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[The GodFather]

 

 

Close your eyes. Picture the quintessential hot hatch. What color is it? Probably some loud shade of yellow or blue. How high is the rear spoiler? Quite high. In which direction is the driver's baseball cap facing? Anywhere but forwards. Lastly, what badge sits on the tip of its nose? Probably not Mercedes's three-pointed star. And yet here we are. 

Despite the hot hatch's working-class history--mostly told by more down-to-earth brands like Volkswagen, Ford, and Honda--the fancy boys and girls from Affalterbach have taken a break from crafting V8-powered executive machines and have tried their hands at a small five-door aimed at the young and heavy-footed. 

Starting at $49,200 CAD, the 2020 Mercedes-AMG A 35 is the least expensive AMG vehicle available. And if you're wondering why its price was just quoted in Canadian dollars, that's because the A-Class Hatch is not available in the U.S. and, like universal healthcare, is somewhat of a Canadian exclusive in the English- (and French)-speaking part of this continent. 

It's a car that not only attempts to eat the lunches of stuff like the Audi S3, well-equipped examples of the Volkswagen Golf R, and BMW's M235i Gran Coupe but has also been created as a gateway into the Mercedes-AMG brand--the last hot hatch you ever buy before stepping up to a C 63. 

Unlike the C 63 though, it isn't powered by a fire-breathing, hand-crafted V8. Nor is it even built on a rear-wheel-drive chassis, two points which will definitely upset anti-brand dilution types who insist that "real" AMGs consist of both of those things. However, instead of ruminating about whether or not this thing is a "real" AMG or not, I'm gonna try and answer a question that I think is a bit more interesting: Is it any good?

 

he 2020 Mercedes-AMG A 35 Hatch, By the Numbers
Base Price (As Tested): $49,200 CAD ($60,050 CAD). In the U.S., the Sedan starts at $45,945 USD.
Powertrain: 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder | seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission | all-wheel drive 
Horsepower: 302 horsepower @ 5,800-6,100 rpm
Torque: 295 pound-feet @ 3,000-4,000 rpm
EPA Fuel Economy (Sedan): 24 mpg city | 31 highway | 27 combined
Curb Weight: 3,428 pounds
Seating Capacity: 5
Cargo Space: 13.1-42.7 cubic feet
The current A-Class family is a bit confusing, but here goes. 

 

That compact car platform underpins vehicles like the GLA crossover, A-Class sedan and hatchback, and CLA four-door "coupe." They now come in a wide array of AMG variants. In the US, you can have an A 35 sedan, good for 302 HP; the CLA 35, with the same output; or the full-force CLA 45, rated at 382 HP.

In North America, Canada adds an A 35 hatchback to that mix. Other markets get even crazier, with stuff like an A 45 hatchback or a CLA 45 S shooting brake wagon.

While early hot hatches mostly flew under the radar with only subtle exterior changes over their more humdrum counterparts, things have changed with the A 35. Sure, the aforementioned Golf R (and its GTI brother) retains a relatively muted look, but it's sort of become the exception to the rule. Things like the Honda Civic Type R, Hyundai Veloster N, and Ford's defunct Focus RS are not shy-looking vehicles. It's all red-pinstriping, gaping maws, and high-flying rear spoilers. 

With the A 35, Mercedes appears to have given buyers the choice of where they'd like their car to fall under that spectrum. In its most basic, option-less form, the hopped-up A-Class matches the Golf R on visual civility, setting itself apart from the basement-trim A-Class with different lower fascias, bigger wheels, a darker grille, and not much else. 

Opt for the $1,250 CAD AMG Aerodynamics Package included on this tester, however, and the needle moves closer to the other side thanks to a bigger front splitter, a pair of front canards, a more prominent rear diffuser, and that shopping cart-style rear wing. 

In my eyes, it's a lot more interesting from the back than it is from the front. I especially like how low the whole hatch-end sits, squatting like it's priming itself for a rabid launch when parked.

A Beautiful but Flawed Interior
Inside, the A-Class experience is dominated by a pair of 10.25-inch screens running MBUX--a system you can read more in-depth about here. The displays are bright, sharp, boast vibrant, pitch-perfect colors, and when using the AMG-exclusive Supersport theme, provide a cool, can't-miss-it upshift indicator when you're driving in a manner that requires you to reach into the top of the rev range (more on that later). 

 

Some lowlights? The steering wheel will always be blocking some part of the screens. The HVAC switches, while quite premium-looking, are about an inch too far away, and there do not appear to be any physical buttons or switches dedicated to seeking through tracks that doesn't rely on some sort of touch-sensitivity. You can assign functions like track-skipping to programmable buttons, but that's a bit of pain. How am I supposed to quickly skip past the embarrassing amount of Taylor Swift in my Spotify library when I have other people in the car, Mercedes? 

Oh, and when I asked the voice-activated in-car assistant to turn the heated steering wheel on, she soothingly replied, "I'm sorry, but this function is not available in this vehicle." A frantic email to my Mercedes Canada rep revealed that the A 35 is, in fact, not available at all with a heated wheel up here. I'm sorry, but selling a vehicle at this price without a heated steering option should be against Canadian law. 

 

(I should note that the US-market A 35 Sedan, meanwhile, does offer it as an option.)

Baffling lack of heating aside, however, the steering wheel itself ironically might be the best part of this cabin. It's essentially the same wheel found in just about every other AMG, $389,000 GT Black Series included, and it feels the part. It's a big, shiny, tech-laden thing with cool-to-the-touch aluminum shift paddles and Dinamica microsuede on the subtly flattened sides. It feels substantial, expensive, and comfortable to hold, like a piece of luxury sporting equipment. 

The customizable LCD "AMG Drive Unit" controls placed at 8 and 4 o'clock of the horn are nifty as hell and more useful than you might think. Although--and this will come off as the nitpickiest of all nitpicks--the tiny screens used here are lower-res and not nearly as color-rich as the car's MBUX displays, making them stick out like a pair of older Android smartwatches placed beside a brand new iPad. Something to think about for the mid-cycle refresh, perhaps, Mercedes.