Hot hatch, who saw them and who sees them. Nowadays, excess seems to be the watchword – and no, we are not complaining... The power war that we have witnessed in the higher segments seems to have “infected” the group of small family members in recent years.
And is there an end to this war in sight? Of course not. If the gauge nowadays seems to be close to 300 horses, above this level there are already creatures with performance levels that, not so long ago, were only achieved by true sports and even super sports. A power war fueled by the German premium builders, who fight each other for the right to brag about their "machines".
400 horses: the new frontier
And in this field, Audi can «rub it in the face» of the competition, especially the domestic one, having presented the first hot hatch with 400 horsepower. Equipped with the impressive in-line five-cylinder 2.5 liter turbo, the Audi RS3 has overwhelming performances. A scant 4.1 seconds allows you to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h and, optionally, your top speed can go up from the limited 250 km/h to 280 km/h.
As might be expected, its usual rivals, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, will not sit idly by. Both are preparing to replace their access models, Class A and Series 1, which will, of course, have sporty versions that will replace the Mercedes-AMG A 45 4MATIC and the BMW M140i.
Until the arrival of the new Audi RS3, the Mercedes-AMG A 45 was the king of power in the segment. Its four-cylinder engine, despite having only 2.0 liters, produced 381 horsepower, guaranteeing 190 horsepower per liter. His successor, internally called “the Predator”, intends to raise the bar.
Scheduled for presentation in 2019, the future A 45 is expected to have at least 400 horsepower – 200 horsepower per liter, taken from an evolution of the current engine, the M133. According to the latest rumors, the combustion engine could be associated with an electric motor, all supported by a 48-volt system, enabling the presence of an electric-drive turbo.
Based on the second generation of the MFA platform, the other innovation will be the adoption of a new nine-speed dual-clutch gearbox, which will transmit everything the engine or engines have to offer to the four wheels.
The overhaul of the engine, transmission and chassis should allow the future Mercedes-AMG A 45 to break the 4.0 second barrier on acceleration to 100 km/h.
BMW radicalizes 1 Series, making it equal to rivals
We have already reported here the radical change that we will see in the successor to the current Series 1. Goodbye rear wheel drive, hello front wheel drive.
And as you would expect, this essential, even philosophical change will affect the successor to the M140i, the sportier version of the Series 1. Also expected for 2019, the new 1 Series will use the UKL base, which in addition to equipping all Minis, it is already part of the front-wheel drive BMWs: X1, Series 2 Active Tourer and Series 2 Gran Tourer.
The change in architecture entails a repositioning of the engine – from longitudinal to transverse -, which prevents the successor to the M140i from resorting to an in-line six-cylinder block. In other words, the future sports version of the 1 Series will not differ much from its rival Mercedes-AMG A 45 4MATIC. The basic architecture is that of a front-wheel drive, with the front engine in a transverse position.
Rumors suggest, as in the A 45, that a 2.0 liter engine with four cylinders in line is used, which should reach 400 horsepower. Coupled to this engine we should find an eight-speed automatic transmission that will transmit all the engine's equines to the four wheels.
Now that both models will move closer to each other, both in terms of architecture and mechanics, anticipation grows in the predictable duel between the two German heavyweights. Which one will be the best?
