You would imagine that, with the Mercedes-AMG A45 squeezing 381 hp out of its turbo-four, owners of the hot hatch would leave the two-liter heart of the car in factory stock form. Well, you'd be wrong, as certain A45 drivers only see the jaw-dropping output number as more of a reason to take things down the aftermarket path.
A brief online search will reveal tons of facile power bumps for the Mercedes-AMG A45, from gym trips that come from near-in-house tuners to obscure email upgrades we recommend staying away from.
However, the only way to check out the velocity effects of such an aftermarket job is an asphalt confrontation and this is precisely what we have for you today.
We're dealing with a family affair here, as we want to show you a sprinting brawl involving a factory stock A45 and one that has been massaged to 450 horses.
The latter hot hatch's output was achieved after the owner decided to install a custom exhaust and the obvious ECU remap. Speaking of which, the boosted compact is driven by Archie Hamilton, a British racing driver whose resume includes sweet stuff such as "World Endurance Championship, Ferrari Le Mans and Corvette Racing Driver".
The two Affalterbach-touched compacts get together on an airfield, with the battleground offering plenty of assets. Firs of all, the location allowed the drivers to fully put their machines to work, which means you won't be left with any "what if?" questions after watching the speed fight in the clip at the bottom of the page.
Secondly, the airfield adventure meant the two could go for more than one race and we're warning you - despite the all-wheel-drive nature of the A45, wheelspin is part of the game we have here. Factor in the final part of the title above and we end up with one hell of an adventure.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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