Pretend You're Driving a GLA 45 AMG on The Track

We are of corse talking about the newly-launched Mercedes-Benz GLA 45 AMG, or the third model to ever sport a “45 badge” - which comes courtesy of the fact that its turbocharged two-liter engine offers a similar output to a 4.5-liter naturally aspirated V8.

Sure, Audi's quattro GmbH made the first foray into this segment with their RS Q3, but that seems to be a bit on the underpowered side when compared with the Mercedes-Benz GLA 45 AMG, not to mention the fact that it offers less power and less performance from a larger engine.

Getting back to the GLA 45 AMG, it should be known that the Mercedes-Benz MFA (Modular Front Architecture) platform was never designed to offer a thrilling blend of driving dynamics and a fifty/fifty weight distribution, hence the transversal positioning of the engines and the standard front-wheel drive – which benefit a well-behaved hatchback but not are not designed for carving corners on a race track.

With that being said, it's no surprise that the 360 hp and 450 Nm (332 lb ft) of torque developed by the GLA 45 AMG driven hard in the video below transform into quite a bit of understeer.

Sure, the GLA 45 AMG can send power to all four wheels thanks to a Haldex-operated 4Matic all-wheel drive system, but physics is physics and the front-rear power ratio can be up to a maximum of 50:50.

On top of that, it seems that Autobild's test driver doesn't care much for correcting that understeer with the throttle but with the brake pedal, therefore losing even more time because of the less of tractive power involved.

On the other hand, the good news is that you can finally pretend like you are behind the wheel of the GLA 45 AMG thanks to the awesome mounting of the camera. Enjoy!