AMG 45 S: Is Mercedes’ New Hatch ‘Really’ Better than the First?

Better Aero

There’s also a “jet-wing” front apron, fatter AMG side skirts and that aggro rear wing above quad 90mm AMG tailpipes at the back. The Mercedes-AMG A 45 S however really stands apart from the moment you prod the starter button and that all-new 416 HP 369 lb.ft 2.1-bar twin-scroll roller bearing turbocharged M139 2-liter, 4-pot rumbles to life.

The engine was of course built in AMG’s One Man, One Engine factory, but most significantly, it’s been swung through 180 degrees to turn the inlet to the front of the engine bay, with the exhaust and all the turbo gadgetry now packed behind.

Better Ram Air

Not only does all that improve airflow to the engine, but it also adds a better ram-air effect at speed, while two-stage piezo injectors, an electronically controlled wastegate, multiple water pumps to separately cool the cylinder head and crankcase, and mirror-like F1-derived Nanoslide coated cylinder linings add to A 45 S’s quite exotic engine specification.

And just in case all that is not enough, 45 S gets AMG’s new Speedshift DCT 8G dual-clutch transmission complete with a Drift Mode in the optional AMG Dynamic Plus package, but more about that later. DCT 8G also packs in a delightful Race-Start.

So, unlike some of its rivals, which need you to earn a PHD before you can work their launch systems, all you need do in this AMG, is select Race mode, stand on the both gas and the clamps together, let it blatt-blatt-blatt for a second or two, and slip the left foot off the brake pedal. That releases AMG 45 S to quite literally pounce at the horizon. They promise that it rushes to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds.

Zwartkops has a ballsy lefthand T1 that A 45 S already needed a dab on the brakes to turn in to, despite coming off that standing start, before the clamps are needed in full for the hairpin right-hander that follows.

My ester packed the optional 6-piston monobloc fixed front callipers clamping internally ventilated and perforated 360 x 36 mm discs up front and single-pot floating callipers on 330 x 22 mm rotors at the rear, for ultimate fade-free braking, as AMG calls it.

As the session progressed I quickly discovered that the brakes love to be abused and a few laps in, it was squirming about beautifully as I jumped on them way beyond the marker cones. Still it retarded splendidly as the punch holes whirred under the extreme pressure to slow the car supremely at every braking point, lap after lap.

A 45 S also demands to be turfed into corners — the harder you slam the steering, the better it responds, even though the more street oriented rubber protested quite loudly every time. From there it follows through wonderfully though — this chassis is tight enough to report the systems working, as the selectively spilt central and totally variable electronically controlled dual multi-disc clutch AMG Torque Control rear differentials work tirelessly at apportioning power between the four corners of the car.

You never really notice Zwartkops’ Turn 3, unless you’re driving something really quick, like a 911 Turbo S or a Nissan or this car’s big brother AMG GT R, but AMG 45 S also makes that into a corner that needs your full attention. It took a lap or two to accept to just pin it through there.

Then it’s the tight uphill Turn 4, which takes the chassis Gs to the maximum while also displaying a surprisingly rear-wheel drive like feel — this AWD car is pretty taily when you induce a little turning moment into it.

‘AMG 45 S: Is Mercedes’ New Hatch ‘Really’ Better than the Original?’ continued…