French police caught a driver going over three times the speed limit. Officers shared a photo of the impounded AMG hatch on social media. The speeder faced a license suspension on the spot. The Mercedes-AMG A45 ranks among hot hatch royalty alongside the rival Audi RS3 Sportback, sitting at the upper end of the segment for power and outright performance. Not everyone has the brains to use one wisely, though, as an extreme speeding incident in France made clear. Earlier this week, a Mercedes-AMG A45 was caught by police traveling at 221 km/h (137 mph) in Marseille. Worse still, the reading came in a 70 km/h (43 mph) zone, which puts the driver at more than three times the posted limit. More: This Guy Told Cops He Was Doing Nearly Twice The Speed Limit Because His Car Was Wet The incident took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Marseille’s L2 bypass, which brought immediate action from local authorities. According to a social media post from the Préfecture de Police des Bouches-du-Rhône department, officers from the CRS highway patrol intercepted the hot hatch after the radar lit up. Préfecture de police des Bouches-du-Rhône / Facebook The late-night run ended abruptly, with the driver’s license suspended on the spot and the car towed straight to the impound lot. Exceeding the limit by more than 50 km/h (31 mph) in France carries severe penalties, among them heavy judicial fines, points deductions, and the potential permanent confiscation of the vehicle. More: 22-Year-Old Caught Doing 177 In An 80 km/h Zone On Her Motorcycle Learner’s Permit A single photo shared on Facebook shows a white A45 with aftermarket taillights, a fixed rear wing, and a red rear diffuser extension. In factory form, the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder makes up to 375 hp (280 kW / 381 PS) in the facelifted W176 generation that debuted in 2016, climbing to 416 hp (310 kW / 421 PS) in the current W177 generation that followed in 2020. Every variant of the hot hatch sends power to all four wheels through a dual-clutch automatic transmission. As reported by Caradisiac, the L2 bypass may be a smooth expressway with three lanes in each direction, but it also runs through winding tunnel sections and blind corners. That explains the conservative speed limit and shows how much worse the stunt could have ended for the driver and everyone else on the road. 2016 Mercedes-AMG A 45 4Matic
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