Goodwood Test: 2021 Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 S Review

Remember the war of the rally weapons from the late 1990s? Taking their cue from the all-conquering Lancia Delta Integrale, Toyota, Ford, Subaru and Mitsubishi were locked in a technology war so dizzying that the latter fielded three different generations of Lancer Evo in the 1998 World Rally Championship. So what happened to all the all-wheel-drive, turbocharged, active diff monsters? The Mitsubishi Evo Lancer was discontinued over half a decade ago and the Subaru WRX now comes with a CVT gearbox. Well it seems they sloughed off their shell suits, smartened up their acts and are now adorned with three pointed stars and four-ringed badges. With more than 400PS from a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and all-wheel-drive the AMG CLA 45 S is a very sophisticated successor to those WRC stars and we mean that in the best possible way.

As with its box-flared spiritual forebears we alluded to earlier, there is no mistaking the – deep breath – Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 S 4MATIC+ Plus Coupe for a lesser CLA variant. For a small sports saloon, AMG’s twist on the CLA is almost absurdly mean of mien with its prominent grille, lower cooling openings big enough to swallow a badger and carbon-fibre winglets ahead of the front wheels. The wheels themselves are 19-inch lightweight AMG specials which fill the flared arches nicely, bringing home the fact that the CLA is actually quite a compact car while the tail is finished off with a small bootlip spoiler, quartet of exhaust pipes and a ‘diffuser look’ rear valance.

Open the bonnet of the CLA 45 S and the second thing you will notice after the obligatory signed AMG engine cover is the suitcase-sized turbocharger mounted between the 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine and the firewall. Given its prominence you could be forgiven for expecting the forced induction to dominate the driving experience but AMG claims to have taken some lessons from Lewis Hamilton’s weekend drive and the result is an engine that loves to rev far more than most turbocharged units. Peak power of 421PS (310kW) doesn’t arrive until 6,750rpm and the torque doesn’t top out until 5,000rpm at which point the engine is producing an astonishing 500Nm (369lb ft).

There can’t help but be lag from a turbocharged engine putting out more than 200PS per litre but the swift thinking eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox does its best to disguise the lack of low down urgency and once past 2,000rpm the rate at which it picks up pace is eye opening. A 0-62mph time of 4.0 seconds seems conservative if anything and the 168mph top speed is entirely believable; acceleration is available at seemingly any road speed. That shouldn’t suggest that the CLA 45 S is a point and squirt machine. Yes the all-wheel-drive system offers all the traction you could wish out of corners but still rewards the driver while stringing a sequence of them together. The CLA feels light on its feet, offering quick direction changes, a flat cornering attitude and even a feeling of rear-wheel-drive bias in the way it moves under acceleration. There is a drift mode but since we were on public roads and aren’t stupid we left that well alone.

The platform has clearly received some major stiffening over the standard CLA and the ride will never be described as cosseting – even on the Comfort setting the rough roads around Goodwood are jarring – but it settles down at higher speeds. The Sport mode tightens everything up an acceptable amount but moving higher up the dial to Sport+ and Race stiffens the adaptive suspension up too much for anything less well surfaced than a race track, although the system is flexible enough to allow mixing and matching; the Race powertrain options with the softest damping for instance.

Mercedes interiors were once sober affairs, suited to heads of state. Not so the CLA 45 S which, on first acquaintance, confronts the driver and passenger with a conflicting smorgasbord of surfaces, shapes and shades. The F1-inspired dashboard striping and over-styled air vents in combination can look a tad garish. On further study however, it all starts to make sense with a stunning twin screen display stretching across from immediately in front of the driver across to the centre console.

Where the traditional instrument display would be is a digital panel with AMG-specific graphics including a large central rev counter and a multitude of configuration options. As well as the expected gearchange paddles, the CLA sees the return of the column shifter for the eight-speed automatic which works remarkably well and makes it easy to shift into Park when stationary at the lights rather than rely on the brakes.

Front seat occupants benefit from suitably sculpted pews although the metal surround of the harness cut out can dig into your shoulder blades on a long journey. Anyone in the rear will have adequate headroom but the fastback roof and side window profile does limit headroom and outward visibility while the seats themselves are quite flat and less supportive than the fronts. The long tail does have its advantages when it comes to a generous boot however.

The central touchscreen can either be operated directly or via touchpads, one mounted between the front seats and another on the steering wheel. The MBUX system is logical, with clean graphics and an intuitive menu system, helpful given the number of options available which includes an ability to record over 80 different data feeds while on a track. There is the expected Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well as a Burmester surround sound audio system.

The steering wheel, a handsome affair with the de riguer flat bottom and gorgeous nappa leather rim incorporates the expected controls for infotainment, phone and cruise control but cleverly also includes a couple of multifunction screens masquerading as buttons. These change their functionality when pressed allowing the driver to toggle through drive modes and then fine tune them.

Aside from the wizardry under the bonnet and within the driveline, one option we found remarkable were the Multibeam LED headlights with adaptive highbeam assist. Powerful and with a broad spread, these automatically detect other vehicles ahead whether driving towards or away from the car and switch off elements of the lighting so as not to blind other drivers. Watching the system work on a dark country road seems like witchcraft at work.

Clearly engine and powertrain technology has moved on a great deal since the days of Burns and McRae, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a great deal of appeal in the basic package of those homologation specials we so fondly remember. A snarling turbo four, lightning fast transmission and a playful but confidence inspiring all-wheel-drive system. It’s just that, like those of us who remember watching the Subaru versus Mitsubishi battles in the forests, the cars have grown up a little with price tags to match. The CLA 45 S captures the turbocharged thrill of old but adds a layer of sophistication undreamt of previously but anyone covering a lot of motorway miles might want to test some quieter options.