The Mercedes-AMG A45 Is Way More Fun On Track Than You Might Expect

I’ll be the first to admit that this job opens the door to some pretty spectacular driving experiences. As such, it’s very easy to have some pretty dick-ish thoughts creep into your brain. “A Mercedes-AMG A45 on track,” I think to myself while donning a surprisingly tight balaclava; “A car with a front-biased four-wheel drive system isn’t going to be a natural track weapon, is it?”

But before I have a chance to give myself a mental talking to for being an entitled douchebag, I’m out on Budapest’s marvellous Hungaroring, following two other A45s and a Mercedes-AMG GT S instructor car and receiving the most pleasant car-shaped surprised I’ve experienced in some time.

As the pace heats up, the A45 is showing itself to be quite the entertaining little track car. It’s flat and tidy even through the Hungaroring’s tightest, trickiest sections, with the four-wheel drive system’s vast amounts of grip making committed corner exits a doddle.

On the road, you’ll rarely reach the end of that grip unless you’re being an idiot, but on the track, it’s much easier to push the A45 past the limit. Sure enough, understeer lies at the end, but you can adjust the thing a little with the throttle. I simply don’t remember it being quite as easy with the pre-facelift 45 AMG family, so perhaps some jiggery pokery has been going on with the four-wheel drive system.

It does indeed run as front-wheel drive during normal driving, but anything up to a 50:50 split between the axles is possible. But crucially, it doesn’t - like an Audi RS3 - seem mega keen to shuffle power back to the front wheels. This is particularly the case in Race Mode - available with the Dynamic Plus pack, which also adds adaptive dampers and an LSD at the front - seeing the ESP intervention drop to a minimum.

It’s not a drift-happy hooligan, but it’s a step in the right direction. Chuck a bit of trail braking into the mix, and you have a much more playful animal than you might otherwise expect.

It even sounds better than before. The exhaust note has less of that loathsome drone to it, and the synthesised but oh-so satisfying noise it makes on gear changes from the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission is now more of a crack than a fart.

Off the back off the long, tricky hairpin I’m enjoying the thrust from that 2.0-litre inline-four. It may not be the most exotic engine to ever live under the bonnet of an AMG-based machine, but you can’t argue with what it offers, which is - following the recent-ish updates the A45, CLA 45 and GLA 45 - 376bhp. Yep, 188bhp per litre. It’s a trick unit, too, with ‘Nanoslide’ technology to lower friction loss, an all-aluminium crank case and many forged things.

Once the turbo is fully on song past the 3000rpm mark, it gives a surprisingly linear, relentless power delivery. 0-62mph happens in 4.2 seconds, and it’ll top out at the usual electronically limited 155mph mark.

So, how about bad stuff? Well, the track work did highlight that the A45’s steering is pretty lifeless, and a later road drive would demonstrate just how punishingly firm the ride is. Best keep those adaptive dampers in the softer setting away from the track.

Pulling back into the pits, I’m kicking myself for not sticking it in race mode sooner in the session. Time restrictions prevent me from heading out on track again, but next time the opportunity to get one of these A45s on a good circuit arises, I’ll sure as hell be jumping at the chance.