Mercedes-AMG A45 (and CLA45) arrive with ‘DRIFT’ and up to 415bhp

The new Mercedes-AMG A45 – and the AMG CLA45 – have been revealed, and they come with up to 415bhp and the ability to drift.

Mercedes sets the cat amongst the pigeons with the arrival of the new AMG 45 Hot Hatch – and it’s sister under the skin CLA45 – boasting up to 415bhp from its turbo four-pot – and a drift mode.

The standard AMG 45 now comes with an impressive 387bhp, but Mercedes has now decided the baby AMG models are worthy of ‘S’ versions too, so set your sights on that and you’ll get a full-fat 415bhp, enough to get you to 62mph in under 4.0 seconds and on to 174mph.

The A45 is four-wheel drive, with an eight-speed gearbox sending power to all wheels and a plethora of modes to let you make a mess of the setup without even trying, including Drive modes of Slippery, Comfort, Sport, Sport Plus, Race and Individual, plus Basic and Advanced chassis modes too.

Underneath there are new struts – and iron girders – to stop everything falling apart under the power, wider track and bigger tyres, an angry grille, sports seats, big brakes and everything you need to be a proper supercar-bashing hooligan in a hot hatch.

So far there are no prices for the A45 or CLA 45, but don’t be surprised if speccing an ‘S’ model up pushes you over £50k.