Somewhere in the upper echelons of the hot hatch market, a power war has been brewing for some time. Mercedes-AMG was the first to jump on the bandwagon with the original A 45 in 2013, whose hand-built 2.0 litre M133 turbo mill – the most powerful series-production four-cylinder in the world, no less – churned out a stout 360 hp.
Just a year later, Audi swooped in to take the lead with the RS3 and its 367 hp 2.5 litre five-cylinder turbo; Mercedes then retook the crown with 381 hp from 2015’s facelifted A 45, which was then beaten this year with the revised RS3, now with 400 hp. Ingolstadt won’t hold that advantage for too long however, as Affalterbach is set to one-up its compatriot with the next-generation A 45, according to CarAdvice.
Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers told the publication that when the new car does arrive – which could still be as many as two years away – it will come with a new, more powerful engine. “The new 2.0 litre will be an all-new engine,” he said.
When asked if the engine will come with a rumoured electric turbocharger, following in the footsteps of the facelifted S-Class‘ new 3.0 litre straight-six, he answered, “Yes, an electric turbine is something we have a close link to, but maybe not in that first version.”
Moers said that while it is too early to talk about specifics, “we have to do something special,” adding that the car will go over the 400 hp mark. “We don’t want to give a tip or an advantage to our competitors, but we do need to be over 300 kW (402 hp) – that’s the new standard,” he said.
Apart from that, the 4Matic all-wheel drive system could also feature elements from the fully-variable 4Matic+ system on the new E 63, although Moers stressed that “it’s really not easy to scale that AWD technology down from the E- to A-Class.”
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Merecik colour merah ni
In-line 4, sounds like farmer tractor..Yuck!
Most powerful 2.0litre! ….ahakss..
Too much power with mediocre handling – recipe for disaster
AWD. Handling wud be superb
no, generally AWD will only help in two things-traction and (inducing) understeer- not handling, not grip.
Amazing how MB research can get 400bhp from just a 2.0. This shows, hard work pays off. MB and AMG R & D don’t lepak. They work hard. they produce results.
Not long ago, any Hatch Back with 200 HP is classified as Hot Hatch. Looks like a new Hot Hatch “norm” will be at least 400 HP in the NEAR future.
BTW, it is not fair to compare a blown 2.5/5 cylinders with a blown 2.0/4 cylinders. Of course a High pressured turbo charged engine will give U higher HP. The question is – Will the blown engine last longer ??
With all the latest electronics/4-WD & suspension settings, a modern Hot HB like the RS3/A45 can outrun/out-perform a 12 years old super car in Sepang F1 circuit & this is a FACT.
Life is short. Must buy one.
When style, class & speed come together. Sweet Merc.
With this, Mesidis cud go into rally if F1 alredi boring
2.0l vs 2.5l? Hurm….nice comparison, very fair indeed…
2.0-2.5 turbo 4 cylinder battle lives on…..
evo vs scooby owners have upgraded….
Probably the only way left is to introduce hybrid electrical propulsion (MGU-K and MGU-H) systems like their F1 cars, which can then power the rear wheels . Think 400 bhp from an internal combustion 2.0 engine alone is pushing it a bit too far, as it might have too much lag. But with electrical assistance, should cover the lag. Should be a beast!
Look guys, the current gen is great. Superb reviews all over the world. However, the one and only gripe from all of them has always been the gearbox. Lethargic and always hunting. While launch control can be described as one of the best, short of the Audi TT Rs, it is very poor putting speed on the road from 80kmh. They gotta work on this deficiency.
nowadays cars are reaching ferrari and lambo performance already.
This aint “Hot Hatch” territory, this is HYPER HATCH!
but dull to drive….nextt
nurburgring a45 amg lap time still lose to honda civic type r with all those fancy hp..