Tiny Merc delivers big on power
Mercedes-Benz effectively invented the ‘‘hyper hatch’’ segment with the AMG A 45. Now it has taken it to a whole new level with the new one, writes Damien O'Carroll.
Hot hatches don’t come much hotter than AMG’s take on the segment, the A 45. And the new one is even hotter than ever before. We head to a race track in a very hot Spain to check it out for the first time.
Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?
When AMG introduced its version of the Mercedes-Benz A-class hatch back in 2013 the foray into a transverse-mounted four-cylinder turbo hot hatch territory was a whole new world for the German company’s performance arm.
But it worked. While the original A 45 had its faults (mainly that it had quite a harsh ride and suffered from a lot of road noise), it was seriously quick, hugely fun and – more importantly for Mercedes – a good seller, with the company eventually selling more than double their initial projections.
But now there is a new one and AMG has seriously upped the A 45’s game. How seriously? Think ‘‘most powerful production four-cylinder engine in the world’’ seriously.
Yep, that’s right – the A 45’s new M139 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder turbo engine pumps out a seriously beefy 285kW of power, which is comfortably more than the previous car, but still not quite enough for AMG though, because for the first time it is offering its 45 models with two power outputs.
If that 285kW impresses you, then just put it quietly to one side and then forget it completely, because we aren’t getting that here – nope, Mercedes-Benz New Zealand (and Australia) are only going for the new S variant (the same goes for the CLA 45) that packs a verging-on-plain-silly 310kW of power and 500Nm of torque.
This is enough to punch the A 45 S to 100kmh in just 3.9 seconds (with the four-door CLA 45 S knocking it off in 4.0 seconds) which makes not just a seriously hot hatch, but also a very serious performance car in general.
Where did you drive it?
Appropriately for a serious performance car, the international launch for the A 45 and CLA 45 took place at a race track – the Circuito del Jarama north of Madrid in Spain, to be specific.
A former Formula 1 track (nine Spanish GPs between 1968 and 1981), Jarama is a sinuously twisty track of the kind that falls into the ‘‘easy to learn, difficult to master’’ category, with its 13 corners coming hard and fast, and precious little time to relax at any point. Which suits the A 45’s nature beautifully.
First up, that engine is magnificent.
With its muscular power instantly available in a way it simply shouldn’t be in a turbo-four (lag? what lag?), the M139 engine makes the most of all of that power and torque across its entire rev range, with a simply relentless onslaught of acceleration every time you so much as even think of the throttle.
While it rages and roars, and bangs and pops, it now does it at a far lower volume than previous AMGs, simply because new rules in both noise and emissions have strangled AMG’s explosive excesses in terms of aural drama, as they have all other manufacturers.
But while it lacks an overtly aggressive machine gun barrage of bangs and pops on the overrun or a truly anti-social roar, the A 45 still sounds plenty aggressive and is more than loud enough for sane
people. The blatantly anti-social may be a tad disappointed, however.
On the track the A 45 defies its FWD hatch origins by presenting an interesting blend of FWD and RWD characteristics thanks to its thoroughly excellent AWD system.
While it throws in a few FWD hints here and there (the occasional tug on the steering wheel under heavy acceleration or the tendency to default to a safe and predictable slight understeer attitude when barrelling into a corner too hot), the ability of the new rear differential – which packs two electronically controlled multidisc clutches, each of which is connected to a rear axle drive shaft – to distribute power selectively between the left and right rear wheels delivers a rear-biased feel that increases with speed.
And as you move through the various drive modes, with Comfort being the most neutral, Sport and Sport+ showing increasing rear-biased tendencies, Track being distinctly tail-happy and the inevitable track-only ‘‘Drift Mode’’ that channels more power to the outside rear wheel to easily get things smokily sideways, and equally easily hold things there.
On the road this makes for a searingly fast car with gloriously accurate steering, mountains of grip and a magically agile chassis, thanks to extensive stiffening that they simply didn’t have time to do with the first-gen car.
The ride is deeply impressive as well, which is a massive improvement over the harsh first car, with a delightfully comfortable quality in Comfort and impressive compliance even in Sport+.
What isn’t necessarily improved, however, is noise, with tyre roar and road imperfections being audibly transmitted into the cabin through the suspension still being a noticeable issue.
What’s the pick of the range?
Because Mercedes NZ is only going with the S (something mirrored by its other AMG models here), the only choice comes between the A 45 S hatch and the fractionally slower
(0 to 100 in 4.0 seconds) and heavier
(40kg) CLA 45 S four-door ‘‘coupe’’, which will largely come down to styling.
The CLA does look sensational and more grown up than the hatch, and it also feels slightly more RWD oriented on the track, but it also seemed slightly noisier on the road as well.
Why would I buy it?
Because you want a magnificently powerful car that handles sublimely, is packed with the latest tech, can go from FWD cruising comfort to full-on RWD drifting hooliganism (track only, remember) or anything in between and is both effortless and utterly exhilarating to drive.
Why wouldn’t I buy it?
You expect your Mercedes-Benz’s to be large 6-or-8-cylinder vehicles, can’t bring yourself to have faith that a small capacity, high-power turbo engine isn’t a hand grenade waiting to explode or simply hate tyre noise with a passion.