M135i Vs A45S

RANGE-TOPPING 1 SERIES TAKES ON AN A-CLASS SO OVER-DRUGGED IT EVEN ECLIPSES THE V8-ENGINED C63 AMG. WELCOME TO THE NEW AUTOMOTIVE WORLD ORDER

- Georg Kacher

THIS IS NOT your classic winner-takes-all comparison. When you pit 225kW against 310kW, performance cannot be the sole decider, or this story would end right here. What we’re trying to find out instead is how the most potent compact hatchbacks available from BMW and Mercedes fare when you pull out all the stops. To do so, numbers took second priority to subjective impressions. The stopwatch was replaced by the body clock, the shameful filling station receipts were binned with an impish grin, and our driving licences were left soaking overnight in holy water. After a longish wait, it’s at last crunch time for the Mercedes-AMG A45 S on home turf, with a blue BMW M135i looming large in the rear-view mirror.

The Benz welcomes the front seat passengers with one-sizefits-all bucket seats. To set the tone for the day, we dial in Sport Plus and summon the gaudy Supersport display with its big fat gear indicator and speedometer circled by a rainbow rev counter that in turn is flanked by two busy bar graphs. AMG has also included a Race Start function, but only if you lift your left foot off the brake within three seconds while keeping the right hoof planted, and easily drowning every rump-ta-ta band is the blaring Real Performance Sound processor.

But all this ballyhoo is merely a prelude to the great dogand-pony show known as Drift Mode, which can only be locked in with the transmission in manual, the drive program in Race and ESP switched off – and then you must pull both shift paddles simultaneously, then confirm powerslide mode by a quick flick of the Up paddle.