Firdaus Asri's POV - The Mercedes-AMG A45 - A Mercedes Benz made for non-Mercedes enthusiasts
Sunday, January 3, 2016
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Happy 2016 folks - Let's start the ball rolling with Firdaus Asri telling us what he thinks of the most powerful hot hatch sold in Malaysia today, the Mercedes-AMG A45
The Short Fling with the Mercedes-AMG A45
This is the third article writing about hyper hatchbacks (Ed-You have Firdaus previously writing about his Golf R Mk6 and the Golf R Mk7 if you have been following). This time it is about the Mercedes-AMG A45 . For a brand that have been long associated with big, luxury and waftable cars, this baby AMG is perhaps a very confusing one. On one hand, it is a car that offers supercar like pace and covers ground in ways that we normally associated with Mitsubishi Evos and Subaru Imprezas, but it has a Mercedes badge on it, and that begs a question: is it really a Mercedes? I mean really?
This current Mercedes Benz A-Class that the A45 is based on the current W176 A-class. Gone are the old dumpy, tall and skimpy MPV-like looks of the previous A-classes. This one has been penned with more emotively styling that the younger crowd could relate to. The AMG treatments that the A45 gets are the very prominent “twin-blade” grille, sculpted front apron, integrated quad exhaust at the rear and if you’re lucky piano blacked front canards and rear aerofoil on certain editions (or options). This is the kind of cosmetic job that if fitted to a Perodua Myvi would easily be regarded as invitation for smirks, giggles and sometimes loathing. Yet for some strange reason Mercedes-AMG have managed to pull it off because I simply could not stop looking and looking and looking at it. I would imagine it as somewhat of a new interpretation of Ford Escort Cosworth RS that would turn more heads than any VW Golf R or Audi RS3.
I pulled door handle and slot myself in the driver's seat. Now depending on your age, you’ll either like the interior or hate it. Personally I can forgive the overly garish carbon fibre effect trims. This because you sit low in the car’s belly, hugged by the scuplted performance seat with both hands on the flat bottomed steering wheel while your eyes are glued on the super racey and legible looking instrument cluster. Unlike the standard A-class, which has its gear selector on a stalk behind the steering wheel the A45's gear shifter is now located like most cars, on the transmission tunnel where left (or right) hand falls as where it should be all along. Without even started driving this car, the combination of these go-faster bits alone makes you feel young and racy (Ed- But then again, you ARE young and racey)
Moving on to the driving bits. As I exit the NZ Wheels showroom located along Jalan Kapar and after only 3 minutes of driving, I started to hear a whole lot of creaks and rattles from the driver’s door trim. Mind you, this is a brand new car with only about 100kms on the clock. Not exactly Mercedes Benz eh?
But this is can easily be forgiven and forgotten because once you experienced the A45's 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear at full throttle, brapp! Braapp! Brappppp … there are these massive crackles coming from the exhaust shooing away the bystanders who may be innocent or not. 'Fuck me' were the first thoughts that came to my mind. This a really fast car! It is without any doubt that the engine in this A45, a 2.0 litre forced fed 365hp and 450nm torque power plant which is supposedly assembled by a single person is one hell of an engine.
As the car approached a left hander, I teased it with an abrupt direction change, throwing the car right-and-then-immediately-left. The car will react by getting the rear into play. And this was doing the corner at double the speed limit of what a normal hatchback could do. However, the A45 is not exactly a car that can be played like a rear wheel drive AMG or a BMW M3 but it is more like a really well sorted front wheel drive car with something called endless traction.
After I passed by the Shapadu Highway toll gantry, I nailed the throttle to the floor and again the A45 accelerated through the gears with ease. And once the car settled on a nice highway cruise, I again nailed the throttle and without me realizing, I saw the speedometer has been inching closer towards 230kmh. As regards the accelerative aspect of the car, there is plenty of torque low down. From just after 2k rpm to what I consider and amazing extra kick at about 5000rpm to the 6500 rpm rev limiter that the A45 has. This makes it really addictive. I do not want to stop from revving this cracker of a car again and again and again.
This car has a 7 speed dual clutch gearbox which helps in the performance. Similar to other direct clutch gearboxes, every upshift and downshift felt fast but it is just not quite as rapid as the likes of the Volkswagen Golf R. Aside from being slower acting, I ended up double upshifting the paddle shifters as I thought the gears had not shifted yet. It can be a little irritating but I guess you have to get used to the car. Nevertheless, the combination of that dual clutch gearbox and the fabulous engine makes you feel like you’re piloting a proper race car that is somehow road legal and with the obvious power to terrorize everyone ahead of you while driving it.
The steering lacks sharpness just after off-centre but the weighting and feel it has is very good. There’s a sense of purity and consistent feel every time you rotate the steering wheel and that inspire confidence in you to keep on pushing. For sure the ride quality of the 235/35/19 section tyres felt firm on bumpy roads, but to me it was in no way bone jarring as many have said about the A45's ride quality. In fact, the harder you push, the better it gets. Going a little enthusiastic over some crests and undulations on the Shapadu highway will for a moment push the A45's tyres out of contact with the surface, but on the higher speeds I was driving, the damping kept settling the car down all of the time.
So the car has a fantastic engine, an average gearbox, good suspension but the most standout point of this car, besides the engine are the brakes. This is one area that I believe that , as a Volkswagen owner and a Volkswagen Audi enthusiast, both Volkswagen and Audi should learn on how to optimize the brakes and the biting point of all Volkswagen group cars. This A45 is an example of very good brakes. Even though the brake rotors are as big as it is at 365mm front, the modulation over low speed felt very natural yet from high speed, you can step on it with real confidence. (Ed- I somewhat agree on this too. Volkswagen group cars tend to be a tad overservoed for true feel)
The experience driving this A45 was such that I wish I can drive the car more.
Now considering that I have tasted both the Volkswagen Golf R (MK6 & Mk7) and now the A45 AMG, given choice which one will I take home? Obviously a difficult one. Without a doubt, the A45 AMG feels really faster but given the RM70k premium over cheaper but sharper handling Golf R, this is simply not enough.
So in that sense I still feel the Golf R is the more polished hyper hatch and the one I would take home. However, I would how say this, if price is not a concern and your main attractions towards a hyper hatch are all about more in-your-face looks (which the Golf R does not really have) and engine power and maybe lesser headaches in the future (due to Mercedes Benz reliability), the A45 is the one to get. This is strange for me to say considering I am more of a Volkswagen/Audi fan.
The A45 AMG is therefore a Mercedes Benz made for non-Mercedes enthusiasts. It is a definite utmost complement from a guy who really adores and idolize Audi RS cars.
A 45 AMG 4MATIC |
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Engine and performance | ||
Cylinder arrangement/number 4/in-line | ||
Displacement (cc) 1991 | ||
Rated output (kW [hp] at rpm) 265[360]/6000 | ||
Rated torque (Nm at rpm) 450/2250–5000 | ||
Compression ratio 8,6 : 1 | ||
Acceleration 0-100 km/h (s) 4.6 | ||
Top speed (km/h) 250, electronically limited Transmission Permanent all-wheel-drive, 7 speed DCT | ||
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