weighs a frankly shocking 1974kg, a whole 369kg more than the equally powerful (and far from featherweight) A45 and 519kg (yes, really) more than the AMG four-cylinder powered Lotus Emira Turbo SE. The result is a 210bhp/ton power-to-weight ratio, 49bhp/ton less than the hot hatch and a good amount less than even the entry-level Alpine A110. This is especially puzzling when you consider that this is the only rear-wheel drive AMG GT on sale, with the all-wheel drive componentry of its siblings no longer required.

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Performance, ride and handling

Discard the puzzling specs sheet and this is a pleasant car to live with day-to-day. I covered over 600 miles on a mixture of motorway miles, tight coastal B-roads and urban driving, and it soaked them up without an issue. Despite the low displacement, a good chunk of torque (369lb ft, to be precise) makes it easy to hustle along without reaching towards the redline, with shifts from its nine-speed automatic smooth and well calibrated in automatic mode. Average economy of 35mpg is also reasonable, especially when combined with a very useful 70-litre tank.

The issue with the GT 43 comes when you increase the pace, as its sense of competency at lower speeds suggests it has more to give. Apply throttle in even the sharpest mode and it lacks the urgency we’ve come to expect from a car of this kind, with turbo lag noticeable and throttle response oddly slack. It’s not a tall ask to stay flat for quite some time to achieve what you’re after on a B-road, with the vast majority of its £100k+ rivals a step or two ahead in this department. 

Funnily enough, the powertrain feels like it’s come from a car in the price bracket below. The throttle calibration, turbo lag and shift feedback lack the fine polish you’d expect for a six-figure sum. Its unwhelming paddle shifters come without the tactility of those in the likes of an Alpine A110, and with the lack of engine sound in mind, changing ratios yourself doesn’t bring much to the experience – I actually found myself switching back to automatic mode every time I enabled manual mode as a result. While it might be the least powerful GT of the range, traction control is also oddly keen to step in even in bone-dry conditions, aggressively cutting power when exiting junctions on multiple occasions. Whether this is down to poor ESC calibration, funky suspension geometry or a combination of both is hard to say.

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Unlike the mid-engined Lotus Emira i4 that shares the same powertrain, sound is very much absent from the experience too. Where the entry-level AMG GT of the previous generation came with a raucous V8 soundtrack inside and out, exhaust, intake and turbo sound are all but absent here – it’s almost as if AMG put effort into masking engine sounds as opposed to enhancing them.

As much as it seems the use of this four-cylinder has only held the GT 43 back, it does have its benefits. While it certainly doesn’t make overall weight low, there is a reduction in mass on the front axle to make the front end super positive – even without the optional rear-wheel steering it rotates keenly, at odds with its near 2-ton weight figure. Chunky 265-section Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres also give it seemingly endless front end grip, but gauging exactly when the tyres are at their limit isn’t easy given the synthetic weighting and lack of feel. It’s a similar story with its steel brakes (390mm front, 360mm rear), as while they’re positive and with a linear feel under normal driving, the GT 43’s weight soon makes itself known when you ask for more of them.

It might be a GT by name, but the GT 43 is firm even in its most comfort-oriented setting. Imperfections find their way into the cabin on all but the best road surfaces and while it does stay relatively flat and within itself as a result of this setup, the comfort trade-off in normal driving (where you’ll spend the vast majority of your time) is quite literally an uncomfortable pill to swallow. Ride is far from the worst we’ve seen in this segment and NVH is reasonable on the whole, but the ability to slacken the ride a notch would be well received given its long-distance credentials.

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Interior and tech

While it might have that same low slung, GT aesthetic as its more potent siblings, it lacks some edge. Smaller wheels and a less purposeful stance are immediate tells, but the cabin ambience is perhaps the biggest letdown. Tick enough boxes and things are bound to improve, but you’d be hard pushed to spot the differences between  an A45’s interior and this at a glance. Without elements like that imposing transmission tunnel of the first-generation GT and the plush, tech-laden interiors of some more premium AMGs, this GT 43 feels distinctly ordinary.

This isn’t to say the cabin is a bad place to be, with cabin design clean, those metal Burmester speaker grilles a premium touch and the turbine-inspired illuminated air vents a neat centre piece (even if they can be traced all the way back to the A-class). Ergonomics aren't ideal with seats lacking lumbar support and that vertical central infotainment display still just as tricky to navigate as in any other current Mercedes product. Regardless, the wheel-mounted drive mode dials and digital dash are handy features, and are integrated much more neatly than in some alternatives in this segment.

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Price, specs and rivals

Given the unusual price to cylinder count ratio, there aren’t a huge number of direct rivals. On-paper, the closest rival comes in the form of the Lotus Emira Turbo SE, but that shouldn't come as a surprise given it shares the same powertrain. While it is detuned marginally to 400bhp, this mid-engined alternative actually manages a more favourable 4sec 0-62mph time thanks to a ludicrous 500kg weight advantage.

In terms of front-engined rivals, only the entry-level Maserati GranTurismo comes close in terms of specs, with its 482bhp V6 helping it achieve a 3.9sec 0-62mph time and 188mph top speed. These numbers actually put it closer to AMG's middling V8-powered GT55, but then the Maserati's £125,345 price tag puts it right between the two in terms of cost. As pricey as the GT 43 might seem, you'll need an additional £36,765 to jump up to the cheapest GT 55 for V8 power and all-wheel drive.

As the custodian of the evo Fast Fleet S204 C63, the GT 43 is a very curious offering. The thought of a four-cylinder AMG flagship a decade ago would have seemed like an April fool’s joke, and yet here we are. The overall package makes more sense in reality than I had imagined, but unfortunately the components at play aren’t quite up to the job. If a four-cylinder AMG is the order of the day, the A45’s my pick.

Mercedes-AMG GT 43 specs