Mercedes AMG A45 S - Hottest Of All The Hot Hatches

The First A45 was The Terminator of Hot Hatches. Now, AMG has programmed in some gun

- Georg Kacher

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP goes the heart. I can feel the pulse in the fingertips and along the temples. At last the time has come to put this awesome car to the real test. I have explored Sport Plus ad infinitum. Qualified for Master in the AMG Dynamics hierarchy. Dialled in the Supersport display with a big fat gear indicator circled by the rev counter that in turn is flanked by two rainbow bar graphs. Sampled Race Start, which allegedly doesn’t impair the warranty. Set the Real Performance Sound processor on blaring Dynamic...

But all the above steps were merely a prelude to the accolade advertised as Drift Mode. It can only be locked in with the transmission in manual, the drive program in Race, and ESP switched off. Next, you must pull both shift paddles simultaneously, then confirm powerslide mode by a quick flick of the Up paddle. Ready? Ready! S-MB 1001 to ground control: we are going to burn some rubber now.

El Circuito del Jarama near Madrid airport hosted the Spanish F1 Grand Prix between 1968 and 1981, alternating with Barcelona. Nowadays surrounded by gated communities, the tight and short track boasts plenty of elevation changes, three swirly bends that make the adrenaline flow a little bit faster, and two taxing, superfast corners.

On a hot day like today, the sizzling tarmac is eating tyres for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which isn’t that much of a bother to the AMG A45 S – as long as you adjust your driving style to its quite special power-oversteer antics. After all, the tarted-up pocket rocket sporting the trademark vertical Panamericana grille is all-wheel drive, not rear-wheel drive. Although the system can shift most of its 500Nm of maximum torque to the hind legs when required, one must wind on an extra hand’s breadth of lock or two to keep the slide alive. The normal gut response – a decent measure of opposite lock – would push the car wide and stifle the act.