Mercedes-Benz AMG A45 review

The daintier A35 version of the AMGed A-Class starts at £46,075 and comes in three different trim levels, but it’s more like the warm-up act to the A45 S’s headline performance. There’s just the one flavour of the latter available and that will cost you £63,285.

Geek fact: these new four-cylinder engines are hand-assembled in Affalterbach’s fabled upstairs build room, the area that used to be given over to assembling the V12s for Maybach and Pagani. Tell your mates that to distract them when they inevitably ask why on earth you’ve just dropped £63k on a small hatchback.

Presumably it’ll also cost a tonne to run?

Actually the A45 is fairly impressive in that regard – how many cars on the road are capable of getting to 62mph in under four seconds but will still manage over 30mpg? The car is officially rated at 30.7mpg on the WLTP cycle, so you won’t get close to that if you’re testing out the acceleration too extensively.

Don’t get too excited about fuel savings though, because you’ll be paying £2,135 in VED in the first year of ownership and your insurance group is 41E.

Is the car well equipped? 

The A45 S comes fully kitted out – the only options on the list are the paint colours. There’s white or black for free and then you’re looking at anything between £625 and £1,825 for a more exuberant hue.

You’ve got adaptive damping, 19in alloys and the full suite of safety kit thrown in. There are AMG-specific bits of kit, including all the bits of carbon they could glue on plus upgraded spoilers front and rear. A bit gimmicky, but you also get an AMG display option on the infotainment and instrument displays that show things like laptimes, g-force and engine data.