Hardcore Mercedes A45 AMG ‘street fighter’ under consideration
Lighter, more powerful A45 AMG is very much part of the plan says AMG boss, as soon as they have manpower to engineer it
The boss of AMG, Tobias Moers, has revealed plans to produce a harder, faster “street fighter” version of the already potent Mercedes A45 AMG. But it won’t be badged Black Series, like previous extreme versions of the SLS AMG, SL and C-Class Coupe. That name, Moers says, is reserved for two-door models. “Let’s wait and see, maybe it’s not a Black Series, maybe it’s a different approach. It would be a nice statement to have a sort of street fighter car in that segment,” Moers explained. “A Black Series model is a race car street legal with two doors. Maybe we don’t use the label Black Series for that car, we are playing around with some ideas.”
• Best hot hatchbacks Moers has previously gone on record saying there’s more power to come from the A45’s 355bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, and he told us the 394bhp VW Golf R 400 concept “hasn’t escaped my attention.”
So a more powerful engine, teamed with less weight from a stripped-out interior, stickier tyres, bigger brakes and a high-downforce bodykit would drop the 0-62mph time well below 4.5 seconds, putting it within touching distance of the AMG GT’s 4.0-second 0-62mph sprint. But don’t expect this street-legal A45 AMG race car to go on sale until the end of the A-Class’ life cycle, in three or four years time. The problem, according to Moers is a lack of manpower: “To meet our requirements with a car like the AMG 45 Black Series you need capacity in engineering and our guys are at the limit right now. Getting the GT S and the C63 AMG to the market, and there’s facelifts and replacement models to work on, it’s a lot of work.”
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