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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
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Cylinder arrangement/number 4/in-line
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Displacement (cc) 1991
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Rated output (kW [hp] at rpm) 265[360]/6000
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Rated torque (Nm at rpm) 450/2250–5000
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Compression ratio 8,6 : 1
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Acceleration 0-100 km/h (s) 4.6
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Top speed (km/h) 250, electronically limited
Transmission Permanent all-wheel-drive, 7 speed DCT
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