Mercedes-Benz has just pulled the wrap off of the first hot version of the A-Class hatchback at the Paris motor show, and we've confirmed with Mercedes-Benz Canada that we'll see the hot A-Class in Canada. Eventually.
It starts with a turbocharged 2.0L four-cylinder engine. That puts 302 hp into this little AMG. To go with that is 295 lb-ft of torque. Power is sent to all four wheels on this hot hatch through a seven-speed dual clutch automatic. The transmission is equipped with a Race-Start launch control function. Most importantly, the car gets an AMG exhaust with sound flap for even more sound.
Mercedes-AMG says that it has gone through the entire platform in the name of performance. That includes the bare chassis which has been reinforced and strengthened. Adaptive damping is available with three suspension control modes. The brakes are four-piston fixed callipers on big 350 mm rotors up front with a single sliding piston in the rear. The silver-painted callipers wear AMG badging.
Inside, the car will have the MBUX system that the non-AMG model gets but here it will have special modes including performance displays and telemetry data logging. It also wears big and heavily bolstered sports seats with harness slots.
On the outside, the car wears an AMG body kit that adds a different grille as well as a more prominent front bumper. The hatch wears a wing that's a little boy-racer for Mercedes, but still not as prominent as the one that is available on the GLA 45.
The Mercedes-AMG A 35 will be coming to Canada, though not as a 2019 model. That means it could arrive any time after January 1, depending on how you look at it. A more powerful 400+ hp A 45 version of the scorching hot hatch is also expected, as previously reported, but no confirmation yet on when or if the A 45 will join its A 35 sibling here in Canada. The current smallest AMG model is the 375 hp CLA 45 AMG, which starts at $59,900.
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