Mercedes-AMG CLA 45

Four-door version of the stunning new A45, with a bigger bum and wider rubber

- Matt Prior

THE CLA IS the four-door sedan version of the A-Series hatchback, although Mercedes-Benz likes to call it a coupe because, y’ know, marketing.

It has the same 2729mm wheelbase as the hatch and the same body stiffening, so fundamentally it is the same thing – so AMG wants the two to give the same experience.

There are, though, some subtle differences. The standard CLA already runs marginally wider tracks than the A-Class, so its guards don’t have to be reprofiled as much as the A’s to accommodate the 45’s wider front track, while its rear track remains a few millimetres wider on the CLA too, because the five-door body can’t be pushed any wider.

The CLA 45 also runs 10mm-wider rubber, so 255/35 ZR19s front and rear rather than the A45’s 245s, and with wheels that are 9.0-inch wide rather than 8.5-inch.