After last weeks knockout debut of the A-Class, Mercedes is getting ready for round two with the first-ever A-Class sedan model. And what do you know? It too will have a softcore AMG model.
We're still calling it the A35 sedan, even though a recent trademark filed by BMW in Canada suggests the model might be called the A40 after all. It's not really important, as everybody will just call it an Audi S3 rival or the AMG sedan without a handbuilt engine.
The A35 will also be the least powerful AMG 4-door model too. It's expected to have around 300 horsepower, which is roughly half of what the E63 S manages. Yes, it's also got half the engine size, but things rarely work out that way.
This segment probably didn't exist a few years ago - a compact car with premium features and AWD. Sure, Volkswagen started putting 2.0-liter turbo engines in the Golf 6 R back in 2010 and also has the Jetta GLI, but only Audi makes an S3 4-door.
The A35 sedan is not to be confused with the CLA. As our spyshots already show, this 4-door model shares all of its design with the hatch and even has framed doors. At the moment, we don't know if a 400+ horsepower model will be developed. But we can say that the exhaust is provisional.
Previous spy footage of the A35 showed it would have four symmetrically placed mufflers integrated into the bumper just like on the CLS 53.
The A-Class sedan probably owes its existence to Audi's A3. Mercedes even borrowed the idea of using cheaper semi-rigid rear suspension on most models. Only time will tell if this will compromise the ride, but the A35 will be fully independent at all four corners, probably available with adaptive dampers too.
We expect performance numbers in the region of 0 to 62mph in 5 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h). Given the early stage of its development, the cheapest AMG sedan might take until 2019 to debut.
The A35 will also be the least powerful AMG 4-door model too. It's expected to have around 300 horsepower, which is roughly half of what the E63 S manages. Yes, it's also got half the engine size, but things rarely work out that way.
This segment probably didn't exist a few years ago - a compact car with premium features and AWD. Sure, Volkswagen started putting 2.0-liter turbo engines in the Golf 6 R back in 2010 and also has the Jetta GLI, but only Audi makes an S3 4-door.
The A35 sedan is not to be confused with the CLA. As our spyshots already show, this 4-door model shares all of its design with the hatch and even has framed doors. At the moment, we don't know if a 400+ horsepower model will be developed. But we can say that the exhaust is provisional.
Previous spy footage of the A35 showed it would have four symmetrically placed mufflers integrated into the bumper just like on the CLS 53.
The A-Class sedan probably owes its existence to Audi's A3. Mercedes even borrowed the idea of using cheaper semi-rigid rear suspension on most models. Only time will tell if this will compromise the ride, but the A35 will be fully independent at all four corners, probably available with adaptive dampers too.
We expect performance numbers in the region of 0 to 62mph in 5 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h). Given the early stage of its development, the cheapest AMG sedan might take until 2019 to debut.