YouTuber Dubs the 2020 A35 AMG as Mercedes’ New ‘Flagship’
Looks, speed, and luxury make the A-Class ‘the ultimate daily.’
Mercedes hasn’t always focused on entry-level models, but when they do, they rarely feel entry-level. Going back to the iconic W201 of the 1980s, the most affordable Mercedes cars must feel like Mercedes, full-stop. Thankfully, that’s true with AMG as well; the in-house tuners have gotten ahold of the 2020 A-Class sedan, and on paper, it looks great. There’s 302 horsepower on tap. Power is sent to all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. And zero to 60 comes in well under five seconds.
But sometimes the theoretical doesn’t always work out in real life. That’s why we’re glad that U.K.-based YouTubers The AMG Lounge recently put an A35 through its paces. Yes, theirs is the forbidden-fruit (in the U.S.) hatchback. But other than that, this is the setup we can expect in U.S.-spec A35s. And that’s very, very good.
At first, we see cool features like the A35’s heads-up display, and voice-activated MBUX system, which learns your basic habits and adapts to you. We follow the host, named G, as he drives – and falls in love – with the car. By day three, he’s completely smitten. “There’s a part of me that thought ‘it’s not gonna be fun.'” Instead, he finds the car to be “brilliant.”
There’s a full-digital display reminiscent of the E- and S-Classes. It’s comfortable right out of the box, and it can be optioned with all kinds of premium goodies. “This is, for me, the ultimate daily,” G says, citing the car’s 34 mile-per-gallon average. “It looks good, it’s fast, it’s economical. It’s got all the technology you’d want.” Then, he heaps even higher praise on it: “Mercedes have done something that’s rarely seen in the automotive industry. They’ve introduced this entry-level car with all the latest and greatest technology. It’s almost as if they’ve moved the flagship from the S-Class to the A-Class.”
To him, if the A35 has any real competition, it’s the 2013-’18 A45. “Naturally, if you’re going to compare it to the 360-380 horsepower A45 of the past, yeah, it doesn’t have the same grunt. But I’m sure you’ll all agree that there’s a lot of cars in the circa 300 horsepower bracket that struggle to put a smile on your face.” he means it too. In the final minutes of the video, he shows the insane number of times he says “I love you” to the car. It’s powerful stuff; really tugs at the heartstrings.
So we aren’t getting the A35 hatch in the U.S. But if it’s that good, we don’t mind being stuck with the sedan one bit. In fact, we can’t wait to get our hands on one.
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