Mercedes teases CLA 45 AMG

Behold, Internet: that picture above is the first officially official and real image of the upcoming Mercedes Benz CLA 45 AMG. Well, sort of real.

For all you sweaty palmsmiths out there, it's a still taken from a very exciting new game franchise called Driveclub, launched on the equally very exciting new PlayStation 4. And Mercedes has been ever so kind as to give us a teaser of the new CLA AMG's derriere.

Both this car and the A 45 AMG - which you can see more pictures of here - will be presented to the world in March (A 45 at Geneva, CLA 45 at New York), and both will feature the most powerful production four-cylinder turbo engine...in the world.

That's right, much to the dismay of dyed-in-the-wool AMG enthusiasts, both cars will feature turbocharged 2.0-litre four-pots, producing some 360bhp and 331lb ft of torque. And, in a further move away from it's traditional modus operandi, both will feature permanent AMG 4Matic four-wheel-drive. Yikes.

See more pics of the new Mercedes-Benz CLA

We'll have to reserve judgement on both cars until we can get our hammy fists on them, but we're told the A 45 AMG and its seven-speed DCT box (with shift times as quick as the SLS GT) will sprint from 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds and on to a limited top speed of 155mph. Should make a nice noise too; we rode shotgun in an A 45 AMG a while back, and it has the hallmark AMG burble. This is Good.

Have a gander at the above image and let us know what you think, and then watch a teaser for the new Driveclub game below. Looks promising, doesn't it - could this be the new Gran Turismo? We couldn't help but notice some Top Gear hero cars in the trailer, including the Hennessey Venom GT, BMW M3, M5, Koenigsegg Agera R and even the BAC Mono. Hmmm...