The Mercedes-AMG A45 S Limited Edition Shows Subtlety The Door

Are you an introvert? Do you like to blend into your surroundings, and go about your daily business unnoticed by those around you? Then allow us to introduce a car that you absolutely shouldn’t buy. If you’re the opposite of those things and have lots of money to spend on a mid-sized hatchback, welcome to your new wheels.

This is the Mercedes-AMG A45 S Limited Edition, and it’s green. It’s also yellow and black in places. Essentially, it’s a new visual package being offered for Merc’s ludicrously fast hot hatchback, and one that - as the name suggests - is a limited edition. That limit is defined by time rather than numbers - it will be built until the end of 2024, when it will disappear and our retinas will once again be safe when visiting the Mercedes configurator.

That colour is AMG Green Hell Magno, a hue you might recognise from the old AMG GT R. It hasn’t just left it there, though: you also get those black stripes with yellow accents running down the skirts and over the top of the car. Furthermore, just in case anyone thinks you’ve bought the lesser AMG A35, with its measly, pathetic 306bhp, you get those huge, NASCAR-style ‘45 S’ graphics on the side so everyone knows you have the full-fat range-topper.

The wheels, also doing their best Wiz Khalifa tribute with a black and yellow colour scheme, are a new 19-inch design, exclusive for the Limited Edition. As standard, it gets AMG Night Packages I and II, which turn pretty much all the formerly chrome or silver exterior elements black. You also get the AMG Aerodynamics Package, adding the splitter, diffuser, canards and rear wing to what would clearly otherwise be a very subtle, restrained car.

On the inside, there’s lots of black Alcantara-ish ‘Microcut’ fabric, as well as many ‘45 S’ badges and more yellow highlights than a Simpsons fan convention. Open the door and, exclusive to the Limited Edition, the AMG coat of arms is projected onto the ground.

Mechanically, it’s unchanged from the regular A45 S, so makes 415bhp from a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder (still a faintly incredible number from such a small engine). With the aid of Merc’s torque-juggling 4Matic+ four-wheel drive system and an eight-speed gearbox, it’ll do 0-62 in 3.9 seconds, and go on to 168mph.

The Limited Edition is apparently available to order now, although pricing hasn’t been announced yet. Expect a small bump over the A45 S’s starting point of £63,284 - and one we’re not sure you should stretch for.