Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG

The Mercedes GLA45 AMG is the oddball of the A-Class family, with its in between ride height and SUV pretensions enabling it to rival the Porsche Macan and Audi RS Q3 in high end supermarket car parks.

In traffic, no-one seems to know what it is, but puzzled looks make me feel a little uneasy driving it. The test car’s (optional) wings and winglets were once the domain of pretenders like old Suzuki Swifts with no genuine big-league ability.

Not this car though. The GLA45 AMG packs the same 265 kW 2.0 litre turbo-petrol four and claw like all wheel drive set-up as the A45 AMG hatch, and a 0-100km/h claim of 4.8 seconds puts it in BMW M235i territory.

Yet sinking into its Recaro driver’s seat (with loads of adjustment, just like the steering column), there’s already a sense of what the GLA45 has up its sleeve.

Around town, it has the edge over the A45 in terms of liveability, storming over speed humps in an almost cosseting way. Here, Comfort mode is the choice because Sport has it lingering in gears, to the point where its exhaust note can be overbearing.

The suede-wrapped steering wheel with its squared-off edges and style to match the Space Shuttle-tight interior and its dark grey leather, red stitching and ornate air vents seems too big around town, and requires too many inputs at slow speed. And that’s just it; the GLA is built for speed, not slow speed.

The long throttle pedal doesn't wake the engine until it’s halfway down. And that’s where the engine note muscles up and you start to respect the GLA more than on first acquaintance.

In Comfort, gear changes are always smooth, but too slow to kick down. Even in Sport, the GLA45 won't give your right foot a supercar-like answer, despite its on-paper stats. So you need to have it in Manual, with the ESC off, which keeps the computer on but with a higher threshold.

Some threshold. The GLA45 is king on a winding road. At first, it feels a bit high, wobbling over bumps and making you wonder why you’re not in an A45 instead. Yet its change of direction, grip and grunt are so intense that you wonder just what sort of exotica would be faster point to point.

You feel every bump through the wheel, but the GLA never loses its composure. It never falters or veers off course and you realise why the steering is calibrated this way.

The GLA45 is still a bit of a head scratcher though. It’s not an SUV like the Audi RS Q3, and not a hot hatch like the A45. It’s quick and entertaining, yet endearingly odd looking, if you ignore the wings.

Power games
AMG started a power war against Audi with the 2.0-litre turbo four in the GLA45 AMG. It first appeared in the A45 AMG hatch, which prompted Audi to poach the engineer behind it, Freidrich Eichler. Audi then went on to showcase a number of ballistic models powered by its own 1984cc turbocharged four producing a claimed 368kW. Despite phallicwaving in the face of Benz, the most potent 2.0-litre turbo sold by Audi at the time of writing is the Euro-spec 221kW S3 still a deficit of 44kW to the AMG donk.

Engine - 1991cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo
Max power - 265kW @ 6000rpm
Max torque - 450Nm @ 2250-5000rpm
Transmission - 7-speed automatic
Kerb weight - 1585kg
0-100km/h - 4.8sec (claimed)
Fuel cons. - 7.5L/100km (EU)
Price - $79,430
On sale - Now