Mercedes don’t mess about when it comes to their AMG cars. They are insanely fast, noisy, expensive and highly desirable. They also tend to have stonking V8 engines, which is why the A45 AMG is a bit of a departure from what you might expect from the German marque’s uber-performance brand.
This car has a two-litre turbo charged, four cylinder power plant and although it doesn’t have that deep throaty roar of its more gutsy stablemates it more than deserves its AMG billing. It’s the world’s most powerful series production 4-cylinder engine and is testimony to the fact that downsizing doesn’t mean compromising on performance.
– #Quiz360: WIN dinner for 2 at Towers Rotana, Dubai
It has 360bhp and torque of 450nm which is enough to launch this car from 0-100kmh is just 4.6 seconds. It delivers the power to the all-wheel-drive system via a seven-speed AMG speedshift sports gearbox. The noise it makes lacks that guttural howl you associate with AMG cars but nevertheless is impressive and leaves you in no doubt that this is car is all about sporty performance.
The A45 AMG is designed to go head-to-head with hot hatches like the iconic Golf GTI in a bid by Mercedes to get a younger driver on the AMG ladder and it delivers in style.
To start with, it looks the business with its athletic, muscular design. Our test car, kindly loaned by EMC, Abu Dhabi’s exclusive Mercedes dealership, had the AMG Performance Studio upgrade which gives the car an even more aggressive persona with additional body tweaks, a performance exhaust system, red brake callipers and exclusive light alloy wheels. You can also have the engine tweaked.
There is also a rear spoiler on the roof, which personally, is a step too far. It’s blingy and boy racerish.
The upgrades continue inside with AMG performance seats, special steering wheel and e-select lever. Mercedes do interiors well and the cabin is full of carbon-fibre weave, polished metals, leather and alcantara. The jet-engine like air con vents have a red-trim to accentuate the power theme and the instrument cluster is extremely classy with a genuine racing feel.
The car is bristling with technology and the infotainment system is operated via an ‘I-pod’ like screen on the dash. The whole package has real class and is a considerable step up from some of its rivals, although it has to be said that this car is also more expensive.
You can drive it in three modes: comfort, eco and sport. It performs perfectly well in all three but, let’s face it, you aren’t going to buy a car like this to drive it in eco. The A45 AMG cries out to be driven in Sport and it provides a truly entertaining and fully engaging experience.
The engine noise feedback is awesome with backfiring and popping as you accelerate and brake and the gear changes are fast and precise. Drop it into manual mode and the fun level increases with the use of the paddle-shifters. As you would expect this car is extremely agile and the handling is exceptional. Everything about the A45 AMG oozes quality and although I wouldn’t buy a boy racer’s toy like this, if you are into hot hatches then they don’t come any better. It’s so hot, it’s almost in meltdown.
Rating: 9/10
