2023 Mercedes-AMG A 45 S 4MATIC+ review

Driving the 2023 AMG A 45 S reminds strongly of the outstanding experience we had in 2020 and that’s because not a whole lot has changed. This update centres mainly on aesthetics, with new lights and grille design, a fresh AMG emblem, and restyled wheels, best cleaned with a brush.

At the rear and inside the changes aren’t quite as marked. The steering wheel is evidently new. Who knew? And the leather finish comes in a part grey hue. So subtle changes.

Under the hood is the anything but subtle 310kW/500Nm turbo-fed 2.0-litre that pokes out 155kW/L, making it one of the most power-packed production engines ever. It’s enough to shove it to 100 in 3.9sec.

Yet most of the time, if you live in town, it eases about on low revs beautifully, the turbo active from 1500rpm. Best performance is up high for max torque arrives at 5250rpm but it’s also a belter in the midrange.

Getting the best from it is an eight-speed twin-clutch transmission, with just the odd hesitating start, generally on sloping ground.

The engine sounds interesting too, though it’s never noisy. The Pilot Sport 4S tyres are however, performance items, thin slithers of things. As before road roar is the standout feature but the rest is simply outstanding.

There’s minimal roll, stacks of grip and with the torque-shuffling rear diff it rounds up into a corner under power, all the while sitting low and flat, and you’re on the gas and out of there earlier than you might imagine is possible.

So it remains the most convincing of hot hatches, thrilling to the senses, and it’s also incredibly adjustable. In time you’ll get it set to where you want it after lots of experimenting. There’s so much configurable in this, handily a lot of it on the wheel.

The various drive modes are fairly straightforward, the main one being ironically named Comfort. Kidding; it isn’t overly firm for a hyper hatch, while there’s also enough control that we think many drivers will opt to leave it in this setting. Even for the cornering shots we only chose the first of the three Sport modes, in part because of inclement weather.

On that, if you ever needed convincing not to buy a black car… After the cornering shots it was a case of first removing the worst of the road gunk and then using Meguiar’s Ultimate Waterless Wash for a nice, shiny finish.

A few kays down the road and it’s quickly back to its worst again. Black or dark blue cars are strictly for masochists or those with OCD.

However, the A 45 does clean up well. The little canards up front are cute and the big wing looks the business, though it’s sure to attract the attention of any passing law enforcer. So traffic sign recognition comes in handy.

There’s no powered assistance for the hatch but it’s not missed. And while luggage space is okay, it’s fairly cozy in the rear seats, and certainly better for two rather than three people.

Back up front and this is another vehicle where the widescreen two-in-one set-up does more than its fair share of work, right down to fine adjustments for seating.

So best to get that all done before setting out. And familiarise yourself with how the minor controls on the wheel work, especially the one that allows you to firm the suspension while the powertrain is in Comfort mode and also handles other variables. Alternatively, you can just rely on the various drive modes instead, which also works.

It’s plenty fast on road, needing just 2.5sec for the overtake, and precisely 3.8sec to hit a hundred. The sports brakes produced a 33m emergency braking distance, thanks in part to those sticky 245/35ZR19s.

At the easy-going end of the register, this slopes down the highway in top gear at 1500rpm, registering instantaneous fuel use of 6.5L/100km. Most of the time you’ll see figures in the early to mid teens, which is still pretty decent given its performance potential.

Crikey but it has become expensive though. What kicked off as a $92k compact performance offering is now over $120k once you’ve shelled out the almost $5k government fee (rated at 9.9L/100km average).

It might make you think twice about overlooking the A 35 which is now $95,500 with a $3k clean car fee.

So it may ‘only’ have 225kW and 400Nm but with its 48v power supply, BSG and electrically enhanced turbocharger this mild hybrid has a quoted 8.5L/100km combined fuel use figure and still cracks the sprint time in 4.7sec.

More than worthy of consideration given the advantages of mild hybrid electrification and the electric turbo trickery.