Here comes more accessible, premium hot-hatchery.
Mercedes-Benz’s performance arm, Mercedes-AMG, have begun teasing their latest entrant to the world of AMG, taking to every available social media platform to start introducing the world to the A35 hot hatch. The teasers have confirmed a few things that we’ve speculated about before, and solidifies its Paris motor show debut.
The A35 badge is the biggest news here: It was previously mere speculation that a sub-flagship AMG A-Class would bear the ’35’ nomenclature, but now that’s a surety. What the teasers also confirm is that the A35’s launch is very near, leading us to believe that the new model should be on sale in Europe rather soon. It also confirms that the hero colour for the A35 will be yellow, though we doubt it’ll be that popular a hue.
While the badge is a surety, its engine is not. The A35 has been suspected to carry a detuned version of the 2.0-litre turbocharged 4-banger that’s presently employed in the A45 (which makes as much as 280kW and 475Nm in its highest tune). If so used in the A35, expect it to carry numbers that would closely match its contemporaries, which include the 221kW/400Nm Audi S3 that Europe gets. We reckon about 230kW/420Nm, though that’s purely guesswork.
What’s less of a guess is whatever engine the A35 will employ will be mated to: A 4Matic all-wheel drive system is a given, and so is an electronic dual-clutch automatic. We expect to see the A35 be able to complete the century sprint in less than 5-seconds, with the usual electronic nannies capping forward progress at 250km/h.
The AMG A35 will likely herald the arrival of other sub-flagship compact AMGs, given the popularity of Mercedes’ smallest cars that benefit from Affalterbach fettling. The CLA-Class, A-Class saloon, and GLA-Class will likely introduce AMG A35 variants of their own later on.
What do you think of the Mercedes-AMG A35? Do you think it’s a poor-man’s A45, or a model with more accessible power for the masses?
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