Mercedes-Benz Malaysia today took the wraps off the most powerful hatchback in the world – the A45S AMG in Edition 1 guise, priced at RM459,888 on the road without insurance.
As far as the visuals are concerned, the A45S comes with the Panamerica grille, large air intakes, a jet-wing-profiled front bumper, flared wheel arches, diffusers in front and the rear, 19-inch AMG wheels, AMG Night Package, quad exhausts, as well as a rear spoiler.
Under the hood, the engine powering this all-new model is in some ways related to the one in the past, but there have been so many revisions done to it that it would be unfair to even consider it the same engine.
The entire engine is now backwards, with the turbocharger sandwiched between the engine and firewall, and the intake facing forward. An uprated valvetrain and variable valve lift, as well as a new turbocharger, all contribute to an output of up to 421 hp and 500 Nm of torque.
Also new to this generation is a distinctive new sub-designation – the A45 S which we have here, with yellow accents and stitching. While the regular A45 gets a 387 hp, 480 Nm version of the engine, what our market gets is the A45 S that gets the full fat 421 hp tune.
The engine is still hand built, and mated with a new 8-speed AMG Speedshift dual clutch transmission that delivers power to all four wheels. Century sprint time stands at an impressive 3.9 seconds, with a top speed of 270 km/h.
Inside, the A 45 S comes equipped with AMG Performance seats, an AMG Performance steering wheel, dark aluminium Edition 1 trim, AMG floor mats, illuminated AMG door sill panels, and the MBUX infotainment system with two 10.25-inch widescreen displays.
One of the coolest features in the A45 S model is the AMG Track Pace data logger, which is for use at the race tracks.
The logger stores all kinds of information from the car such as speed, acceleration, steering angle, and so on, and compiles all of that data to help you improve on the track.
There's even an integrated performance delta function that shows differences in speed and time compared to previous laps, and even the MBUX Augmented Reality function that shows the ideal racing line on a number of pre-stored racetracks, functioning as a virtual instructor.
Last but not least the new Mercedes-AMG A45S is available in two exterior colours – Sun Yellow, and Designo Mountain Grey Magno, with contrasting AMG graphics.
Keyword: Mercedes-AMG A45S Makes Malaysian Debut, Only RM460k