A few months ago, the A35 became the cheapest Mercedes-AMG model you could buy. But this Golf R rival was also down on power compared to the A45, which upset some.
Thankfully, tuners have been able to extract more, even though this is a brand new AMG engine. And the good news is the upgrades will be ready by the time the CLA 35 coupe and shooting brake hit the market. On top of this, we should have a GLB 35 by next year.
The Germans at Mcchip-DKR say their Stage 1 plug-and-play package gets the A35 to 341 HP and 505 Nm of torque, which is 35 HP and 105 Nm more than stock. Separately, a Vmax package can be used to raise the electronic speed restriction from 250 to 285 km/h.
The acceleration portion of the video below reveals how the 100 to 200 km/h sprint time is reduced by 1.6 seconds compared to the standard model. Somehow, under these circumstances, it makes 376 HP... somehow, while torque stays the same. Remember that no hardware changes are being made here.
This added power should help in the drag race against the Golf R, which the A35 recently lost. But if we were to judge this car on its technology alone, it would always win.
That dashboard is a work of art, as discussed by the tuner. The screens in front of you provide endless high-definition information, like kW, Nm, turbo boost, lateral forces and so on. It's got an AMG-style steering wheel and a little drive mode selector dial with a screen in the middle, just like the AMG GT.
The Edition 1 with yellow paint and the gloss black 19-inch Livorno wheels looks the part too. But if you want even more power, the A45 is just around the corner. This should offer up to 421 HP and a drift mode.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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