Mercedes-Benz AMG A45 review

The A45 feels like it’s been put together for computer game aficionados – it is laser focused through the corners, the electronics set on getting you through as quickly as possible. There’s no particular sense of driver skill involved, only bravery in how prepared you are to commit on turn in.

You turn the wheel and the car slices into the corner, no question. The ride stays admirably flat and the car maintains its line all the way through. The steering does feel a bit overly light at points – it doesn’t weight up until you’ve started the turn, but it’s dependable through the corner. 

What about understeer?

You don’t have to worry about the nose – that stays on line because although the engine is ahead of the axle, it has that mechanical slip diff to keep things together. And torque steer? No such thing, claims the A45.

The AMG puts its power down very cleanly – there’s still a bit of lag at the bottom, but keep it in the sweet spot and the car is on fire. From 4,000rpm onwards the A45 flies, and the more the revs climb, the harder it hits, right up to the point it hammers into the 7,200rpm limiter.

You don’t really have any trouble coping with the car’s performance, though, which inevitably means you end up wanting more. But then you realise how fast you’re travelling and rein yourself in… Good noise, a hard-edged whoosh of fast-moving air at the top end, too. The piped in engine noise isn’t particularly noticeable, either; the ego-smoothing feature is very subtle.

Is it all just computers? 

The 4Matic system is quite interesting: it’s been designed to hurl as much power as it can (depending on a whole host of computer-controlled parameters, obvs) at the outside rear wheel. This pushes the back axle wide – not enough that it would ever be called oversteer (unless you’ve engaged Drift Mode, which basically just exaggerates this effect) – effectively straightening the car up and throwing the A45 out of the corner and onto the next straight.

It feels similar to the Ford Focus RS of old, when you’re going for it around tight corners in the A45 you don’t just unwind the steering lock as you exit, you actively have to pull it off. Almost wrench. This thing gets itself out of corners with extreme prejudice, but it doesn’t feel too clinical.

Sounds like it’s all a bit edgy.

Perhaps the most admirable thing about the A45 is the way it can switch seamlessly between its hard-edged and more relaxed roles. Driving at five-tenths, there’s still a crisp, satisfying edge to the handling, but it feels calmer and more settled. The engine is unobtrusive and it only pulls 1,800rpm at 70mph, so you’ll top 30mpg at a cruise.

The suspension is very well judged: firm enough to give you a feel for the road while simultaneously smothering out the lumps and bumps below. It corners impressively flat, but your passengers might not thank you for having too much fun. 

The A45 will actually make for quite a decent long distance cruiser in Comfort mode, but you’ll still want to drive the long way round and have a bit of fun. There’s no manual gearbox option of course, and the paddle shifting works well enough with prompt shifting, but it’s not the main draw here.

On the road you’ll have just as much fun leaving it in auto as pretending you have any influence on proceedings. The real fun is the way it slingshots out of corners.