Mercedes-Benz CLA45 2013 Review

Black is white. The sun circumnavigates earth. An Abbott Government minister pays his own way. The CLA 45 AMG is such to make you wonder if certainty has not, in fact, ended.

Consider that here's a fully fledged AMG four door well under $100,000, one capable of an official 4.6 second sprint time (some have set 4.4) and a little over 12 to the quarter mile. It hosts the world's most powerful four cylinder engine, one with greater output than most sixes. Like it's twin under the skin A45, it reverses the AMG paradigm by halving the traditional cylinder count and sending drive, most of the time, forward.

Unlike it's comparatively staid sibling (which is, after all, a hatchback) the evocative CLA is the brand's halo or hero car -- not the gullwing SLS, but rather a car that can be had for less than a quarter of that supercar's price. The hot take on the CLA will make punters - from fans of STI to HSV - want to own a Benz. It will make owners of vastly more expensive Benzs want it too.

DRIVING

Having got all moist and emotional on our A45 drive a few weeks ago on the same Victorian b-roads, the four door's ability ought not to have been a revelation. Somehow though it surprises you afresh with that eye-widening power down and vast grip through wet and and slippery curves.

Bark on about rear drive purity if you must, an all-wheel-drive system this efficient and so rapidly reacting, the chassis so well balanced, that ham fisted corner entries are retrieved and the driver left feeling almost flattered. And when you can power out so early and so emphatically ... The twin clutch auto will take only so much manual override, but with this much torque on tap constantly it matters less than it ought.

In the search for caveats we're pretty much reduced the complaining about a bit of rattling in the seatbelt holders. One of the cars of the year then.

Mercedes CLA 45 AMG
Price: from $86,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cylinder, 265kW/465Nm
Transmission: 7-speed twin clutch auto; AWD
Thirst: 6.9L/100km