Europeans are longtime fans of “hot hatches”. The term is their own creation, and refers to hatchbacks in their sporty versions, with aggressive design and, of course, high-performance powertrain. This trend was focused on compact cars, at first, but it didn’t take long to expand towards more expensive categories. Months ago, Renault and Seat competed over a Nürburgring record, but a new version took the title back to Mégane. Today, Mercedes-Benz updates its hatchback already including the AMG sibling – weeks after the latest Audi RS3 took the old one’s gold medal in engine power.
Before talking about the changes brought by the facelift, it’s interesting to just to contemplate this car for a moment. Almost twenty years ago, Mercedes was starting to have trouble with what would become its biggest failure of the recent past. The first A-Class was already born around skepticism, thanks to its subversive concept, but its fate was worsened even more after some serious safety issues. There was a second generation, but it turned out to be a rather good definition of “forgettable”. Most makers would’ve given up after the first car, already, but Mercedes decided to carry on. The new car was developed from scratch, but managed to be innovative in a way that customers would actually approve. The results couldn’t have been different.
As the pictures anticipate, you won’t spot the new hatchback too easily. The bumpers are new, but only in the lower section: the lower air intakes were redesigned in all trims, but the upper grille remained pretty much the same. The rest of the external tweaks are pretty much new wheel designs and color options. Besides that, the lineup received a new Motorsport version: this is actually an equipment package which can be purchased in both A 220 d and A 250 trims. It consists only of visual accessories, such as sporty rear wing, and a green stripe at front grille, wheels and rear valance, not to mention several parts of the interior, in order to remind you of the AMG Petronas design for the Formula 1. But there’s much more to know.
The hatchback received a brand new touchscreen on top of the dashboard, which measures 8” diagonally and comes as standard from the Sport trim upwards and optionally for the others. The infotainment system added all the recent functions towards smartphone integration, including Apple CarPlay and Mirrorlink. Everything else about the cabin remained unchanged, so you’ll still find the previous design and the exclusive trim items of each version. As far as performance is concerned, one group of news regard the regular versions. A 220 d and A 250 AMG received some engine tweaks that brought extra 7 hp: their new respective figures are 177 hp and 218 hp. Besides, the latter is also available with manual transmission for the first time.
Going to the second group of news means talking about the range-topping AMG A 45. Instead of just increasing the turbo pressure, Mercedes improved its four-cylinder 2.0 using a reconfigured valve assembly, and adjusting timings and how the turbo boost is delivered. This job took the unit to 381 hp and gave A-Class the ability to dash from 0 to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds. Even more interesting is the fact that fuel efficiency wasn’t affected: the automaker claims a combined consumption of 40 mpg. All-wheel drive is standard, once again, but now you can ask for a Dynamic Plus package: it brings a mechanical locking differntial for the front axle, in order to enhance performance, and the Race driving mode for better launch control.