Mercedes A 45 AMG: Ready, aim, fire

SINGAPORE — Say hello to the A 45 AMG. It’s the latest creation from Mercedes-AMG, the small but dedicated offshoot of the Daimler empire where insane people take Mercedes cars and do scary things with them, like taking out their engines and replacing them with miniature volcanoes.

The A 45 is a product of this insanity. Its engine may be a relatively tiny 2.0-litre thing, but it has been turbocharged and now produces 360hp, making the A 45 AMG the most powerful four-cylinder engine in the world.

As one would expect, the Mercedes does not loaf around. It hits 100kmh in only 4.5s, and if one can find the space, the A 45 will not stop accelerating until 270kmh, and it does not go beyond that only because a computer tells it to.

Thanks to its four-wheel drive, there is never a struggle for traction, and it is reassuringly surefooted even in the wet. The ride is firm but that also means the suspension keeps the A 45 more firmly settled through corners than a go-kart would.

The A 45 is effortlessly fast without being disengaging. A huge part of that is down to the way it sounds.

On the car’s Sport setting, the exhaust produces the most amazing racket, and each time you upshift, there’s an enormous backfire that sounds as if soldiers have gone to war inside the tailpipes.

As a result, one would want to drive the A 45 in Sports mode all the time. The downside is the resulting thirst from the engine. Over a weekend I averaged 13.9L/100km, somehow using twice the claimed average of 6.9L/100km.

Other things to consider are the cramped rear seating and limited visibility from the driver’s seat. The key thing to remember is that the A 45 AMG makes driving fast so fun and easy that owning one could place you driving licence in very real peril. There is always that danger when one plays with fire. Leow Ju-Len

Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG

Engine: 1,991cc turbocharged in-line 4, 360hp & 450Nm

Performance: 270kmh, 0-100kmh 4.5 seconds, 6.9L/100km, 161g/km CO2

Price: S$304,888 with COE

+: Frighteningly fast, glued to the road, sounds like Thor clearing his throat

- : Uncomfy rear seating, hard to see out of

Also Consider: BMW M135i