Mercedes-Benz’s A-class is our favourite premium hatchback and this love affair is about to hit high gear with the local arrival of the A45 AMG. Spectators will not need to hear the bellow of the AMG’s powerplant to know that this is no run-of-the-mill A-class, as this is communicated by the A45’s sportier design package.

Styling cues include the fact that the twin blade radiator grille that envelopes the central Mercedes star is now painted matt titanium grey and sports three large openings in the front fascia ensure for a more effective flow of air to the cooling modules. Standard exterior styling equipment includes bi-xenon headlamps. At the back, buyers will see and hear AMG sports exhaust system which features two chrome-plated rectangular tailpipe trims.

Design differentiators in the interior include a carbon fibre look for the instrument panel trim, with the instrument panel also boasting five ventilation outlets in black/red. Also included are sports seats in ARTICO man-made leather or DINAMICA microfibre that feature red contrasting topstitching and red seat belts.

With great power, comes the great performance

AMG might be world renowned for their V8 engines, most notably the massive 6.3 litre normally aspirated V8 doing duty in dream cars the likes of the SLS AMG Coupé Black Series and the C63 AMG.

Under the bonnet of the A45 though resides something very different altogether, namely a 1991 cc four-cylinder turbocharged powerplant. This engine delivers plenty of power on tap, in fact Mercedes-Benz say its the most powerful series production four-cylinder engine in the world.

It churns out a delectable 265 kW at 6000 RPM and tire incinerating 450 Nm of torque between 2250 and 5000 RPM. This all-wheel drive hot hatch employs a quick shifting AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT 7-speed dual-clutch sports transmission. All this grunt and tech equates to a 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time of 4.6 seconds which is exactly the same as that of the current BMW M3 Coupé, whilst the top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h.

Pricing

The blistering A45 AMG will have your head spinning not just as a result of its performance but also because of the potent pricetag of R599 500 that includes VAT but excludes emissions tax.

As with all Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, the A45 AMG comes standard with a 6 year or 100 000 km PremiumDrive maintenance plan with no customer contribution over that period.  

In other motoring related news, Mercedes-Benz also recently announced another option for prospective C-class buyers in the limited edition Edition C package that is available for sedan, estate and coupé models.