SUV Reviews and Ratings 2013

Tag Archives: a-class

New Mercedes-AMG A 45 Powers To 400+HP For 2019

Written By: Giancarlo December 27, 2018
Breaking News

The next-generation Mercedes -AMG A 45 will once again be the most powerful hot hatch when it arrives in 2019. Officially, it will dethrone the 394-horsepower Audi RS 3. Within the Mercedes lineup, the A 45 will be the top of the range even after the launch of the standard A-Class and the 302-horsepower AMG A 35.

Mercedes has now given us a hint of what’s to come in a Christmas-themed teaser video released on the Mercedes-AMG channel on YouTube. In the video, the A 45 showed off its power on a cold and slippery test track, demonstrating its versatility through plenty of oversteer and cone-crushing.

On the front and rear, we can see the extended wheel arches, along with the quad exhaust pipes and the large roof spoiler that signifies the A 45 as the new performance flagship of the A-Class range. AMG experienced huge success with the previous A 45, which produces 376 horsepower. This pushed AMG boss Tobias Moers and his team to develop a new car using the A-Class architecture.

Back in 2017, Moers told Auto Express said that they are working on a new model from an entirely blank page, which means this new A 45 will not be similar to anything that AMG has in its lineup. The previous AMG A 45 was once the world’s most powerful hatch, thanks to its 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo that makes only 355 horsepower when it was launched but was eventually upgraded to 376 horsepower.

This new car will be more powerful than that, Moers said. When asked if the output will be more than 400, he said: “Yes, I think so.”

Like its predecessor, this new model will have a four-wheel drive and dual-clutch gearbox. The performance and output alone will pit this against the Audi RS 3 and the BMW M2 Coupe.

3 Things That Make the Mercedes-Benz A-Class Sedan Stand Out

Written By: Giancarlo July 26, 2018
New Model Releases

Americans can finally get their hands on the Mercedes-Benz A-Class Sedan for the 2019 model year. The US market hasn’t been able to take advantage of the German brand’s most affordable model for the longest time, but that’s about to change with the arrival of the A-Class to American soil.

Exterior

The 2019 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Sedan is basically a European-spec A-Class hatchback without the fifth door but with slightly updated standard equipment. It looks pretty much the same as the A-Class hatch, thanks to its triangular headlights that are on the A-Class and the CLS-Class.

Compared to the CLA-Class, which was the cheapest Mercedes model the US got, the A-Class Sedan is about three inches shorter in length though the wheelbase is 1.1-inch longer. It’s 0.3 inches taller than the CLA-Class, which means a better headroom compared to the CLA-Class. Without counting the mirrors, both models are about 70 inches in width.

Interior

There’s a wide variety of equipment available inside the cabin. Nothing looks cheap inside the A-Class Sedan. There is plenty of switchgear inside the A-Class Sedan that mostly can be found inside the more expensive German cars. Standard equipment includes a 7-inch gauge screen and a matching 7-inch infotainment screen, though buyers can upgrade both screens to 10.25 inches.

Drivetrain

There will only be two trims available for the A-Class sedan for now: the front-wheel-drive A220 and the all-wheel-drive A220 4Matic. Both of these variants will come packed with the same engine—a 2.0-liter gas inline-4 that produces 188 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque. The engine is mated with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission with an electronically-limited top speed of 130 mph.

The 2019 Mercedes-Benz A-Class sedan will go on sale in the US late this year. Prices have not been announced, so stay tuned for that.

Mercedes-Benz A-Class Sedan Version Debuts At Beijing Motor Show

Written By: Giancarlo April 25, 2018
New Model Releases

Mercedes-Benz wants a bigger chunk of the premium car market. The automaker is breathing new life to the lower rungs of its lineup by launching newer versions of the compact Mercedes-Benz A-Class. The sedan version of the A-Class has made its way to the 2018 Beijing Auto Show after the hatchback version aimed primarily at the European market made its debut at the 2018 Geneva Auto Show in March.

Mercedes showed the A-Class L version of the sedan in the show. “L” stands for long wheelbase, which is common in the auto market of China. We’re sure that a US-spec A-Class will soon arrive in the United States.

The A-Class L has been stretched by 6 centimeters or 2.3 inches. It will be sold exclusively in China. A soon-to-come standard wheelbase will most likely be available for the US market as the new entry-level Mercedes. The CLA-Class, the current entry-level Mercedes, will move by a level.

The A-Class sedan stands similar to the hatchback model in Geneva, sans the presence of a trunk in the longer wheelbase model. Even the MBUX infotainment system (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) was the same as it features a screen setup closer to the larger Mercedes models. There’s also a sophisticated voice-recognition system.

In China, this model will be launched with a 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces 163 horsepower. There will also be a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder with 187 horses later. Both these engines will be paired with a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission and it will use a front-wheel drive platform. Mercedes, however, may also offer as an option an all-wheel drive system.

The powertrain lineup for the US models will be revealed at a later date, and there will also be new details on high-performance AMG models. Aside from the A-Class L model, Mercedes will also be launching the Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury electric SUV concept in Beijing.