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There is something special about hot hatches. That something is the way they zip around with their little bodies as if some hell broke loose, and throwing its hat into this ‘cult’ is Mercedes with the A35. No, wait; I’m talking about the Mercedes-AMG A35. The car was spotted burning rubber at the Nurburgring recently, and from the looks of it, the car is set to take on the world. Talking business now, are we?
UNDER THE HOOD
The German pocket-rocket will come with a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine that churns out 300 ponies. The engine is a reworked version of the A45’s turbocharged M260 engine. Power will be sent to all the wheels via a seven-speed AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT transmission. The new engine will feature a new crankcase and cylinder head, just like the M270 engine found in the new A-Class.
When compared to the A45’s engine, the A35 will have different pistons and customized software to make it a formidable opponent to the VW Golf R.
Since the A45 is expected to hit the 60-mph mark in less than 4 seconds, we can expect the A35 to reach the same in about 4.5 seconds. The A35 and A45 look like twins in camouflage, and one of the giveaway or, perhaps the only giveaway, is the tailpipes – the A35 gets a twin-tailpipe setup, whereas the A5 gets a quad-setup. The A35 will also be offered with adjustable damping, although it won’t be as flexible as that of the A45. This is not only to safeguard the A45 by carving into its sales, but also for A35 to claim its space against the likes of the VW Golf R and the Audi S3.
WHEN WILL THE MERCEDES-AMG A35 DEBUT?
Mercedes-AMG CEO, Tobias Moers, told Autocar that the five-door A35 will arrive before the A45.
This means the A35 will hit the roads early next year, followed by the A45 in the second or third quarter of 2019.
The A35 will be Mercedes-AMG’s cheapest offering to the world, at around $40,000. The A35 is yet to officially debut outside of these teasers, but the Paris Motor Show next month seems the most likely venue for the car to get that attention.
OUR TAKE
When you talk about fast hatches, the smaller they are the better. Up until now, the A-Class was the smallest car from Mercedes’ stable. It ran on 224 horses in the top-trim, which wasn’t slow by any means, but left us wanting for more. Of course, there is the larger A45, but something was needed in between to fill the 170-odd horsepower void created between the A-Class and A45, and the Mercedes-AMG A35 is here to take over the reins to fill that vacuum. It looks like a winner from initial impressions. What are your thoughts on this?
Source: topspeed.com