GLA45 AMG is Mercedes’ little laugh factory

BBC :
The GLA45 AMG kicks up dust. It dances over shattered, frostbitten asphalt. Its 20in tires skip across gravel in a smooth, ego-stoking arc. And its engine is the mad, perspiring, virtuosic conductor at the fore, gesticulating wildly towards the reinforced seven-speed dual-clutch automatic to join in the frenzy. Set to Sport mode, the paddle-actuated transmission is the best second fiddle imaginable, coaxing bratty bleats from the exhaust hardware with every upshift.
This is all quite fun, and a contrast to the perplexing dynamics of the CLA45 AMG, with which the GLA shares almost everything but its silhouette. The CLA sedan, assembled at Mercedes’ facility in Kecskemét, Hungary, was marred from the outset by unsightly panel gaps and substandard plastics. Emerging from the brand’s Rastatt plant in southern Germany, the GLA perpetuates none of its woebegone sibling’s faults, exhibiting a solidity becoming of the Benz badge. AMG models get transferred from Rastatt to nearby Affalterbach for their heart transplants. Say what we will about the benefits of globalised production chains, minimising jetlag clearly has its benefits.
Another relative is the Europe-only A45 AMG, a hatchback that Top Gear has expended vast quantities of saliva in praising. Sprung a few centimeters lower than the basic GLA250, the GLA45 feels more like a chunkier A45 than a quicker GLA, and for North American customers, is as close to the European hatch as they likely will get.
This may seem like a lament, but not even Top Gear would deign to drive an A45 on gravel. (A Bentley Continental GT Speed, though…) The GLA45 can be everything the A45 is, and – for owners who like their Cosmos Black Metallic paint chipped around the wheel wells – a stout rally weapon as well.