The most powerful hatchback on the planet
Unlike the AMG A35 L, this A-Class car is powered by A new 2.0-liter engine from AMG’s factory, A successor to the A45’s success in performance.
The question is: With the newly designed luxury of the all-new A-Class, what will the fully developed A45 bring us? What features does this hatchback have that make it better than its rivals?
How do you evaluate the new AMG A45?
The A45 S is by far the most powerful hatchback and the most capable petrol-powered car in its price range. In a way, Mercedes-AMG created a whole new segment of the car market with this car — the Super hatchback.
What is more valuable to me is that the new generation of A45 proves that in today’s automotive industry, there are still automakers like Mercedes-Benz who spare no effort to defy the trend and create high-performance fuel vehicles that exceed users’ expectations. The efforts behind these self-evident.
How does the new A45 experience compare to the old model?
If the old A45 was a color-screen Nokia, the new A45 looks like the latest iPhone.
The first A45 was launched in 2013, and its 380-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine has helped AMG more than double its sales. The new A45 replicates the old 4+4 layout (4-cylinder turbocharged engine + 4-wheel drive), but that’s about it — not only it is faster, tougher, hotter, and better than its predecessor, it’s also more responsive than any previous AMG.
Once regarded as a straight-line driver on the road, the A45 is now a driver’s car on the track — helping you drive for more than just straight acceleration. The responsiveness comes from a new engine, a clever all-wheel-drive system, a strengthened hull, more engineering, and interactive evolution.
The dynamic performance of the new A45 is as nimble as other models with vectored torque distribution on the rear wheels, such as the Polestar 1 and Focus RS.
Despite the evolution of driving, you can fully enjoy the light luxury of the new A45 from the atmosphere and interaction of the interior, which makes the old A45 feel like it came from another era.
Has the cumbersome, understeered exit experience of the A45 be improved?
When you put your foot on the gas pedal, the new car’s 4MATIC + four-wheel drive system does something really interesting: the onboard computer puts as much force as possible on the rear wheels and it’s effective at pushing the rear out of the corner, but not enough to cause oversteer (unless you’ve activated drift mode, which basically just amplifies the effect of that power being channeled to the rear wheels).
The system picks up dynamic information from the car: yaw sensors, steering angles, throttle opening, gears, four-wheel RPM differences… The adaptive power is then distributed between the front and rear shafts (normally a 50:50 power output between the front and rear shafts).
On the front, a mechanical differential distributes power to either side, while the rear differential is entirely electronic: a sophisticated pair of clutch assemblies transfer the full power of the rear to either wheel.
All of which makes the car’s drift mode very easy to navigate. Just control the steering and press the throttle deep, and the car limits the torque on the front axle to keep the rear sliding.
How new is this engine compared to the old one?
In the words of Ralph Illenberger, AMG’s head of engine design, “the new engine may have retained only a few bolts from the old engine.”
The newly developed 2.0-liter engine on the A45 S is the world’s most powerful production turbocharged four-cylinder engine, with an output of 210 horsepower per boost that would put a lot of famous supercar engines to shame.
The new engine block can withstand a combustion pressure of 160 bar. The mirror-like lining is coated with the patented Nanoslide coating, which is twice as hard as traditional grey cast iron lining and provides greater durability while minimizing internal friction. The paint was originally used on AMG’s M 156 V8 engines, and you can also find it in Mercedes-Benz F1 engines.
For the first time, two-stage fuel injection combines combustion chamber and intake manifold injection to achieve high power output. Similar to the 4.0-liter V8 engine with the maximum output of the AMG GT sports car, the supercharger and turboshaft of the all-new A45 use ball bearings for the first time to wake the turbocharger to its 169,000 RPM maximum speed with lower friction.
In addition, the turbine with a maximum boost of 2.1 Bar is cooled by water, oil, and air, while the A45 S’s high-performance intercooler consists of two sections, one of which can even be cooled by the vehicle’s air conditioning system to ensure that the pressurized air temperature is kept close to the ambient temperature.
Can the new car’s suspension Hold such a strong performance?
Mercedes-Benz has clearly worked very hard to get the A45 to cope with the speed it creates, but in reality, the new car’s limit has been increased mainly by the intelligent distribution of the four-wheel drive. The main task of suspension and shock absorber is to create the driving quality that AMG should have for the driver.
On our A45 S, the AMG Ride Control adaptive shock absorber was standard. This allows the vehicle to have a relatively broad range of shock absorber damping: Comfort, Sport, and Sport +, corresponding to hard, very hard, and very hard respectively.
When passing through the speed bump, you can clearly feel the rear axle shock absorber is harder and sharper than the front axle. The relatively soft front axle provides a certain amount of comfort for everyday driving, but even so, the car can feel too “crazy” at low speeds, but as the speed increases, it gradually returns to a relatively smooth ride — but you can still get bumped off the floor over the seams.
Comfort?
The tough suspension and seats really give the waists and hips of middle-aged people hard time.
But in comfort mode, at a relatively steady speed (which is what most of us do most of the time), the car is actually very gentle and approachable — the engine noise is gone, steering stability is good, and the gearbox is extremely smooth, which is more mature and civilized than the old A45.
Finally, why pay so much for a hatchback?
Just as the BMW M2 through the playability let more experience the advantages of the compact performance car — smaller body, lower entry barrier, more fun.
At a time when the young urbanites weaned themselves off their SUV fever and wanted a fast and fun alternative to the C63, the A45 S seems like one of the few viable options on the market. At the same time, the A45 S looks more like a luxury car from the inside out than other models in its price range.
Not to mention that the core of this luxury hatchback is the work of the same engineers who assembled the V12 engines for Maybach and Pagani at the Affalterbach AMG plant.
At the end of the day, if you’re looking for a compact luxury performance car, your choice is?
