Mercedes a 45 s AMG – The new megahatch with 415 hp under the bonnet
The war has just started. Audi has long been king when talking flat out speed and acceleration with the RS3, but Mercedes is here to change it with the new A45 s AMG. The s is off course when the already very fast A45 is just not enough. The upgrades are plentiful, and of course, I will go through everything you need to know about the new Meceredes A45 s AMG.
The biggest news are off course the power. With the engine being an upgraded 2.0 litre four pot accompanied by an extremely fine ball bearing turbo the power is now 415 hp and a redline of a highly respectable 7200 rpm. Unfortunately the maximum torque, 500 Nm of them is reached at just over 5000 rpm in a rather fast manner. How this will translate to the engines driving character remains to be seen. Even more interesting is that the engine is rotated 180 degrees so that the turbo and all of the piping now faces inwards. It might seem mad from the start, especially when regarding heat, but it has been done for a reason. Less piping, less turbo lag and more space for aero.
With a car this extreme and technical you are bound to find a lot of technical features. Well, there are many. Bad weather, comfort, sport, sport plus, race and individual. However, there are more. For the assistance electronics, you also have basic, advanced, pro and master. As one would expect, with the higher setting, the lesser the involvement of the electronics. Also there are three settings for the suspension. As you can read, the car is all about tuning the car for your preferences. You even have a drift mode.
Some more telling signs are side flaps on the front, or wings if you want to call it that, which I have never seen in any car that is not effectively a race car. A big wing is a given as well as an upgraded exhaust for better flow and sound. The brakes are properly big, and red. With the new A45 s AMG now on the new A-class, even though the upgrades are impossible to miss, it is still a very sleek car. In grey with black rims it does never look to brash which is something I feel is very appealing.
Inside you find the upgraded, huge, double digital display, yellow stitching and details throughout, as well as a beautiful steering wheel. And you can’t forget about those bucket seats. The interior looks in all honestly great, but if there was something I would change it would be the center console. It looks great and rather luxurious, but it just doesn’t fit well with what the car is trying, and succeeding, to be.
Underneath there are of course chassis reinforcements, bigger and fatter tires. Standard stuff when you want to go faster. But it will definitely increase the feeling of driving something closer to a racing car.
The price has not yet been revealed, but as the existing A35 is just over 40 thousand euros and the Audi RS3 being just under 60 thousand, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to believe that the new A45 s AMG will be close to 60 thousand.
