Overall — MercedesAMG A45 S

With a fine chassis, allwheel drive and an eightspeed dualclutch transmission to transfer its 310kW and 500Nm to the road as efficiently as possible, the A45 S’s supercarlike acceleration is combined with memorably assured high performance handling.

Its ability to embarrass more fancied (and costly) machines performancewise is huge, but that is by no means the A45 S’s only trick. It’s also a genuinely practical hatchback for everyday use.