They are the worst kept secrets in the automotive world right now and the new generation of mentalist, all-wheel drive, turbocharged, AMG Mercedes-Benz has finally seen its first official unveiling at the Geneva International Motor Show, in the form of the A45 AMG. It sounds like the name of a motorway, but it promises to completely blur the line between modern sports car and hot hatchback.
We’ve followed news of the A45 AMG through its testing phase (including its off at Nurburgring), the teaser phase and now the hot Mercedes-Benz has been welcomed at Geneva. The hatch also offers a sneak peek of what we can expect from the CLA45 AMG sedan, which will arrive later this month at the New York Auto Show, although we’ve already seen the sporty sedan in Mercedes-Benz’s successful Super Bowl commercials too.
AMG says the engine is substantially different from the standard 2.0-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder in the A-Class. The A45 AMG 2.0-litre uses a twin-scroll turbocharger producing 1.7 bar of boost, almost twice the level of the base engine’s turbocharger.
The engine produces 265 kW, or 132.5 kW per litre, which Mercedes claims to be the highest specific output of any production engine built today. As an aside, that figure beats the magnificent 132.5 kW per litre produced by the Ford Fiesta’s 1.0-litre EcoBoost. Torque is rated at 436 Nm and Mercedes-Benz say it will sprint to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds. That’s quicker than a Porsche 911!
To create this level of evil mechanical witch craft, the AMG engineers go as far as spraying an iron protein onto the cylinder liners. The engine has an aluminium sand-cast block, new connecting rods, forged pistons and a reworked cylinder head. It has a water-to-air intercooler for better air charging and an all-new exhaust system.
The A45 AMG is available with all-wheel drive only. Its 7-speed dual-clutch transmission has different gear ratios when sending power via the rear Haldex clutch. The chassis is stiffened and the A45 comes with Mercedes’ Sport Select modes and it also has a ‘race-start’ launch control function.
The wild car seen at the Geneva show wore 235/35 profile Dunlop tyres wrapped around 19-inch wheels, along with carbon fibre packages for the exterior and interior. The same show car also had unique air splitters, backlit AMG sill trim, a red-stitched dash and door panels. This A45 AMG on show was the ‘Edition 1’ version, which is on sale for just the first year of the car’s life-cycle.
Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Management Board Mercedes-AMG, said that the A45 was an important part of the sales increase: “This is a vehicle to open a completely new gateway to the AMG world at an attractive entry price that will make an AMG attainable to new target groups,” he said.
Pundits say that when the A45 goes on sale, it will most likely be priced under US$50 000. In South Africa we’d be lucky to see it below R500 000 before any tasty options, however, this would still make it something of a performance bargain in base trim, a’la BMW M135i.
Expect the CLA45 AMG sedan to play on the stage set by the hatchback in terms of drivetrain, specification and levels of performance. We’ll bring you more news of the CLA45 when it takes a bow at the New York Auto Show.
