If you live in North America and want to get a taste of Mercedes-Benz’s hot offerings in the compact segment, the only way to go is the CLA 45 AMG sports saloon.
Across the pond, however, buyers have another option in the guise of the mechanically identical, but smaller A45 AMG five-door hatchback, and it is these two performance Mercs that Autoexpress magazine has brought together for its latest test.
If you pop up the hood, what you will discover in both models is a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine churning out 355-horses (360PS) and 450 Nm (332 lb-ft) of torque linked to a dual-clutch 7-speed AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT 7 gearbox and a front-biased AMG 4MATIC all-wheel drive system.
According to the reviewer, the two models offer more or less the same performance and handling, with the CLA 45 AMG being about 10 percent more expensive but more practical and with a larger boot, and the A45 AMG boasting a lower starting price while also being “a little lighter on its feet”.
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