Hot hatches are great fun. Pound for pound, they are the most fun you can have for the price. The beauty of hot hatches is that they offer us a lot of practicality, they cost a reasonable price to buy, and will put a smile on your face.
The thing is, hot hatches have always been a little brash. They have though, haven’t they? Think about it – the wheel cocking Clio 182, the turbo loving Astra VXR, the bright orange Focus ST… there isn’t a hot hatch for people who want a bit of class and quality.
Until now, that is.
Meet the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG, the companies very first hot hatch. This car wears the same badge as cars with 400, 500, and even 600+ bhp, which is a good sign. At first glance, you can tell the A45 is special – it’s flared wheel arches, fat exhausts, aggressive styling, big alloys – these all add up to create a car with significant road presence. Simply, the A45 AMG makes a Focus ST look like a puppy.
Out on the road, it makes it look like a puppy even more. AMG’s engineers nicknamed this car ‘the beast’ under its development, and it is easy to see why – despite only having a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, it produces… wait for it… 354 bhp and 332 lb /ft of torque. Yep, thOSE are 3’s, not 2’s. That puts the A45 AMG light years ahead of any other hot hatch on the market, dwarfing even the S3 and incoming Golf R.
What’s more, this car has all-wheel drive complete with launch control. Use that, and it’ll smash the 62 mph barrier in just 4.6 seconds and go on to a top speed of 155 mph.
Competitor wise, the only hatchback that comes close to the A45 AMG is the BMW M135i – BMW’s hot hatch is rear wheel drive and has a 3.0-litre turbocharged engine, versus the AMG’s four wheel drive and 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. Despite the 1,000cc of extra capacity, the BMW makes less power at 315 bhp and 332 lb /ft of torque versus the AMG’s 354 bhp and 332 lb /ft of torque. Due to having less power, and no four wheel drive complete with launch control, the AMG is faster in a straight line and will get from 0 – 62 mph a whole 5 tenths of a second faster.
In-gear, though, there isn’t much between them; both are impossibly fast in the mid-range. BMW could have extracted a little more power from the engine, but that would have involved installing a stronger clutch which would have tipped the price.
To drive, the A45 AMG is very civilised. The engine note sounds sporty and welcoming whatever speed you’re going, but it isn’t intrusive, and it’s perfectly possible to cruise in near silence – like all A Class, this is a very refined car.
Downsides? Cost. Mercedes-Benz wants a laughable £37,845 from you… for that money, you can buy a slightly old RS6. Having said that, it’s probably worth it – this is a very exclusive car, so if you’re looking for something to turn heads, there’s little better car to do it.