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Spyshots: 2019 Mercedes-AMG A45 Starts Testing, Looks Like a Lowrider

There have been a lot of rumors regarding the next generation of the bonkers Mercedes-AMG A45, but what we know for sure is that it will take its record back.
2019 Mercedes-AMG A45 32 photos
Photo: CarPix
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We are of course talking about the “most powerful hot hatch” record, which was lost to the 2018 Audi RS3 8V facelift, but will probably return to Affalterbach once the new A45 is officially unveiled.

Until that time comes, the 2019 Mercedes-AMG A45 has finally started testing with a production body, and the so-called Panamericana grille and low ground clearance sure leave an impression, despite the heavy camouflage.

A bit of imagination and a close look at the Mercedes-Benz Vision A Sedan will probably give you a huge head start in realizing how the production front end will look underneath all that camo. The somewhat surprising feature is the rather low ground clearance, which makes the prototype look like a So-Cal lowrider with its rear deck sawed off.

Introducing a slightly different design language, where all those unnecessary extra creases on the body are almost gone, the 2018 A-Class is probably even better fit to spawn not one, but two AMG variants, one of which is the A45 replacement.

Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but rumors are suggesting that the 7-speed dual clutch from the current model will be replaced by a 9-speed one. We know that the 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder will definitely cross the 400 hp barrier, but we don't yet know by how much and especially how.

Since the current version was developed with help from the Formula 1 engineers in Brackley, some insiders say that the next A45 will go the mild-hybrid route, with technology inspired by the winningest F1 car in the last few years. This would translate into less lag and more drivability from the high-strung engine, not to mention better fuel economy.

Despite earlier rumors, no clue points out to a GKN Driveline all-wheel-drive system making its way into the 2019 A45, but there is still time for that information to leak.

If the non-AMG A-Class W177 goes official at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, we should expect the hardcore model to be unveiled a few months later, toward the end of that year. It should be paired with the tentatively called A40, which is expected to go against the Audi S3 Sportback and the BMW M140i.
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About the author: Alex Oagana
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Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project.
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